Gauges in the ash tray.
 

Just wondering if anyone has ever done this. I was thinking of putting my gauges in the plate for the ash tray, instead of the a-pillar. Has anyone ever done this? It would be a nice clean, almost OEM location, and since I dont' smoke, no loss to me. :)

My first RX-7 was an 81 and I removed the coin tray and mounted 3 VDO guages in that slot. It worked very well. Had a machine shop fab a metal block off plate to fit the opening and installed the center console trim piece over that. Worked great, was at the right height and looked OEM...

Well, that's what I'm looking for. When I do stuff to cars, it has to be clean....my goal most of the time is to make a car look like it should've came from the factory that way. :)

Sounds like a cool idea. Post a pic if you do it.

Check out this website. It shows 3 VDO guages in a VW that looks damn near EXACTLY what I did to my 81...Very stock...I think the dimension for this DIN adapter may very weel work with a little cutting and filing..
http://www.egauges.com/vdo_agrp.asp?SName=Dash_Inserts

just wondering if you have a pic of the 3 gauge setup Tom. it looks like a tight fit, so I'll probably only do 2. cool thanks:)

sounds like a good idea, except for the fact of taking your eyes off the road

Well, you do for the speedo too. ;) And radio, etc.....

yeah, but a pillar guages are near your line of view, so you don't have to take your eyes off for long.

I think essential gauges like oil pres, oil and water temp should go in the A-Pillar and tuning guages, A/F ratio, EGT, fuel pressure and such should go on the center console at the ash tray... After you've rejetted teh carb, or whatever, you take it on a test drive, you glance down at those gauges...

During any regular drive, you watch the essential guages on teh A-pillar.

Thanks Pele my feelings precisely... the a-pillar is ideal for the oil pres and temp. As for the astray mounted ones I like that idea as well but I think it is too far down to look in a highspeed situation. On my se I was going to move the climate controls down and put guages right there. Up top where they are easily glanced at and the ability to have the street in you peripheral vision is ideal.

Just my opinion.

I totally agree with the placement of essential guages positioned within line of sight. Top of dash preferred over A pillar for sure. If you are running your car balls to the wall all of the time or racing there is no other choice (and you might want a warning light system as well). The center console is just the best, easiest way to install and get an OEM look and feel. The guages I installed used an offset bezel ring to direct the face of the guages towards the drivers position. They worked fine for me and were definately ok at a glance.
Unfortunatley no interior pics of that car...That was 10 years ago..I just bought an 85 GSL and am in the process of tweaking. The center console is diff than my old 81..The stock round climate control knobs damn near would fit guages...(Who needs freakin heat and a/c anyway???)

Schweeeet!

Hey DF hows that film holding up?

very nice directfreak... I'm gonna be doing the same thing but swap the climate controls with the gauges... thats pretty

I see u got the Gtech pro DF.... nice nice...!

Anybody know how to get the center dash trim piece off that goes around the head unit and climate controls? I'm taking my entire dash out, and I already took the two bottom screws out of the trim piece, but something else is holding it, and I don't want to force it for fear of breaking it.

what year the interiors are diff depending on the year...

i cant see the pic.. DF pls post again