gauge pod

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

I'm going out on a limb posting this pic because it is not quite done but I have an A/C car and have other plans for the dead speaker space on the dash- I'm mounting a small Samsung tablet in there. Has anyone done this before- I think it's going to work well though I have to do a little trimming on the sides. I can also cover in vinal or texture-paint it to match the steering wheel cover- thoughts?

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

It looks like it will work so I did some finishing. Still open to suggestions!

 

[Stevehose]

Looks really good, depending on how picky you are, I'd paint the gauge needles white.

 

[Nicad]

It looks like it will work so I did some finishing. Still open to suggestions!

I have toyed with the idea of different gauge setups. I have a blank to go over the center speaker with three cutouts and a Crinkle finish, but I do like how clean the dash looks with the Grille in place. The idea I would like to try is to mount three gauges on a slider under the radio, so I can tuck them out of sight when I want the car looking stock and make use of the storage and slide them out when I want to monitor volts/ oil temp and O2. So far an unrealized idea.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Semi installed- I still need to clean it up a bit and you can't see where the A/C control knobs should be because of the wheel. Nothing like a flash to expose all the dirt and dust in the car. Also looks like there is room for more gauges but there is really not enough room back there.

 

[stphers]

Looks great, if you want to add something else, I think from what I see on the size of your gauges, they will fit in the Alfa Romeo Spider gauge offsets. These are plastic chrome and the existing gauges fit right inside them and makes them offset to the driver so he can see them better. Did this to a 69 1600 that I tricked out years ago. Same gauge set up, looked very cool in the car.

Thanks, Rick

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Thanks for the suggestion Rick, I may try that off-set thing but I'm going to set it up so I can get all the stuff working first, seems like double work but everything I've done on this car is double work .

 

[Ohmess]

Question

What color lighting are you planning to use? The stock white probably matches the interior lighting well (although my interior lighting is not working right now, so its hard to say). That said, the orange in my e39 is quite pleasant and in days gone by I had thought the the red lighting in my Audi Allroad was very nice at night.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Gauges in-

I can only assume that the lights in the gauges are white as I have not connected them yet. Quite a few wires back there. I also made a little mount for the tablet and I have a speaker (Bluetooth JBL) that I plan on hanging from the dash once I make a bracket. The color match is actually better than the flash shows and it fits in there pretty neatly. One day when I get other stuff finished I'll put a new dash and wood in there and clean things up a little more.

Regarding color of lights, I had a 320i in '77 (actually mums car) but I remember reading the manual and it said the lights were "red" because their studies indicated that that was the easiest in the eyes at night, meaning that the pupils did not dilate (as much) when looking at red so when you glanced back to the road you were still focused. If only they put that much thought into a few other things

 

[Stevehose]

Are there any issues with blocking off the front air louvers?

Gauges in-

I can only assume that the lights in the gauges are white as I have not connected them yet. Quite a few wires back there. I also made a little mount for the tablet and I have a speaker (Bluetooth JBL) that I plan on hanging from the dash once I make a bracket. The color match is actually better than the flash shows and it fits in there pretty neatly. One day when I get other stuff finished I'll put a new dash and wood in there and clean things up a little more.

Regarding color of lights, I had a 320i in '77 (actually mums car) but I remember reading the manual and it said the lights were "red" because their studies indicated that that was the easiest in the eyes at night, meaning that the pupils did not dilate (as much) when looking at red so when you glanced back to the road you were still focused. If only they put that much thought into a few other things

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Hi Steve, No, no issues- there is normally only about half-3/4 of an inch behind the louvers and then the fan housing so I guess if I had one of those machines I could have made vents but there should not be a heat issue either because there is plenty of "air" back there. I'll take some pictures when the lights are on. Surprisingly it looks very period correct- not Rikki-Racer but I eventually will do a better job matching the paint. BTW for the correct texture I primed then shot it with "spatter paint" then sanded it flat-er and re sprayed with black. I have done this on a few steering column covers and it looks very original.

 

[rsporsche]

Peter

different question - who did your console side panels? are they done in leather or vinyl?

 

[Stevehose]

That's a very clean install and with the gauges prominent have you considered the VDO Series 1 which more closely matches the original gauge style? IMHO it would make it even more stock looking with the chrome bezels and white pointers, this would make them pop a little and not have too much black on black (and red pointers):

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

RS, local shop, in vinyl, pretty cheap.

Steve, well, that's just one more thing I'll have to do twice (at least). I should have checked for styles first but I agree- the chrome looks nice and the white too, not sure why I picked the black- I think when I was shopping on line they looked best-to me- from the pictures. Duh, I never considered the mounting background. Good call though- thanks

 

[Stevehose]

It's ok, whenever I change my mind mid-project I just tell my wife "don't worry, I'll sell them" then put them in a box in the garage with my other parts from various half baked projects...plus you have room for 2 more gauges