Thanks Christopher. I'm not suggesting any of the advice offered was incorrect or that it should not have been offered. Quite the opposite, I feel it is important to share the experience, safety tips, or other bits of valuable input we can. To that point I'm sure the original poster of this thread got the message; his modifications are changing the vehicle's normal structure in what might be an adverse way (depending on the intended future application of the car).
But is that necessarily a bad thing in all cases? As I stated that depends, but certainly not necessarily. I would never want to stifle anyone's creativity, especially in the realm of customization. Which by my definition "customization" means to do something not within the norm, to do things different from everyone else, to explore new ground with out of the box ideas - no matter how wild, unconventional, or otherwise beyond the scope of what's considered acceptable practice. To me the creation of a totally custom dash, from scratch, that has no relation to the original design or structure, is the very essence of a "custom". Sure, many have fitted an old Desoto dash into a old Chevy pick-up cab, or the likes. But has anyone here ever made an original design dash from scratch for the X1/9? I doubt it. For that I say kudos to Clark and encourage him to go full throttle into his own dream design. Hope everyone gets the point without any offense.
If you look at my profile page and review a sample of my prior posts, it is obvious I come from a "custom vehicle" background. During the course of the automotive business I've owned/operated over the years, the principle focus has been building customized vehicles from mild to wild. And I contend a heavily modified car can be created while still being safe and fully functional; it might require additional engineering and development, but it can be done. Fully realizing that is not everyone's cup of tea, I equally respect those who build faithfully original restorations to exacting factory specifications. We are all unique, as should be our rides.
Love and respect to everyone here.