Custom gauge mount

[Sweety]

A while ago I built a small gauge pod to fit in the cubby hole at the bottom of the dash in front of the gear sticks & have been happy with the result but having to look down to check the voltage & boost pressure is getting on my nerves & you have to take your eyes off the road for to long for my liking:doh
Current set up:augie


Next option was to fit an A pillar pod like Lazy Ferret has (what a great job you did Clive:thumbs) but for some reason I wasn't 100% sure I wanted my gauges there so thought if I can get another centre dash at a good price i'll mod it like I did on my old MK2 T2 & replace the centre air vents with my gauges again so contacted Cnc fabs who is sorting me out with a centre dash (cheers mate:thumbs)
Will update this with pic's once the dash arrives & I start working on it
Here's my MK2 centre dash after being modded & hopefully this one will come out very much the same

 

[jims-terrano]

Itll be interesting to see but I have to say I like the air flow from those centre vents when its warm.

 

[AlexD333]

Itll be interesting to see but I have to say I like the air flow from those centre vents when its warm.

Yep, the only reason I wouldn't do it :thumb2

 

[Sweety]

Itll be interesting to see but I have to say I like the air flow from those centre vents when its warm.

TBH the centre vents never get used as heater is always pointed at screen, feet or both as hate hot air blowing directly in my face plus I always have my window open a bit as neither of us like the air getting stuffy. The gauges mounted where the air vents are I found great in my last T2 as you could clearly read them at a glance but could keep an eye on the road & didn't get any glare from the gauge lights:thumb2 but like any custom mod what works for one person doesn't mean it'll work for others:augie but I do remember getting asked how I did my other dash so this time i'll take lots of pic's & if someone else wanted to do it then the info will be here for them:thumbs

 

[jims-terrano]

TBH the centre vents never get used as heater is always pointed at screen, feet or both as hate hot air blowing directly in my face plus I always have my window open a bit as neither of us like the air getting stuffy. The gauges mounted where the air vents are I found great in my last T2 as you could clearly read them at a glance but could keep an eye on the road & didn't get any glare from the gauge lights:thumb2 but like any custom mod what works for one person doesn't mean it'll work for others:augie but I do remember getting asked how I did my other dash so this time i'll take lots of pic's & if someone else wanted to do it then the info will be here for them:thumbs

Absolutly Neil couldnt agree more that its a personal thing, thats what I keep telling Alex about his lovely bumpers:lol

Have to say the AC never gets turned off as it dries the air so helps keep windows clear but when I want to cool down a little I switch over to the centre vents. Infact the centre vents dont get warm, slightly better in the 05 plate but even they are not warm.
Ive seen the mod inserts for other vehicles on ebay.

 

[Sweety]

Absolutly Neil couldnt agree more that its a personal thing, thats what I keep telling Alex about his lovely bumpers:lol

Have to say the AC never gets turned off as it dries the air so helps keep windows clear but when I want to cool down a little I switch over to the centre vents. Infact the centre vents dont get warm, slightly better in the 05 plate but even they are not warm.
Ive seen the mod inserts for other vehicles on ebay.

Yes found the AC great for clearing the front windows even had the outside of the windscreen steam up on a warm but wet day:lol if it gets to warm either AC go's on mainly for the dog or I lower my window down further but this truck doesn't get as warm as my last one thanks to the rear being tinted & the front windows having UV & heat filtering glass (stamped on the glass)

 

[Sweety]

Firstly many thanks to Cnc fabs for the fast postage & great service plus for sending me a centre dash in such fantastic condition:thumbs
Had a busy day today so only managed to spend an hour on the project but a 1/3 of the way now
New dash arrived this morning & of cause the dog had to check it out:lol




Next job was to rip out the vents with a pair of pliers had a slight mishap as one bit of the vent flew across into the kitchen & hit my wife:naughty



Now 52mm gauges won't slide straight in & have to be angled upwards slightly for the gauge bezel to clear so the vents ducting needs to be shortened & the lower part has to be cut out:augie





