It’s time to make the Group B rally dash actually fit in the car. This is a reproduction panel modeled on an original by a member of the US Quattro community and is beautifully crafted. Unfortunately they have to be “relieved” to fit round the steering column as the lower return is supplied straight. You can’t just cut it as it would then be too flimsy. An added complication is that we intend to still use the ignition key so we have to make room for the barrel housing too. You can see the interference here:

That bottom flange needs to follow the curvature of the panel. To do so it needs to be cut, formed and then a bridge piece added to maintain its rigidity. Then we will need to remove some material to clear the lock. We will have to do all this with the gauge panel in place or it will easily distort.

These fasteners will be replaced with rivets once we are confident everything fits.

Then we needed to clear the ignition key housing:

The dash panel is suspended from the dash bar welded between the cage A pillar bars but will need some bracing beneath to stop it swinging back and forth.  We fabricated these brackets and used the holes from the old cage to help mount them.

Done!

Now to mount some more gauges, fuses and a computer!