Scuttle, Firewall and Dashboard

So the second part of the weekend I spent the time fixing the dashboard and scuttle assembly ready to be dropped in at the right time. Again I have got to a stage where other things need to be completed before I can continue with other areas. Part of this is due to poor planning on my part (give me a break! It's my first time) and others are waiting on GBS to either complete their Mazda Zero or get parts that I have requested to me.

Anyway, in the post "Fuel system, Diff, Panels, bit of everything really" at the end of April, you can see I have started to put together the scuttle by fixing the firewall and holding in place with loose rivnuts and clamps. I decided to fit the dashboard mounting bracket first to allow a better fit and strength to the scuttle panel. This however, had its issues....

You'll have to forgive the dodgy pictures, its all that sun we've been having! Anyway, if you squint, you can see that the dashboard bracket has been chopped up and adapted due to fixing issues. The problem I have come to is that either scuttle isn't formed to the profile of the bracket or the bracket has been laser cut with a too sharp profile....probably the later due to the scuttle looking pretty good now.

 Moving on I took my ventures indoors to catch the Formula 1 whilst I sorted the dashboard out properly. It was warmer and I could balance the scuttle easier to get the dashboard to fit properly.

TIP: GBS recommend using the drill in reverse and a slow speed rather than forward to prevent the gel coat chipping. I found this to be a slow process but did leave a very nice finish...however I did the odd hole in forward slowly which worked just as well if you're careful on the final stage.

I marked the holes from behind and drilled then drilled through from back to front starting with a 3mm drill bit. I then went for M8 bolts initially so drilled with 8.5mm drill bit for that extra bit of room to work. I had also smoothed the bracket holes out with a 10mm drill bit due to the poor laser cut holes and to ensure the easiest fit.
Anyway, 6 out of 8 holes fit. But the outer/lowest 2 holes don't line up as seen here. I left this until I got back to the garage to make sure it's not just a case of bending the scuttle a little bit further to fit.
I like the look of the black on orange, however, I am going to get some fancy bolts as it does look a bit tatty.

After the race I went to test my work out and double check the misalignment above. Turns out all is ok and it is simply a case of the scuttle bending a bit further. However, I found another problem, the bottom part of the dash rested on the top of the bracket for the ignition barrel. As a result the hacksaw was unleashed! I thought about this and decided to take out a new blade and go slowly to avoid any chips or cracking. It wasn't perfect but it worked, it's hidden by the steering column anyway so not a problem in my opinion, you wouldn't notice it if I didn't say!

The finished product. Will probably put the seat back in and decide where my dials are going to roughly sit. Must remember to avoid having dials blocked by the steering wheel for the IVA.