Hands-On Build

1989 F-150 custom dash & electrical system.

I rebuilt the dashboard and 12V electrical system of a 1989 Ford F-150 — designing a custom aluminum dash in CAD, fabricating the panel by hand, and wiring the gauges, switches, and circuits from a schematic I drew myself.

AutoCAD layoutAluminum fabrication12V wiring designDiagnosticsDocumentation

The build

From a bare panel to a working, documented dashboard

The truck's original dash wasn't working correctly, so I designed and built a replacement from scratch. I started in AutoCAD — laying out where every gauge and switch would sit, dimensioned to scale — before cutting a single piece of metal. Then I fabricated the aluminum panel, installed new gauges and switches, and wired the whole 12V system following an electrical schematic I drew to plan the circuits and wire gauges ahead of time.

Aluminum dashboard panel installed in the truck interior before finishing

What

Custom aluminum dashboard for a 1989 F-150.
New gauges: voltmeter, fuel, RPM, oil pressure, water temp.
Toggle switches, ignition control, fuel-pump and turn-signal switches.

Back side of the custom dashboard showing wiring and switches

How

Modeled the layout in AutoCAD to define fitment and spacing.
Cut, drilled, and assembled the aluminum panel to that layout.
Wired the system to a pre-planned 12V schematic.

Finished dashboard with gauges and switches installed and working

Results

A fully functional, personalized dashboard installed.
Circuits consolidated into a clearer fuse/relay architecture.
CAD layout and wiring diagram kept for future troubleshooting.

Design

The dash layout, drawn in CAD first

AutoCAD dashboard layout with gauge diameters and switch positions dimensioned — **AutoCAD dash layout.** A to-scale drawing of the panel (roughly 24"×6") with gauge diameters, center-to-center spacing, and switch positions all dimensioned — so the cutting and drilling matched a plan instead of guesswork.

The 12V wiring schematic

Hand-built 12V electrical schematic for the custom truck dashboard — **Wiring schematic.** Battery → ignition solenoid → fuse box → individual circuits for gauges, lighting, ignition controls, and switches. Wire gauge were color-coded by function, so installation and any future diagnostics follow a documented map.

Contact

Looking for engineering internship and project opportunities.

Open to design, MEP, process, manufacturing, and reliability roles — and to project work. The fastest way to reach me is email or LinkedIn.

Email Me → LinkedIn Resume