Finally finished my little gauge pod project in preparation for my turbo project. Not all that hard to make....just a lot of sanding and waiting for stuff to dry. Boy am i glad i chose not to fiberglass this. I ended up making an abs plastic sludge to smoothly mold the pods to the dash, and used filler to smooth out all the imperfections. Some primer and paint, and the project was done.
I probably would of opted for smaller OD tubing originally but if the gauges cover the edges as it looks like it will Looks better than the original as the original wasn't completely smooth some areas filling in where the tubing meets the OEM piece.
Yea, i wanted thin wall tubing too, but there was only one thickness of abs tubing at home depot. I'm pretty sure my guages will cover the edge, if not i'll just give it a slight taper at that edge to hide it.
Well, looks like my project isn't finished yet. There were some air bubbles present during the molding process and ended up expanding while under the sun's heat. The seams now were puffy and bubbly, ruining my project pretty much. I've sanded and gutted the problem areas and sealing them back up right now. Hopefully i've eliminated all the air pockets. Guess its time to stop procrastinating and finally invest in a heat gun.
As for the procedure, i used abs piping and cut and shaped them to the dash. Then, i dissolved pieces of abs into a liquid by using small amounts of acetone. After epoxying the pieces onto the dash, i used the sludge to fill in the major gaps. Sanded everything to shape, smoothed out the minor imperfections with some filler, sanded again, primered and painted.
I will consider making these once i ensure that my creation doesn't bubble up anymore. For those who are interested, shoot me a PM and we can talk, but remember prices will not be very cheap since i have to spend mucho time sanding and shaping.
Well, looks like my project isn't finished yet. There were some air bubbles present during the molding process and ended up expanding while under the sun's heat. The seams now were puffy and bubbly, ruining my project pretty much. I've sanded and gutted the problem areas and sealing them back up right now. Hopefully i've eliminated all the air pockets. Guess its time to stop procrastinating and finally invest in a heat gun.
As for the procedure, i used abs piping and cut and shaped them to the dash. Then, i dissolved pieces of abs into a liquid by using small amounts of acetone. After epoxying the pieces onto the dash, i used the sludge to fill in the major gaps. Sanded everything to shape, smoothed out the minor imperfections with some filler, sanded again, primered and painted.
I will consider making these once i ensure that my creation doesn't bubble up anymore. For those who are interested, shoot me a PM and we can talk, but remember prices will not be very cheap since i have to spend mucho time sanding and shaping.
AS long as its not mugen price and arm and a leg i think a lot of people would be down for it lol.
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Looks better than the original as the original wasn't completely smooth some areas filling in where the tubing meets the OEM piece.
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