Dashboard update - October 2009 on

5 years of use, including quite a few occasions squeezing the mountain bike into the passenger side, have taken their toll on the wrinkle effect painted finish of the dashboard, with a few scratches and dents now appearing. Taking the dash out to re-spray is a fairly big task (final fit was a pig of a job, and that was before the windscreen went in...), so I have a long list of other upgrades & mods to carry out at the same time, the main ones being:

Respray dashboard: I'm happy with the wrinkle effect paint, so plan to use this again.

Recalibrate speedo: Ever since SVA the speedo was right at the top end of acceptability in terms of over-read. My early switch from 55 profile to 60 profile tyres helped slightly, but according to a GPS speed reading it still reads approx 9% over at 60mph. I don't like this, but given that recalibrating the speedo meant gaining access to the dipswitches at the rear of the gauge (and that meant removing the dashboard), it is a flaw that I have just learned to live with. I will now calibrate it to give something more like 2-3% over-read, and at the same time make future recalibration/replacement much easier by fitting a...

Removable dash face: There are a few Mojos around with dashboards done this way, and I can now see the benefits! It should make re-fitting the dash somewhat easier, and allow future access without removing the whole dash moulding. The section of dashboard to which all the dials and switchgear are mounted to will be cut out, and replaced with a suitably shaped piece of aluminium. Given the alloy surrounds to my gauges, I don't want a bare aluminium dashboard face, so am planning to cover the panel with gloss black adhesive backed film, to pick up on the gloss black theme that is now starting to take a hold with the car (doors & wheels being the current contributors!). At the same time, it will allow me to make some tweaks to the layout of the dashboard, especially after I...

Reposition the steering column: I have always found that the steering column on my Mojo (whether all are the same or not I don't know!) felt as though it was positioned too far to the right. It seems that the jig was set to centralise the column between the lower tunnel side rail and the outer chassis rail, and the seat belt mounts positioned centrally between the top of the tunnel side and the outer edge of the rear bulkhead. However, due to the angle of the tunnel side (it narrows at the top, see this pic), the belt mounts end up positioned more inboard than the column. I seem to end up with my upper body aligned more with the belt mounts than the column, and hence the wheel feels about 15-20mm too far to the right. Not much, but enough to want to do something about it given the chance! I plan to just move the upper column anchorage across, angling the whole column slightly, hoping that the angle won't be obvious at the wheel.

More news once work starts!