dash support FFR supplied question

[magicmarto]

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well and safe.
I have the FFR supplied center dash support.
I have seen photos of it mounted on top of the transmission tunnel and on top of the carpet.
I have also seen it mounted under the carpet-Which is what I would like to do.

Questions is, do I need to cut the top section out between the two post that mounts to the dash?
Or do I need to cut both the top and bottom connecting sections out so that I could place the carpet over each post.
I am try to avoid cutting a slit in the side of the carpeting by each mounting hole location on the trans tunnel.

I would like just two holes that I am planning on having piped.

Any ideas, inputs and photos is appreciated.
Thank you and have a nice weekend
Martin

[magicmarto]

Anybody? input on this?

[Railroad]

I did not cut anything. I put rivnuts in the trans tunnel tubing, located by the bottom of the brace. The top lip of the brace fits behind the plastic dash roll over. I put a screw in each end of the upper brace through the dash.
The brace sits on top of my carpet.
I put an alum plate on front of the brace, covered with matching vinyl. I mounted a couple of switches and a cig light receptacle. The plate is held in place with commercial velcro.

[michael everson]

Your dilemma is exactly why I don't use it. No easy way to make the carpet look nice around it.
Mike

[Avalanche325]

I did a full under dash panel , which is the home for many switches and ports that are accessible but out of site.

You could probably whip up a support that goes from the dash to the 2" square tube in a few minutes.

[FFinisher]

What I do is...………....

1)Cut the center section off clean,( the part between the tubes.)
2)Grind the welds to make the bottomed of the tube round, removing the rivet holes and making the base of both tubes uniformally round, do this without messing up the powder coat higher then 3/16 or so on the weld.
3) Drill and tap a 1/4 inch hole on the bottom of both tubes,
4) Insert the brace where you want it, clamp it in place on top and "wedge" it into place on the bottom.
5) Let sit over night, the holes in the bottom will imprint on the carpet.
6) In the morning remove it, and drill the holes in the carpet, Touch up the bottomed of the tubes where you ground it.
7)Install 1/4 inch studs in the bottom of the tubes.
8) Insert the brace and studs into the carpet and position how you want it on top.
9) drill and secure the top as you like.


This will mount it on top of the carpet and no one will ever know that its not welded and part of the chassis. The part you touch up will be covered by the depth of the carpet. I have done it a few times and it work great. You can put nuts on the studs if you like, but they aren't necessary.

[michael everson]

Great idea Ron. I will do that next time.
Mike

[magicmarto]

Bingo, that sounds like the plan
Thank you for the input Ron.
Martin

[GFX2043mtu]

You make the carpet two pieces like the originals. The originals used a piece that goes from the firewall to the support and another that overlaps the front piece slightly and goes back to the rear bulk head. The FFR dash support itself bolts or rivets to the under side of the finished dash and bolts or rivers to the unfinished tunnel. Then you carpet it to hide the flange. I would not cut the piece apart as it fits nicely and stiffens up the dash and cutting it just creates more work. The key is to fit it to the under side of the dash then fit it to the tunnel. I found when test fitting that the FFR dimensions in the instructions are not 100% correct. Plus the dash fit is more critical. I used small stainless button head screws to attach it to the dash and then larger button head screws to attach it to the tunnel. This is what it looks like finished. I have more pics of doing this in my build thread. 126914

[Gumball]

I have an older model - Mk3.1 from back in 2009, but I added my own version of under-dash support tubes. In fact, they are functional to a point, with the speedo cable routed up through the left one and the seat heater wiring going through the right one.

As for carpet, I also cut and edge-bound the carpet around the tubing.

[magicmarto]

Thank you for the info
What is your build thread
M

[GFX2043mtu]

The name is “Finally get to build a FFR”. I have a few shots of doing the carpet and a few with out. If you want I can also get some more pics of it as the car is just out in the garage.