NEATLY DONE

The 52mm cutter that Pete loaned me is a very substantial beast, needing a very substantial hole drilled first, to accept the allen screw. The required hole was bigger than any of my drills, the largest one being 12mm, I pondered and then realised that one of my Rota Broach cutters was exactly the right size. However before I started cutting I made several checks in the cockpit to ensure that nothing obstructed the dials and carefully marked up the positions for the four instruments and dot punched the centre point of each one.

The first instrument to be fitted was the Voltmeter, I consulted Google as to which to fit, a Voltmeter or an Ammeter, the consensus was Voltmeter, as it was much simpler to wire and gave you all you needed to know about the state of your battery.

On the dot punched mark a small pilot hole was drilled first, to accept the pin of the Rota Broach and the 16mm central hole was cut. Once that was done the the 52mm cutter was assembled, with the cutter part on the underside, the large allen bolt pulling the top half down. With the dash board firmly clamped, a large allen key, assisted with a strong tube over the end of the key, turned the cutter. Quite a force was required, but after about six turns the hole was made. The cut disc was very wavy, but the hole was clean and the surrounding metal undistorted and the gauge dropped in snugly.

The corresponding hole for the fuel gauge was quickly cut, but before I did the two for the clock and oil pressure gauge, I offered up the dash board to the scuttle and did a final check. Just as well as otherwise the clock would have intruded into the glove box. A slight repositioning and those two holes were cut. Tomorrow another twelve holes to cut, eight of which are for the warning lights, I can't wait to see the dash in place.