Mk5 body fitting to dash hoop?

[rponfick]

Have any of you MK5 folks gotten to mounting the body to the chassis and getting your dash clearance figured out for dash attachment screws? I know it is recommended to get the body on to determine how far up to mount your dash under the body lip. And, still have enough space to put in screws that will not be hidden behind the body lip. Complicating later dash removal.
My padded FFR supplied dash fits flush to the 3/4" support on each end, but is over 1/2" down in the center. I have not yet installed the body, so I am just speculating as to the fit. I want to attach extra support brackets to the bottom of the 3/4" support to screw the dash into while things are still apart, if I need to add them. Or, just do belt and suspenders now, and install them anyway regardless of if needed later.
What say you experts?
Thanks, Ralph

[Homer]

Hi Ralph,

We did get the body installed for fitment of the dash and your description sounds similar to what we saw, it contacts the dash hoop in different places and not symmetrical. I was hoping to be able to mount the dash with the supplied screws directly in the hoop and have access to remove the dash if necessary once the body was installed permanently. But after the trial fit, I knew that was not going to work so I installed some 90 degree brackets on the bottom of the hoop and drilled corresponding holes through the dash. I still used the supplied black screws supplied from FFR.

219215

[rponfick]

Homer, that is what I expected. Did you just use angle material cut to length? Your bracket near the steering column looks different that the rest. I have some angle aluminum that I had planned to use and just rivet to the bottom of the 3/4" hoop.
Any further recommendations?.
Thanks, Ralph

[Homer]

Hey Ralph, the small angles I got from Lowes, I think they were .75" in length but any angle should work. I used 2 rivets in each to secure them to the dash hoop. I had to make a different one near the steering column, my 90 degree drill wouldn't fit between the column and the hoop so I made one a bit longer so I could rivet each side. Once I had them secured to hoop, I drilled the holes to the size that the manual states for the black screws. Then I put blue tape on the back of the dash, held it in place and marked the places where I needed to drill through the dash. Worked out well, my only critique is that the screws aren't evenly spaced below the body line since the hoop is not symmetrical. The black screws don't stand out too much but if you have a OCD, that might bother you!

[Jeff Kleiner]

...but if you have a OCD, that might bother you!

If you have OCD and plan to put stripes on the car DO NOT attempt to put a screw in the center of the dash until after the car is painted because there is about a 99% chance that what you think is the center won't be the stripe centerline. Trust me on this! I've seen it dozens of times :rolleyes:

Jeff

[egchewy79]

If you want a cleaner looking dash w/o screws, I used 3M dual lock "velcro" tape on some 90* brackets that I bolted to my dash hoop. Holds really well after 3 yrs so far.