Crash pads design?

[Richard48Y]

"Step 5........."
Use a very expensive custom vacuum chamber to form the vinyl.
The one step not easily done at home.

[GavinT]

"Step 5........."
Use a very expensive custom vacuum chamber to form the vinyl.
The one step not easily done at home.

True, but people vinyl wrap entire cars with a heat gun.

[4129R]

The steering column is designed to collapse before it impales you.  That's why it's made in two pieces with a friction clamp to join them.  The parts manual calls it an "Impact Clamp".

Does anyone know what the 1" wide, about 10" long metal strip from the steering column to the bottom of the plenum chamber does?

Is this the impact shock absorber, light and cheap, a Chunky special.

[BDA]

I think it adds a little rigidity although I forgot to put mine in and everything felt ok. When I realized I had forgotten it, I almost didn’t try to put it in but it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I can’t say I felt a lot of difference after but I think I felt a bit. On the other hand, I might have talked myself into thinking it was more rigid after I went to the trouble of putting it in!