Type 13 - Instrument Panel

As an airplane pilot, the instrument panel is key to staying alive while aloft.  It helps you to control speed, altitude, and direction, and informs you of your engine status and other auxiliary systems.  Clearly, a vintage cyclekart does not need any of this.  But I love instrument panels and have admired them since I was two years old when my dad and I would go to the local airports to kick the tires on airplanes and peer into the cockpit to see what the instrument panel looked like.  It was something I continued to do well into my 60’s.

Nevertheless, the Type 13 did include some instruments, and so would mine.  I decided I would not stick to replicating the early Type 13 panels which included a dual magneto, gas pressure, and time clock.  I discovered that vintage-style gauges were extremely expensive too, so I decided I would try to emulate them as best as I could.  But after a failed attempt at buying blank gauges, I gave up on the idea and just went to whatever I could find that would work for my cyclekart configuration.

I elected to go with the following gauges:

  • Speed (based on a GPS sensor)
  • Tachometer for RPM (signal comes from wire wrapped around the sparkplug wire)
  •  Oil Temperature (will help me to know if I am overheating the engine in its enclosed state)
  • Battery Voltage (initially only using a Bauer 20 volt lithium battery stepped down to 12V.  Later plan on adding stator and engine started)
  • Hour Meter (figured if I spend about 1,000 hours building this thing, I better have more than 3 or four hours per year racing it!)
I made the panel from 1/8″ aluminum that I found on Amazon.  The local box stores wanted a fortune and so after much searching, I found a pretty good deal on Amazon that included enough material to do the panel and accompanying side panels.
 
I love the machined-turned look on some of the Bugatti and other early panels I’ve seen and decided to give it a try.  I watched a few YouTube videos and decided it looked easy enough.  I purchased a 1″ diameter steel brush and inserted it into my drill press then built a jig so I could exactly control the positioning of each row.  I simply eye-balled the lateral spacing so I had the right overlap.  I was surprised at how easy and fun it was to give it this special jeweled look. 
 
I also paid special attention to where the lower side panels matched up so the swirls aligned perfectly as if the separate side panels.  I was very pleased with the result.
 
I also added a few switches and controls.  The top panel includes the engine start button, which will not be functional initially,  On the left lower panel I have the engine on/kill switch, and three other toggle switches for master power, headlights, and auxiliary ( to be decided later). 
 
I plan on powering the panel from a 20 v Bauer rechargeable battery.  I have not yet decided if the wiring panel will be under my seat so I have easy access or under the hood.  As the Hunstville Grand Prix race scheduled for  May 19-20 race is but a mere 5 weeks from now, I am not certain I will get anything other than the engine kill switch wired, we’ll see. So much still to do, and so little time left!

 

Once the frame was painted, the first thing to install was the instrument panel.  I used small brass screws that mated to tapped holes in the frame.  You can’t see it so much in the picture but the brass screws really give it a nice classy look.  I am really pleased with how this turned out. 

Fire! Fire! Oh My Gosh, My Panel's On Fire!

On the very day that I installed my panel in the freshly painted frame I experienced near disaster!  With the panel installed, it was time to install the steering column and weld the quick disconnect fitting to the column.

It was here that sleep deprivation combined with shear stupidity rose its ugly head and bit me.  One does not weld next to a picture perfect instrument panel without protecting it right?

Of course is the obvious answer.  A nice piece of sheet metal will be perfect, but unfortunately, I did not have a piece left over that was big enough.  So I need to find an alternative material.  Ah, here, cardboard, its cheap and I got plenty of it.   That way I can get on with the welding, attach the steering wheel and jump in and start making motor noises.  So with a double layer of cardboard craftily cut to shape and contoured around the steering column I  commenced applying 220V with high settings for welding thick metal together.  The welds looked so perfect until….

Hey, I smell something funny and then I saw it, the cardboard was on fire with flames shooting up from the bottom to the top of the instrument panel!  Wait, this isn’t possible.  I am nearly a self-proclaimed expert welder and I don’t cause fires.  So in that instant my stupidity smacked me square in the face and immediate action was needed to prevent burning down my shop and house.  Fortunately, my garage door was  partially opened, for the first time this spring so I ripped the burning cardboard off with my bare hands and ran outside and threw them onto the cement driveway.  By then the cardboard was completely engulfed in flame and I stomped it out with my tennis shoed feet.   Its a miracle that I did not burn my hands, but they were completely unharmed, how I have no idea.

With the fire out, I went back to inspect the panel and was shocked to see I had fried the bottom half of the tachometer.  It was toast. 

 

A quick glance outside revealed the cardboard had reignited and was in flames yet again as if to make sure I would not forget this lesson.  By then my wife sensed something wasn’t right and came to my rescue with a pitcher full of water that finally doused the cardboard from ever flaming again.

Fortunately, the rest of the panel only had minor smoke damage and I was able to clean it up satisfactorily.

As luck would have it, the tach cost me less than $14 to replace, so of all the instruments, this was the one to cook.  Three days later, Amazon delivered another and my panel appeared complete once again, albeit, not with the same shine and luster it originally had.

I have kicked myself over and over again, wondering how I could be so stupid and still know how to keep my heart beating and lungs breathing. 

Lesson learned, no flammables anywhere near where I am welding.

Ironically, I have a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall about 6 feet from where the fire occurred.  It never dawned on me to grab it; I guess because I never had to use it before and I just panicked.

I think I will keep it close and ready anytime I’m welding from now on.