As I played with where the gauge holes needed to be I noticed that the dash itself was in the way - part of the gauges would be blocked by the straight bottom part of the dash. I decided to modify the straight part to give more of an arch. It took a little doing but it worked out pretty well. Here's a shot of how it looks now.
Now the gauges are so much more visible. It looks really good.
I also cut in vent holes for the defroster flow to the windshield. The vents came out of a mid-90s Ford Escort. They were the small vents on the front of the dash. They were just the right size for my design. There's one more vent you can't see in this shot all the way to the right side of the car. Here's what it looks like all primed.
Also I did a little grinding to get the A/C vents to work properly. Here's a couple shots of the front of the dash with the vents installed. There's another vent on the driver's side that isn't shown in the pictures below.
Now the dash is ready for texture and final paint. I also need to to design and install venting behind the dash. More on those projects in future posts.
