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To mount the defroster / heater core / blower motor enclosure required a section of the tunnel covers be built, then a lower "box" frame - both from aluminum. The lower box section was cut and bent to shape, then it was bolted to the tunnel section shown below.
This all made for somewhat tight confines under the dash, with the various components hidden under there - wiper motors, defroster, dry sump oil tank, etc. I will show the wiper motor mounting in a section below. But here the defroster box is mounted and ready for heater hose plumbing and some air 3" hose to the windshield base vents, to be shown in a future update.
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TILTON BRAKE & CLUTCH FLUID RESERVOIR
The triple reservoir Tilton unit shown below will contain fluid for both brake master cylinders (front and rear channels) as well as the clutch hydraulics. A custom aluminum bracket was fabricated and two threaded pylons were welded to the cage dash bar.
These two pylons protrude through the dash panel, but after the two mounting bolts are removed the center dash panel can be unbolted and pulled out of the way for maintenance behind it.
These remote reservoirs are popular in racing - you want to mount this just far enough away from the driver to not be a hazard, but close enough to be able to see fluid levels. Levels can drop from either pad wear (over a very long stint) or due to a leak in the hydraulic systems. Always good to have that visible while driving. We will plumb these to the floor mounted pedals/masters later in the build.
INTERIOR ALUMINUM PANELS
Most of the aluminum interior panels were built over 4 different days. These are needed to separate the passenger compartment from the exhaust, driveshaft, heat and noise from the engine bay. This, along with the firewall panels, forms a barrier from hot fluids and fire ahead or underneath the driver, in case something goes awry. The tunnel sections near the driver will be double walled with insulated panels on the inside, to limit heat transfer to the cabin. We will show the inner panels at a later date.
Previous sections in this series of posts showed some of the interior panels going together, and in reality there were several tasks happening at once - tubular structure, defroster, dash mounting, reservoir mounting, firewall and interior panels were concurrent tasks - but I am trying to show them separated here for clarity.
Templates in cardboard were made for various panels. These templates were then transferred into 3003-H14, .063" thick aluminum sheet. These metal panels were marked, sheared, bent, trimmed, deburred, fitted, and then drilled for mounting holes. Depending on the location the panels will be either riveted or bolted in place.
Step by step each template was turned into an aluminum panel. The picture above shows how some of these panels join to the composite dash. The passenger foot well area is also very different than the driver's side, to clear the massive dry sump oil settling tank, which has a complicated firewall structure around it. There is still tons of leg/foot room due to the front seat setback.
This is a close-up of how the dash was trimmed to fit against the taller than stock transmission tunnel structure and paneling. It makes for a very nice fit, once complete.
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