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Dash Details,

6/14/2021

1 Comment

 
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After another productive week of working just 1 hour each morning, I installed my 2 piece dash assembly and wired up all the gauges and switches, and installed my freshly restored steering wheel and horn/trafficator switch assembly...
One detail I forgot to mention in my video is the evolution of the Healey 100 dash and where mine fits in the chronology:

The first style of dash that was used on BN1's throughout much of 1953 was a 2 piece dash assembly (the gauge cluster being a separate piece), and the steering wheel was adjustable with a chrome trafficator switch:
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Then in early December of '53 the adjustable steering wheel was replaced with a non-adjustable wheel with a black pointed trafficator switch.
This change also coincided with adjustable sliding seat tracks that had been fixed before this.
The dash remained 2 pieces, but the steering wheel cutout was narrowed to accommodate the non adjustable column..
 - This is the dash that my car has, and is actually the rarest of the standard production Healey dash configurations as it only lasted a month or 2:
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Finally by the end of January 1954, the dash panel was changed again to a single piece and remained the same pressing throughout the rest of BN1 & BN2 production with only minor changes made to the instruments themselves and some switch locations (BN2's had the ignition switch and overdrive switch locations reversed - as well as a slightly different speedo and tach) -

Some later single piece dashes were painted a solid colour, however it seems the majority maintained a silver painted gauge cluster.
Leather covering on the dash was also a factory option but was extremely rare...
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So with that brief history in mind,  here is my rare 2nd style,  
2 piece dash with narrowed (non-adjustable) steering wheel cutout being installed and wired up:
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..And fitting my newly restored horn/trafficator unit that I purchased through Curt Arndt:
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Also this week, I installed the fresh air hose.
Early BN1's like mine had this hose cut well short of the grill opening like this -
Whereas later BN1's & BN2's had the hose extended right up to the grill...
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I also finished making & installing the new steel fuel lines under the car, and added my NOS Petro-flex fuel line:
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With the wheels temporarily installed, the car is really starting to look like a car again!
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Until next time -
1 Comment
Peter Hempenstall link
6/14/2021 08:41:25 am

Gday,I have a 55 BN1 and ive found youre post on facebook really helpful
aspecialy the steering wheel horn centre and tube,as ive replaced my steering wheel with a new woodrim Moto litre wheel.Thanks,kind regards,Peter.

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