I wanted to mount two gauges in a way that was easy to see and didnt block the instrument cluster, so I picked the vent area. Yeah fiberglass is probably stronger/better, but I dont think bondo will be an issue in a dash panel.

Had to sand the inside of some PVC piping to get the gauges to fit nice in the pipe, then had to trim out the vent a bit to allow the pipes to fit in near flush with the dash panel. Superglued in place for a temp fit:


Epoxyed them in, along with another few pieces of plastic in the larger areas for extra strength hopefully and started filling it in:


Primed it to find the poor areas that needed more attention:


Primed, and painted after the last bit of sanding:


With gauges in it:






Yeah, there are two areas that could of used a tad more filler, but I dont think it will bother me and I think they will be pretty hard to notice in the car.

Anyways, pretty easy to do, just time consuming like everything else in life. I cant wait to put them in the car tomorrow night, the top gauge is very visible, and the lower gauge is barely blocked by the steering wheel when I am sitting straight in the seat.

Any comments/suggestions for next time? This is the first time I built a gauge pod

 

good stuff! looks pretty good

 

came out nice man!!!! props

 

Impressive results!

Did you consider having the gauges face the driver a bit more? Not sure it would come off as aesthetically pleasing, but it might be slightly more functional. Let us know how you like it!

 

Nice, love all the different options people are trying.

 

not bad at all can't wait to see how it looks when it's installed! Only down side is that my left hand would get cold in the winter without the heater blowing on it

 

damn man looks great, can't wait for installed pics

 

great job! waiting for installed pic ;D

 

Props for sure man good job

 

I've thought of this too many times. The work looks great so far

 

Looks great! Probably a bit cheaper than laying CF on the center piece and re-locating the hazard switch, but I'm not sure I could do without that vent in the winter

 

Look awesome. Good job.

 

I am very happy with the way it turned out. The JDM dash piece fits way better than the other aftermarket one, it seems more solid when you push it into the dash too, the stereo fits right in, it awesome. The wideband is totally visible, the left part of the boost gauge is blocked when I am sitting straight in the seat. I imagine if I tilted the wheel down it would be more visible, but it doesnt bother me, I can still read the LED read out with no issues. Between the wiring for the sensor, the hose and the tee for the sensor it was barely long enough.

Needed to drill a whole in the bottom part of the vent ducting for the wires to pass into. I very seldomly use the dash vents for heat and it gets damn cold here at times. Winter almost seems like 4 months a year where it is below freezing temps.

 

very nice !!!

 

super clean install!