I wasn't thrilled with the gauge pod selections on the market, I don't like a-pillar mounts and the steering wheel pods were just plain and blocked too much of the instrument panel. I read Joe250's "diy fiberglass gauge pod" and he made it sound easy enough so I thought I could take this on myself.

I have never done fiberglass anything in my life and I am not a professional painter by any stretch, but I did sand till my hands were numb and the end result is pretty good. I got the hang of the fiberglass after the first few coats and found that if I tore the pieces I needed instead of cutting them, it would work much better.

I went to the home improvement store and picked up some fiberglass mat, fiberglass resin and hardener, bondo (I think I used the wrong kind), a few small paint brushes, acetone, and two 2" pvc end caps. Time for some fun!

I used a plastic spacer to make a gap in between the pods to achieve a more subtle change between the two. I also staggered the faces just for a more custom look. I found that AEM gauges w the threads from the mounting bracket hit the back of the cup, so I drilled out two holes at the back so the face could sit flush with the face of the cup. I drilled another hole in both cups for the wires going in and out.


I decided I was going to just fiberglass the cups directly to the steering wheel cover and have it be all one removable piece. The pieces ended up separating somehow and the cover had nothing on it at all, like I never even touched it! This ended up working out better in the end.


After about three or four coats of adding more fiberglass and resin I was finally ready to sand. I found that using different shapes of files worked really well for knocking down the big ridges and overall shaping. After the files I applied some bondo to further shape and fill in holes. I then went to 80, 150, 220, 400 grit sand paper until I was happy with the overall finish. Then I used good ol' Rust O'Leum flat blk for my color of choice. I sprayed about five coats with a light sanding in between a few coats.


My gauge's of choice are the Defi BF boost and AEM Air/Fuel (still have yet to install). With the way I placed the gauges you are still able to read all the numbers on the speedo and tach, and the entire fuel, temp and the super cool Lancer gauge. The only thing I'm not too thrilled with is not being able to see the oil and ses light, guess I will have to lean my lazy a** forward to see them every so often.


Hope you VIII and IX owners like this idea. Not to leave you fancy X owners out (jk I love all Evos just the same), I know if you have the two gauge steering wheel pod you can't see your speed until about 60!!! That is ridiculous and led to a few speeding tickets that I have known of. So after mine was finished it was time to make one for my best friend's X.

I used the same exact process as I did for mine except I put blue painters tape on the steering wheel cover. The X has a slightly diff finish and I wasn't sure if it would come off as clean. I also put the cups to the far outsides to tuck into the round parts on the dash board, there is about 1/2" of clearance and it looks so clean. The best part you can see how fast you are going and the tach from about 3000 up. We painted the gauge rings to match the car and set them on an angle just cause we could.


I have more pics if any one would like but I am a bit computer illiterate so I couldn't add them to this thread. Thanks for the inspiration Joe250, your thread was awesome.

 

Thought I would post a few night time pictures. Again sorry I don't have a gauge in the VIII but hopefully you get the idea.

 

im going to do this aswell, because i dont like the steering wheel pods u can buy...

i love doing things myself, just not sure on how to get the mould of the upper cover without ****ing it....
do you cover it with cling wrap first or something before laying down FG?

 

I ended up just using 2" blue painters tape to cover it. there are specific releasing agents you can brush on but tape did. just be gentle when separating the two. good luck

 

thanks for the tip there mate.