Next job was to get the dremel out & grind down all of the mounting points for the vent fins but slipped & caught the main part of the dash:doh but will be able to sort that out when it comes to getting the body filler out to start the blending work. Here's how the dash sits at the minute

 

[Sweety]

At long last managed to spend some time on the dash this afternoon the last one I did I removed the thumb dials to open the heater vent flaps but this time I decided to keep them in place to help keep some strength in the centre part of the dash because of were the top fixing is. As they are raised out came the dremel again & ground them down just below the surface of the rest of the dash & then put a skim of fibreglass filler over them & behind the dash in the same area so those thumb dials won't move again & once the fibreglass had went hard the front of the dash got a quick rub down to take off any high points.
Next job was to make up some blanking plates to fill up the holes where the vents used to be & for my gauges to slide into, for this I used some 6mm acrylic I had knocking about. Cut it to a rough size & marked out the centre & used a 51mm hole saw to make the holes for the gauges & then used the dremel to open it up to 52mm. Then it was a case of trimming the blanks until they fitted into the old air vent openings ok & then secured them in place with some epoxy resin. I want/need to add a lot more epoxy yet but will wait until the first skim of body filler has been added to the front of the dash so the epoxy can't bleed through any gaps & mark the front of the dash.
All going to plan the body filler will be coming out tomorrow:thumb2 Here's the dash as it sits now

 

[bry]

Interested to see everything in situ..

 

[Sweety]

Not done much with it being Xmas but spent a little time rubbing down the body filler & the whole of the centre dash today & tried both gauges in their position but the hole for the boost gauge on the right needs opening up a bit as it's a really tight fit so will do that in the morning but apart from that i'm now ready to start spraying it with primer
Took a quick pic with the gauges in place

 

[AlexD333]

That's looking really tidy. Interested to see the finished product :thumb2

 

[Sweety]

That's looking really tidy. Interested to see the finished product :thumb2

Got to get the old heater out of the loft & 1/2 empty the shed so I can turn it into a spray booth as it's far to cold to be spraying outside:doh

 

[Sweety]

Managed to turn my shed into a spray booth:lol sprayed the dash with plastic primer & the following day sprayed it with high build primer:thumb2 It needs some more body filler added & rubbed down again. Whent to unplug my heater in the shed & it blow the electrics & got a lovely big blue flash so need to sort that out before I can start spraying again as it's just to cold outside to do it
Quick pic of it all in primer

 

[Banshee]

Sorry to Hijack the thread but if anyone else is planning on adding any guages to their Terrano/Maverick, I still have this for sale

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Managed to turn my shed into a spray booth:lol sprayed the dash with plastic primer & the following day sprayed it with high build primer:thumb2 It needs some more body filler added & rubbed down again. Whent to unplug my heater in the shed & it blow the electrics & got a lovely big blue flash so need to sort that out before I can start spraying again as it's just to cold outside to do it
Quick pic of it all in primer

I like that... only thing is... that large gap between the gauges cry's out for a switch....

 

[Sweety]

I like that... only thing is... that large gap between the gauges cry's out for a switch....

That has crossed my mind a few times but with the reinforcement i've put in behind there it won't be easy to do but it's still possible to do if I wanted one:augie

 

[jims-terrano]

That has crossed my mind a few times but with the reinforcement i've put in behind there it won't be easy to do but it's still possible to do if I wanted one:augie

Ejection seat:thumbs

 

[Ianinessex]

Ejection seat:thumbs

Nah, it's only Alex that needs one of those. :augie The rest of us are safer if we stay inside the car. :thumb2

 

[Sweety]

Just remembered I haven't updated this:doh progress has been slow as other things have needed doing:augie Anyway applied a few coats of high build primer to the dash & sanded it down to get rid of the high & low spots:augie Then sprayed it again with high build & gave it a light sanding & all looked good:thumbs

 

[Sweety]

Next stage was to spray it with grey primer & sanded it smooth today ready for the coloured paint to be applied hopefully over this weekend