Instrument panel

A couple of pictures here of the instrument panel.

I thought at first I would use the original instrument panel, but the more I looked at it the more I wanted to put things in (like a tacho) which weren’t there originally, or some stuff (like the banana plug outlets) which I didn’t want at all.

I wanted to use the original Series 2 light switch, but I also wanted a sensible wiring system, with more than one fuse, so in the end I decided to go with the Series 3 ignition switch, and a separate switch for the lights.

I used a wiring loom from EZ Wiring in the USA, which worked very well. The fuse block was pre-wired, and every wire required was in the kit. Even better, every wire was labeled, which made things much easier.

The kit was designed for wiring up a rod, or re-wiring a GM vehicle, so the layout was targeted at GM, and I had to re-design the circuit and re-run the loom as supplied, but this was no big problem.

I’ve dropped the wiring diagrams in below on case anyone is interested.

The only real problem I had was when I managed to reverse the oil pressure and water temperature leads at the block, which cost me a couple of hours of puzzlement one morning.

This is a minimal circuit, which I used to start the engine and test everything was going ok.

I hadn’t realised before, but my brother-in-law’s father is a retired toolmaker, with a full workshop available. He cut the panel below out for me on a NC milling machine. And here was me planning on doing it with a jigsaw and a file.

You can see the fuse block below, mounted where it’s nice and handy.