Build B7100 dashboard from scratch?

[Tranberg]

My rust bucket B7100D (manual gear) was "professionally" retrofitted with a heated cab for winter duties.
Part of the cab is a custom built dashboard, to keep the elements out @torch you mention that the B7100 was not built witha a cab in mind, in your homebuilt cab thread.

It's all badly rusted and the cab has been sawed off, leaving only part of the A pillars for the doors.

I've never seen an open station Kubota, or any other sub compact tractor for that matter, here Denmark, since they were all sold for snow removal on sidewalks and parking lots in mind, so I suspect they just threw the original dash on the scrap pile, when the cabs were installed.

All the remaining parts have more or less crumbled to rust and dust, so how would you go about building a dash from scratch?

It looks like the original dash panel is attached to a flange on the steering column?

This $35 used dash panel will be at least $235 before it's in my hands

 

[Russell King]

Look also at how the fuel tank is attached to the tractor. On my similar vintage L185 the dash flat part is separate from the cowl. There are not the bolts at the steering wheel flange to attach to. On the cowl piece it bolts in four places to the same supports that hold the fuel tank in place. I think the dash you show would have something to support the outer edges or it would probably shake very badly.

The shape of your dash in the picture is almost identical to the one on my L185 so I assume it would be mounted in a similar way.

(Since you may not be fluent in English technical words the cowl is the enclosing, curved part of the dash, not the flat part the gauges are mounted in.)

 

[Russell King]

Here is a link to a similar situation on how to do the metal parts bui and replacement.

The first b5100 Delorean

My poor kubota has sat on a wet damp west cork Island in Ireland for 25 years before my uncle handed me the keys.There is not much left that hasnt rotted passed repair,but I am going to ensure it never rusts again.Where I can I'm going to replace parts with stainless steel.Why? ...I dont know...

www.orangetractortalks.com

but buying used is probably much cheaper, even with the import fees

 

[Tranberg]

Thanks a bunch.
The De Lorean before looks like my tractor.
I do understand the term cowling.
It looks like the hood on my tractor has been moved 10-15 cm / 4-6 inches forward, probably to clear the cab, the rear edge is less than half the length of the tank.
The electric fan prevents moving it and the radiator back to allow the hood to cover the tank entirely.

 

[Russell King]

I can take some pictures of my L185 if you would like me to.

the hood on my tractor has a opening for the fuel cap and goes back past the cap by 25 to 50 mm. It then closes down on top of the cowl and probably overlaps by 25 mm.

Of course there is no electric fan on my tractor but the fan is driven by the fan belt. I have no water pump or thermostat on my tractor either.

I assume your tractor was converted to the electric fan so it could be turned off when it was too cold?

 

[Vigo]

Can you post a picture from a little further away from the tractor so we can get the ‘big picture’?

I do see how the hood has been moved, but it also looks like they might have made use of that extra space behind the hood somehow so.. is moving it back to the original location even an option?

Ive taken the dash off some 6100/7100s. It bolts to the flange on the steering column and nowhere else. Directly in front of it is the fuel tank and battery tray but neither of those attach to the dash panel in any way.

If you dont care to replicate the entire original shape it would be pretty darn easy to make just a flat panel to mount in place of the original dash. The hood would normally rest on the dash panel when closed so if you moved your hood back to original location you would at least need to add some material extending forward from the top of the dash panel for the hood to have something to sit on.

I have one id willingly sell, but if it would really be that much to get it over there i guess thats no help.

 

[Lil Foot]

Not sure if this helps, B7100 gear controls:

 

[Tranberg]

@Vigo Shipping to Denmark is USD115 when using https://www.forward2me.com/pricing/ and my guesstimate dimensions.

@Lil Foot It helps a lot, I've already saved it from your post in the De Lorean thread. Do you have more of those delicious colour pictures from the operator's manual?

My hood rests on the firewall bolted onto the rear of the engine. I assume it does that even with the original dash panel.
The electric fan is needed because they deleted the alternator, (that many mistake for a water pump) where the original fan was mounted, and installed a car-type alternator driven directly from the crankshaft without any additional idler pulley.

They made a very crude replacement water outlet, with a thin steel plate with an elbow welded on

I ripped out all the defective wiring, tested the ignition switch to be in perfect order, and for now I want to build a makeshift temporary dash, to get the tractor driveable.

I then need to get Hi/Lo, 4WD and the 3pt to work, besides the brakes.

I bought a 5 litre/quarts jug of WD40 and a spray bottle to apply liberal amounts on the flaky rust surfaces, and it works wonders to get beneath the rust and make it fall off.

 

[Lil Foot]

Ask & you shall recieve:

B7100D Sales Brochure

Gurn's post on his L175 sales brochure inspired me to dig this out.... Cover, Page 1 & 2

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[Tranberg]

Thanks a lot. The hi-res PDF's are not freely downloadable these days, 11 years later.

 

[Vigo]

My hood rests on the firewall bolted onto the rear of the engine. I assume it does that even with the original dash panel.

Sort of. I'd say it sits on both. From the factory there is some kind of rubber trim on the edges of both the dash and firewall to reduce rattling. From factory there are also spring loaded hooks mounted near bottom of steering column to pull the hood down against the dash and hold it closed to prevent rattling. Sort of like the hood straps on an old Jeep.

 

[Tranberg]

I won't show you my makeshift dash, made from a sheet of plexiglass I had.