Building my new dash

I went to the metal shop and got a piece of stainless to build my dash out of. I then decided to take it to the machine shop to have it cut on their shear. After talking to them I found out they had a break too, so I just had them throw a couple bends in it to contour my dash. Much easier than trying to bend it myself on the bench. It cost me $12.50 and around $20 for the metal.
I cut out the portions for the gauge panel and steering wheel and then could take off the plastic. Turned out pretty good over all.I made the panel out of alluminum because it was easier to cut the holes for the gauges. I was able to use a file to make everything fit nice.Here is a picture of the panel in place minus the CB, the water temp guage and some switches.Here you can see how the stainless fits up under the dash pad. I still need to make a cover for the fuse and relay area on the passenger side. It will hinge down similar to a glove box.I got the other guage just today and was able to put it into the panel to see a finished look. Still need to wire it up and put in the CB. I really like the dark gray on stainless look.

Tire Carrier Build

I've been working on my tire carrier for a while and now it is almost finished. I only have a few things left to do and then I can final weld it all up. It mounts in two places to the body and two to the the bumper. It is designed to hinge down on the lower bumper mounts to be able to access the rear hatch. I made a place to mount the jack and the tire iron. I may add a piece of tube to slide a shovel into, but haven't decided yet. I also need to clean up a few of my brackets and smooth some edges with the grinder.

This mount is where the point of the jack slides in. I still need to make some sort of latch system to keep this end of the jack from lifting out of its pocket. I may just add some tie downs and a piece of webbing.
Handy little tire iron holder. When the tire is on it pushes up against the iron.
With the jack mounted

Finally, a full sized spare (36x12.50 for me). This tire was free thanks to my good buddy Allan. He actually got me two and Mike two. They were a set, but had some bad cupping so we split them up and made them spares. And no nothing is broken on my rear axle.