Binnacles

[stevie67cars]

Not so much a custom or mod, but with all the hoo-ha that has been raging about binnacles lately, I thought I would post a few pics of new binnicales that I produced a couple of years back. I own a small bodyshop and there was no massive investment in these. They are made of fibreglass with gelcoat- they will not degrade, crack or fade in any way.

I began with a typically cracked binniacle, repaired it using a flexi filler for plastics, then refinished it using a coating which is exactly as the originals are.







Then a good friend of mine who works with fibreglass helped me to make a mould which I used to produce 7-8 binnicales. The mould is still fine to re-use. These binnicales have the grain pattern moulded directly on the gelcoat. They are then dyed either black or grey. The black strip near the instrument lens is all part of the binnicale (1 piece).

Grain/texture:















I did not make these to sell or make money on but just to prove it could be done. It is probably not a great method for mass production and is a bit labour intensive, but the results are excellent if you want a very strong binnacle that looks totally stock I will try to grab a few pics of the mould tomorrow.
Had I known the new binnicales would not be on sale by now, I may not have sat on this for so long!

Stephen
#10213

[stevedmc]

Had I known the new binnicales would not be on sale by now, I may not have sat on this for so long!

My guess is you would have a lot of customers. What sort of cost is involved in producing these?

[Mark D]

Wow, that looks beautiful. I'm assuming it is still going to be a while before the dmch reproductions are available, so if you have the means to make a few of these and put them up for sale I bet you would have some customers.

[stevedmc]

Wow, that looks beautiful. I'm assuming it is still going to be a while before the dmch reproductions are available, so if you have the means to make a few of these and put them up for sale I bet you would have some customers.

I bet he could get a pretty penny if he just made one and put it on ebay.

[robvanderveer]

Now here's the big question: How much does it cost?

I may want a black binnacle because mine is pretty cracked up and I don't want to have it recovered in vinyl. That, and shipment to Europe.

[tjd]

It looks fantastic, great work!

[Iznodmad]

That is amazing, never seen one come out that good before.

[stevedmc]

That is amazing, never seen one come out that good before.

I bet it is better than whatever DMCH is working on. Remember the dashes?

[stevie67cars]

Few pics of the mould we made- the binnicale I repaired was ruined in order to make this mould:





Stephen

[sztybel]

I suspect your binnacle will come out at least 15 years before Houston's does.