Dash/Outer Frame Separation
Our 2000 Georgie Boy has an interesting but vexing problem. On our last long trip, I noticed that the dash was bouncing out of sync with the post at the back of the passenger side windshield. At t...
Forum Discussion
Update:
The idea to get a small webcam has turned out to be a terrific one. Here is what I was able to capture with it today.
What you are seeing
1. Picture left is the inner part of front cap fiberglass outer wall
2. Picture right is the outer part of the dash structure.
3. The metal attached to front cap appears to have Styrofoam helping to hold it in place
Clearly, there is metal in the front cap and there is no sign that it is detached from the fiberglass. It does not respond to a magnet so I'm assuming that it is aluminum, not steel.
Based on this, I believe that properly replacing the missing screws and putting back the cracked foam will provide the needed stability between the front cap and the dash.
I see a few complications:
A. When I place the "L" bracket on the dash member and see where the holes line up with the inside of the front cap wall, the cap side is down by about 1/2". Is this important? I don't know. I see no good place to put a jack under the cap to try to raise it to restore the original relationship. The bottom of the front cap is curved inward and I fear that even placing large boards across it to try to spread the load of a jack lifting it would result in cracking the fiberglass at the beginning of that curve. Right now I'm thinking that I'm just going to put the new screws in.
B. There is a 1/4" gap between the outer part of the dash and the inner part of front cap wall seen side to side. Part of me wants to tighten that up to close it completely but I fear the metal in my picture isn't strong enough for that much pressure. I'm thinking of putting washers into the gap instead.
C. I believe that the original screw locations in the metal in the picture will be "wallowed out". I thinking that changing to 4 screws into the outer wall would help to spread the load and avoid the compromised locations in the metal.
As before, all inputs are welcomed and encouraged.
Charlie
The idea to get a small webcam has turned out to be a terrific one. Here is what I was able to capture with it today.
What you are seeing
1. Picture left is the inner part of front cap fiberglass outer wall
2. Picture right is the outer part of the dash structure.
3. The metal attached to front cap appears to have Styrofoam helping to hold it in place
Clearly, there is metal in the front cap and there is no sign that it is detached from the fiberglass. It does not respond to a magnet so I'm assuming that it is aluminum, not steel.
Based on this, I believe that properly replacing the missing screws and putting back the cracked foam will provide the needed stability between the front cap and the dash.
I see a few complications:
A. When I place the "L" bracket on the dash member and see where the holes line up with the inside of the front cap wall, the cap side is down by about 1/2". Is this important? I don't know. I see no good place to put a jack under the cap to try to raise it to restore the original relationship. The bottom of the front cap is curved inward and I fear that even placing large boards across it to try to spread the load of a jack lifting it would result in cracking the fiberglass at the beginning of that curve. Right now I'm thinking that I'm just going to put the new screws in.
B. There is a 1/4" gap between the outer part of the dash and the inner part of front cap wall seen side to side. Part of me wants to tighten that up to close it completely but I fear the metal in my picture isn't strong enough for that much pressure. I'm thinking of putting washers into the gap instead.
C. I believe that the original screw locations in the metal in the picture will be "wallowed out". I thinking that changing to 4 screws into the outer wall would help to spread the load and avoid the compromised locations in the metal.
As before, all inputs are welcomed and encouraged.
Charlie
