I'm kinda prond of this switch panel

I'm kinda proud of this switch panel

I needed switches. Switches for lights, switches for fans, switches for A/C inverters. I like switches and buttons!

I have been wondering what I'm going to do about my addiction for switches and I came up with this.

I think I could have done the layout better, but I wanted to leave room for further expansion.



I left the ashtray bracket in place. Shaved of the stop tabs on the sides. Removed the part where the cig lighter was and turned it up side down.
Pretty easy, and free.

I really like it!

I had some custom console switch panels made for the G-body (78-88) Cutlass a few years back. I went to the same guy about making one for the Explorer, and he could only fit 2 switches in there....not really what I wanted to hear....so I gave up.

But that was with the old 1st Gen dash...now I have a 2nd Gen dash....I will try again!

That is a really clean install.

Ryan

That is sweet tweak, nice and clean and used what was there already.
I tried the same on mine but screwed the panel up and had to cut another panel.

Nice work man. You got room for a few LED's to tell you if the switch is on/off (not like the direction wouldn't tell you that, but they'd look cool...)

That's good inspiration for mine!

KPSquared said:

Nice work man. You got room for a few LED's to tell you if the switch is on/off (not like the direction wouldn't tell you that, but they'd look cool...)

That's good inspiration for mine!

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's next. I bought a bunch micro LEDs, but I have misplaced them. I'm probably going to just buy more. Nothing is even wired yet. but soon. All of those switches are single throw double pole. I'm going to replace two with single throw, and keep the others in case I need them. USB ports are going in too. I also plan on permanently installing a 500 watt A/C inverter. I may add an A.C outlet to the panel, but I I'm thinking not. there will be two outlets in the back of the center console and two in the cargo area.
I also want to figure out a way to label them that looks good. I think I might try those t-shirt print sheets you get for ink jet printers. I don't know if it will work, so I'm going to try it on some spare interior pieces I have.

A couple more pics:
You can see that i have room to add more switches or gauges or something when i slide it open.


this is what the top was, now it's the bottom.



This is the stock one. you can see the tabs I cut off the sides, and that I removed the strip of metal running along the back side of the plastic. I also removed everything in front of the light on the bracket. that way it slides in as far as it does now. I used a 3" cut off wheel for most of it. A stone and a bur bit cleaned it all up.

pay no attention to all the Mylar in the back ground. I wanted to remove the smell of the previous owner, so I pulled the carpet and pressure washed it. while it's out, i decided to insulate with self adhesive duct insulation from Home Depot. It makes a big difference. It is at least as quite now as it was with the carpet in. so it should be really quiet when I re-install the carpet. And the floor doesn't get hot from the exhaust pipe any more.