So I had this idea for a while now and today actually got around to trying it. I can't do the A-pillar pod because of the side air bag thing. I don't like the individual mounting cups. So I thought of a pod for the center of the dash. I'd make a styrofoam mold, do a fiberglass wet lay-up over it, cut it, clean it, paint it, and boom, nice gauge pod. It's working so far, with one problem.

Sorry about this picture quality, bad outside glare with a crappy cell phone camera. Heres the basic idea...




The height is limited so as to not be any higher then the regular instument cluster, and cause no restriction to line of sight, as shown here:



Here is the only problem that I still have to think about. Due to the slope of the dash, there probably isn't enough room for the actual gauges to fit. The front is big enough for 3 gauges side by side, but there doesn't appear to be enough room behind for the actual gauge to sit.



I would make a new mold before actually doing the fiberglass. This one is a little rough. But I have to figure out how to give the gauges a little more clearance without increasing the height. I guess I could go a little higher if needs be, understanding that I will lose a small amount of line-of-sight.

 

line of sight wont be an issue unless you set with your eyes level to the dash.

 

Nice plan, be interesting to see if it takes life

 

Ha halfcent, were do i sing up to have you make me 1! lol id be willing to buy one from ya man! Thats prob the sickest **** i've seen for this car so far!!!!

 

if your not good with fiberglass send that mold this way would be awesome bro 3 gauge! 2 interceptors and a AEM wideband

 

that will look sick plus it flows with the dash

 

Send those finished molds over to Italstalnprd86 and he'll mass fiberglass them for us!

 

looks awesome man. I'd probably buy one too.

I have 2 suggestions if you don't mind,

1. try to get the back to finish at the last peice of the dash, it would probably look cleaner, and look more natural as if it was stock.

2. instead of having that large lip above, and cutting it flat, try following the line of the panel as it angles now, and mold out areas for where the gauge will sit.
it should give you alot more room to place your gauges.

it probably more work to do it that way,

but it looks great so far, can't wait to see the finished product.

keep up the good work

 

Awesome mock up!!! Can't wait to see how it turns out!!!

 

im down man

 

where the gauges would sit now, if they could they would be flush with the face of the foam. Instead mould the spots out a bit allowing the gauges more space to be mounted, sort of how the pillar gauge sits out now.

 

italstnprd86 is working on a gauge pod idea for me as we speak. he is making me a pod that sits ontop of the steering column. he's fiberglassing 2 2 1/16" gauges to fit on the ends of the column and itll slope down in the center for a shift light. from what ive seen of his work, the piece will turn out excellent!

 

I just made a face layout and have found that I can easily fit 4 gauges in this space. I'm going to try another mock up that doesn't form around the instrument cluster (easier) and with a little more height to give me my clearance. I should have that on Saturday. I'll post again when I have it made up.

 

Thats an awesome idea man. You might wanna send your idea to the guys at gaugepods.com casue they told me if we came up with an idea, they would possibly take the project on and we could get a group buy.

 

looks good so far. post pics of your new idea also.

 

I thought of this idea 3 months ago at a meet with members of our local chapter SS/SC but they laughed at me saying it would look retarted... Clearance isn't as big of an issue as you think, Another idea you could do is use a saleen center mount gauge pod and modify it to fit flush with your idea. Keep it low profile. Can easily hold three gauges. I won't want them all over the dash, would look kinda silly.



Just an idea. I realize this is an idea of your own and you want to be unique but instead of banging your head on this you could make it easier. I am getting where your coming from though.

If you want to use the A-Pillar mounts for those who don't have side airbags, a heat gun and a ford focus a-pillar is the easiest to mold for us. I know one guy who already has it done, looks nice but he needs to dress it up and color match the pillar before bolting it on. It will also require one more mounting screw compared to the two/three we have already

 

Ok bro, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM. It is your duty to your fellow .net'ers to hook us up with that. It looks real good and I will buy one ASAP. DO IT!

 

nice cant wait to see it done!

 

got my interest all right. can't wait to see what you do with it

 

How much would one of these run? I'd like to put some extra sensors on my car like a voltometer, A-F Ratio and one other sensor, eventually i plan on running FI so this would be nice in the meantime anyway

 

Inhale, I got my shift light, and im ordering a new column piece for you, as I used mine... wait till you see it, i will have pics up tonight, as for this idea, I like it, If you want, send it to me, and I can do a mold of it, what is that thing foam? I was thinking about doing a dual gauge thing for the center of the dash kind of like the wrx's have, get in touch with me about this, send me a pm, or aim me on Italstalnprd86, I have all next weekend free, and could get it done, and painted, and shipped back to you. I may actually try something like this now that I look at it, I was also thinking about the center vents too, but i would need a whole new dash to play with that idea....

 

also, half cent, the airbag pillars are the same as non airbags... if you where interested, i will have a dual gauge pillar done in the next week or so, and it can be painted any color, texture, or finish that you would like, i got the pod, im just waiting for the pillars to come, as they were on backorder as of last friday, I also have a triple in development, and will post pics as soon as they are done...

 

But it would need to be the same plastic type outside as the stock dash. which would be hard as hell to do. If it was painted a color i think it would look like crap. its to bulky. do what u want but i would laugh

 

How much would you want to make me a triple gauge cluster like the one Half Cent made a mold for?

 

depends man, materials, plus labor, plus id have to make the mold for it, if your serious, pm me, and we can discuss it, also JC, i have access to paints that are textured, so it would be the same color black, and same feel... the sweetest thing would be to make the whole thing one piece, as in not having any seems..... that would be what i would personally do, get another dash top, and make the whole thing one piece..... great, more crazy ideas..... hack, let me know and we will talk