The final test fit.
Well not exactly. Sometimes being a slowass really pays off. I discovered that the meter bracket is very asymmetrical and if you try to bolt a symmetrical thing onto it symmetrically, you're in for trouble.
It all started with the OEM bracket and the initial 3 or 4 mockup plates. I was very careful drawing and cutting all of them but from the first one, I noticed there was always a gap to theRH side by the tachometer and the point dipped down noticeably. So I decided I would just carve the plate out carefully to make sure it fit uniformly on both sides. Afterall, if the boltholes are centered and square, it should fit halfway decent, right? But it's 3 mockups later and they're all doing the same thing. Something is up here.
I noticed long ago the contours below either tab of the meter unit mount are not symmetrical. The "shoulders" are shaped differently for no apparent reason other than the guy who made the part didn't have time or care enough to make it look perfect. This got me thinking what else might be "a little off."
So I measured and sure enough, the meter unit mounts are different lengths. The whole meter unit is shifted over to the RH side 1/16". That partially explains the reason for the gap on the RH side. I have been centering the plate to the meter bracket but the meter unit is not centered.
I also suspect the horizontal axes of the mounting bungs are not horizontal. I've had to move the LH bolthole position down both times I glued test pegs to the meter bracket. I can see the switch plate is not level. That is not very objectionable compared to the gap on the right but it's further indication the meter unit is not sitting perfectl perpendicular the the meter bracket. The plate mounting bracket leg is also almost touching the meter unit case on the left. The RH leg has plenty of clearance. The meter unit can't be level. I've done this twice now measuring over and over and the same issues arose both times.
The obvious solution? Drill the holes off center! Just swing the rear mount of the switch plate over to the right. --nope. The neck of the meter bracket where the rear bolthole is is less than an inch wide. I don't want to drill off center there. Not only that, the inside of the meter bracket where the nut will go to fasten the bolt is very narrow. This hole has to be perfectly centered or the nut rubber dampener and washer won't fit inside that little tunnel they're supposed to go in.
So looks to me like I might get this perfect by shifting the rear bolthole in the plate over to the left 1/16" to compensate for the 1/8" difference in meter mount tabs length. This will bring the center rear of the switch plate inline with the center of the meter unit. Then I'll drop that LH front bolthole about a sixteenth inch to accommodate the off center hole in the rear mount. That will also bring the top of the plate parallel to the meter unit, lift up that drooping point by the tac and open clearance between the left leg of the switch plate bracket and the the meter unit case. I'm sure I will also need to add about a sixteenth inch of plate on the right to totally fill the gap by the tac. This means redrawing the whole thing to get all the holes centered with the meter unit. I could almost do that in my sleep by now.
* Last updated by: Rook on 8/3/2018 @ 7:56 PM *
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