Gen III dash?

[ChrisMiami]

I have noticed a change in the center console area of the dash in some builds and I wonder if it’s a change in the structure made by FFR or if it’s just personal choice?

Here is the newer version - notice the overhang of the main dash in the center.


In older builds and the original coupes, the center is flush with the main dash, like

[burchfieldb]

The overhang is how FFR made the Gen 3. You could add in the sheetmetal piece if you wanted it. The frame runs under the slanted console.

20221118_112410.jpg
20230820_170418.jpg

[edwardb]

I filled the overhang with a switch panel I made.

[ChrisMiami]

Thank you guys. I’m not in love with the change but I suppose it was necessitated by a safety improvement. And like you both said, there are nice ways to adapt.

[rhk118]

I made my own piece that covers the area from the transmission tunnel to the dash to bridge that overhang. Have a drawing file that can be plasma cut from aluminum if you're interested. I am using mine as a switch panel similar to the photos you posted from the originals.

[Rian_Colorado]

2023-03-14 18.10.50.jpg

As others have said - made up my own as I wasn't big on the FFR supplied dash. Plus I wanted to add some other items. Careful though, it gets tight back there!

RR

[Papa t]

Rian is that an IPad in the middle off the dash? If so how did you mount it. I tried mount from Aircraft Spruce but way to big. Thanks

[Rian_Colorado]

Papa -

Nope, it's an Alpine head unit (specifically an Alpine Halo9 iLX-F509). The body of the Alpine units is less "deep", so fits far more easily than other units. The Halo 9 is also "single Din". The screens are made to more accurately replace more modern larger screens in newer cars. The way it is setup allows for the screen to stick up higher than the dash in the Daytona - which gives me more room in the already cluttered and small dash. Has the benefit of full audio system (amps and speakers aren't in yet!) and of course a sizable rear or forward camera view.

Rian

[LateApex]

Thank you guys. I’m not in love with the change but I suppose it was necessitated by a safety improvement. And like you both said, there are nice ways to adapt.

Chris, can you expand on your "safety improvement" comment please?

I am not happy with how the bottom of the dash "floats" in my Gen 3 build. Dash Stiffening is on this Winter's to-do list ...

Also on the dash list is a re-layout of the gauge panel. There are certain items like turn-signal indicators and some of the minor gauges that are partially blocked by my steering wheel. I am not too happy with some quality aspects of my panel carbon fiber layup as well.

... the project that is never quite done :-)

[ChrisMiami]

Hey Apex,

I was thinking that a lot of the marketing of the Gen III was that its frame is safer, so I was just trying to find a reasonable excuse for FFR to have altered the design of a car we all love. IMHO it’s not FFR’s car, so it should be as faithful to the originals as possible. Departures from the OG design elements should only be motivated by serious safety or aerodynamic improvements not just random designer preference. I’m sure FFR feel the same, so I trust that they made such a big chanage out of necessity. That’s all I meant.

Chris

[Alphamacaroon]

See the following side-view illustration as to why I think they went this direction. Yes, there are ways you could make it look faithful to the original, but they have drawbacks and I think they actually made the right choice here. In order to make it look like the original, you either have to add more metal to achieve similar frame strength or you have to lose space behind the dash.

I would choose frame strength and weight as my primary goal— let people add filler plates if they want something closer to the original look.

IMG_2919.jpg

[JohnK]

Hey Apex,

I was thinking that a lot of the marketing of the Gen III was that its frame is safer, so I was just trying to find a reasonable excuse for FFR to have altered the design of a car we all love. IMHO it’s not FFR’s car, so it should be as faithful to the originals as possible. Departures from the OG design elements should only be motivated by serious safety or aerodynamic improvements not just random designer preference. I’m sure FFR feel the same, so I trust that they made such a big chanage out of necessity. That’s all I meant.

Chris

This is not meant as a slight on the Coupe in any way at all, but it is in no way a faithful reproduction of an original. Not the body and certainly not the frame. There are other companies out there that make more authentic replicas, if that what someone wants. The whole issue of what an original Shelby Daytona looks like is a whole can of worms unto itself, as there was the original CSX2287 and then there are the five Italian-bodied cars that were built with a different roofline because they believed the original car was ugly. If anything, the FFR Coupe body is more similar to the Italian-bodied Daytonas but it's not a close reproduction of those either.

[ChrisMiami]

Alphamacaroon - interesting drawing! Now you got me curious - I wonder what the Gen 1&2 frames actually looked like in that area!

[ChrisMiami]

This is not meant as a slight on the Coupe in any way at all, but it is in no way a faithful reproduction of an original. Not the body and certainly not the frame. There are other companies out there that make more authentic replicas, if that what someone wants. The whole issue of what an original Shelby Daytona looks like is a whole can of worms unto itself, as there was the original CSX2287 and then there are the five Italian-bodied cars that were built with a different roofline because they believed the original car was ugly. If anything, the FFR Coupe body is more similar to the Italian-bodied Daytonas but it's not a close reproduction of those either.

John,

This has been a sticking point for me the whole time I’ve been interested in the coupe kit. I was at a car show in DC years ago and got told off for looking at the Superformance display for too long before coming to FFR’s booth! LOL But that original roof line of CSX2287 is just so cool, it draws me.

Ironic the car that beat Ferrari was also Italian.

There’s a new company making laser-measured and faithful replicas of 2287. For about $350k.

Here are some beauty shots of the original. Even though its dash looks beat to hell I still love it.

https://youtu.be/g7jrJwzou-o

[Alphamacaroon]

Alphamacaroon - interesting drawing! Now you got me curious - I wonder what the Gen 1&2 frames actually looked like in that area!

I forgot to add— I actually wouldn't be surprised if the original CSX looks very similar to the current FFR setup under the covers. Why? Because it would be really strange in my opinion for those switches to be directly exposed to the trans tunnel— there is almost certainly another plate underneath that goes under the dash.

I mean there are a million things FFR did to this car that make it slightly different than the OG (better in my opinion), but this one I would actually say is not a major design difference— they just didn't choose to include that extra fascia plate in the kit. If it's important to you, fabricate one, just like they did back in 1960s. No single CSX is exactly the same, just like no single Type 65 is going to be exactly the same.

[ChrisMiami]

Fabrication, yeah. One thing I’ve been studying how to do is bend laid fiberglass (a heat gun, supposedly) and what kind of supporting form I’ll have to make to get the rear end concave instead of flat. Yeah, it’s the little things that make all the difference.