Fitting and Adjusting Dash console

[Fred pickering]

Finally thought i was on the last leg of assembley on my 53 FL mounted tanks and i have something way wrong the Dash console plate sets to high in the rear when you put the chrome trim bezel on its not even close to touching the tanks in the rear and it fitts to tight against the front.

Of course all repop stuff issue is the same with my mock 3.5 tanks as is my painted 3.5's the painted ones are closer but still not right.
I understand the dash kit came with shims but i sure wouldnt want to raise it higher looked at all the pics i could find here and i know i have the console plate mounted correctly just dont know were to go from here alot of money invested and well iam frustrated, desprate and depressed all in one word.

Any help would be greatful....

Fred

[steve_wood]

I had a lot of trouble installing mine as well. You know base plate? The tab where there are two holes for mounting to the frame? I cut the vertical portion of it, put slots in the cutoff piece and tapped holes in the rest of the vertical tab so I could bolt the two parts together to make it adjustable. A lot of work and a bit of a hack job, but it's invisible and it worked perfectly.

The other solution would be to collect base plates until you find one that fits !

[Fred pickering]

I had a lot of trouble installing mine as well. You know base plate? The tab where there are two holes for mounting to the frame? I cut the vertical portion of it, put slots in the cutoff piece and tapped holes in the rest of the vertical tab so I could bolt the two parts together to make it adjustable. A lot of work and a bit of a hack job, but it's invisible and it worked perfectly.

The other solution would be to collect base plates until you find one that fits !

Steve
Thanks honeslty thought about cutting the two bolt area you talk about and to lower it then weld it and use the spacers but your idea is great making it a adjustable piece all in one .. Thank you for the idea. My other thought Cringe was to take a dremel tool and mill down the front of the console bezel which looks to be to high in the front either way the rubber trim strip would cover this mill work as well iam sure it will be a combo of both . Iam more pissed at myself right now than i can say back in Dec when i mocked the bike i stopped at the steel console plate never though about fitting the 3 light panel so now with a custom paint job on my hands iam using another set of mock up 3.5s intil i get it closer. Live and learn its not that i wasnt forwarned here of the junk aftermarket tanks out there and parts .

[Panshovevo]

Fred,
At the risk of covering the obvious, have you tried loosening the tank mounting bolts, with the cover loosely in place, and shifting the tanks to find the best fit?
Regards,
John

[Fred pickering]

Fred,
At the risk of covering the obvious, have you tried loosening the tank mounting bolts, with the cover loosely in place, and shifting the tanks to find the best fit?
Regards,
John

John

All ideas are good ones i dont have much for adjustment other than to open the rear stud holes up to bring the rear of the tanks up a bit , the front top and lower mounting bolts cant do much with since tiwan ted has them so F ed up that the top bolt is almost hitting the tank. The lower of course i had to make the usal grind job to clear the front cylinder head so not much there either, all ideas are welcome since honeslty this bike is so close to firing up and i get to this mess and it just kicks you in the teeth..
Fred

[Fred pickering]

Pic of bike with painted tanks alot of work . I know shes not a NOS Pan but its want i drew up and wanted.

[Fred pickering]

Another


Another

[Fred pickering]

Another hopefully bigger.

[Pomike]

Are you sure it is not hanging up on the speedometer? Sometimes I have to just press it down hard enough to slip over the edge of the speedo. That speedo might be taller than the original, too. It usually just takes some patienca and practice on this assembly. I don't know how many times I have done it on mine, but it still is tricky. And yes, if those are aftermaket tanks, they might have a lower profile than the stock ones. And do you have the choke through the dash? It is completely random height until you set it yourself. Good luck! Mike

[steve_wood]

The rear of the base plate + switch sure likes it's standing tall...

[Panshovevo]

Does the switch turn freely with the cover tightened down? Any chance it's hanging up on the switch?

[Fred pickering]

Are you sure it is not hanging up on the speedometer? Sometimes I have to just press it down hard enough to slip over the edge of the speedo. That speedo might be taller than the original, too. It usually just takes some patienca and practice on this assembly. I don't know how many times I have done it on mine, but it still is tricky. And yes, if those are aftermaket tanks, they might have a lower profile than the stock ones. And do you have the choke through the dash? It is completely random height until you set it yourself. Good luck! Mike

Mike

Another thought that iam wondering since the console cover is high in the front is the speedo the use of the pins rubbers and Eclips in the kit only make it stand taller i seen a pic Hydra posted of a stock pan that the speedo was bolted to the plate not pinned.. So when i drop the speedo flush with the plate its better but the dash console is still high in the front almost like the again console needs to be milled down or the front single plate bolt needs spacers under it .


Steve the switch isnt high in the rear although it sure looks like it , the switch doesnt bind matter of fact i ended up using a later model switch that was HD because the tiwan ones were so bound up in the packages you can tell by the key cover and the late model switch doesnt come with the option to switch to the old style key cover.

Ill add more pics of the dash up close maybe that will help again right know the problem is the front of the cover is on the tanks with about a 1.5 inch gap towards the rear so bad i cant even get the hold down nut close to threading.

[Bosheff]

What do ya get for a fit if you omit the speed-o and install the cover?....bosheff

[Panshovevo]

This may sound counter-intuitive, but you might try putting some temporary shims under the rear of the base plate to see if the front might pivot down.
It's hard to make long distance guesses when you can't see all the details. If by now, you have figured out what is holding the rear of the cover away from the tanks, ignore the above.
Regards,
John

PS I had to butcher the new V-Twin base plate I put on my '50 a while back, to make it "fit" the AM 5 gal tanks it came with.

[Bigincher]

Have you considered picking up an OEM dash base to see if it will create a better fit to the tanks? Better yet, I believe I have one of each in my parts room--- I can compare the two if you'd like..........