4 GaugePod - catching up on writeups part 8
 

The dual A-pillar gauge mount I had in the track car was ok, but blocked some viewing space in that corner that I would liek to see when im on the track. So I emailed our gage pod specialist :-)

Frank ( Flyrx7@aol.com ) hooked me up with a very sweet 4 pod, perfect for my track car and great placement, right in the middle and not blocking of any viewing space.

I was very impressed with this piece, it was better constructed than most part I have purchased from big time vendors names. I am a picky guy, and this thing impressed me.

Installing the pod was easy, routing the lines to the speaker hole was not. Total PIA!!! but well worth it in the end. The pod snap in the stock center speaker location, the only suggestion I make is that if you plan on taking it on and off for test fits or whatever, take the metal clips off FIRST, then put them on when you are ready to install it for good, otherwise they may pop off when you pull it off and they fall in the center-speaker black hole of oblivion, never to be found again.

Here is a pic of my routing:
http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_4pod_2.jpg

And the final setup:
http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_4pod_1.jpg

Here is the link to Frank's pod info if you want one:
http://hometown.aol.com/flyrx7/Rx7-Gauge-Pod.html

Nice! Great job! :bigthumb:

I just noticed, how come on of your gauges seems to be slanted?

It's probably so the needle is pointing at his chosen point under ideal operating conditions. In the event of a problem, the needle goes past that point and it is obvious at a glance.

It's very common in racing cars to clock your gauges so you can tell at a glance (usually when the needles are straight up) what is going on.

Where does the wire go to once put through the center channel. Does it run into the space where the two dins are? OR is their another location to run the wire from the gauge to the glove box? As I am going to get the defi bf gagues and need to send wire from the control unit to the gauges than from gagues to desired parts of the engine.

yup...
 

This is pretty much the word for word explanation Damian gave me when I asked him a few weeks ago. :)

-Rotary4tw

Great write up damian. I'm considering getting a triple gauge pod from Frank myself and this write up is very helpful.

And i'm a little but curious also as to where the wires go and how you routed them from the engine bay to the gauges.

yup, you got it. I get most of them setup for the 'vertical' glance test. If any needls is vertical or past vertical in teh wrong direction, then i worry, otherwise I just glance and go!!! :-)

i have the control unit system, it came with the car when i got it, and I wired them fromt he center speaker, in the dash, down to where the stock stereo would be, that is where i have my control unit, then from there the sensor wires go out to the various sensors on the car. prior to that I had the control unit in the glove box, so you can wire it that way to, its just a matter of fishing the wires from one place to another.

basically its just a fishing game, its a PIA but you have to fish all the wires behind the center dash stuff, heater ducting, et, et. That is on the inside, from the gauges to the control unit. For the control unit to the sensors, I cut some holes in the huge main harness grommet that is on the firewall by the abs unit (if you have an abs unit). I dont have th abs anymore so I can get to it easily, look at this pic and you can see what I mean:

http://www.myrx7.com/images/damian_abs_removal_2.jpg

the big grommet for the main harness is down towards the bottom in the pic, notice it has connectors coming out of it, those are some of my sensor connectors. Also, I have some coming out of a hole on the other side of the firewall by the fuse box that sits above the dead pedal.

Damian,

I've been meaning to thank you for your kind words for some time now but have been forgetting. So thanks! And thanks for the video link, that was pretty cool!

Also just want to say that the spring clip advice you point out has prompted me to redesign their attachment method some. So thanks for pointing that out as well.

If you have anymore problems with the spring clips just let me know. Emperical data from a track car application would be good to know.

With all that said, I do have a few 52mm 3 and 4 gauge pods in stock for LH and RH drive, just in case someone was waiting for one. I know that since I only do limited productions throughout the year it's tough for you guys to get your hands on them, so get em' while you can!

Regards,
Frank

>>I've been meaning to thank you for your kind words for some time now but have been forgetting. So thanks! And thanks for the video link, that was pretty cool!

ur welcome :-)

>>Also just want to say that the spring clip advice you point out has prompted me to redesign their attachment method some. So thanks for pointing that out as well.

glad to help...what i ended up doing is drilling small holes in the flanges that hold the clips and getting similar clips at the auto store that 'hook' into the hole i drilled, so they stay there.

>>Emperical data from a track car application would be good to know.

I got some track car data for ya, THE GAUGE POD ROCKS!!! I love it on my track car, get all my important gauges right in front of me but not blocking any view of the track (a pillar mounting blokced the left edge to much for me).

Here is a screen cap from one of my vids where you can see it in action :-)

http://www.myrx7.com/movies/nasa_aut...-05_109lap.jpg

Also going along with that, some car manufactures, (I Think it is Porsche) Made their Tach slanted the same way so that 7-9K was pointing straight up instad of at the passegers feet, i personaly believe this is a great idea because it lets the driver focus more on the road ahead then the gauges and trying to figure out where he is sitting engine wise. Very cool Damian. and Flyrx7, those are some sweet Gauge holders you made there really show lots of qaulity (from what i can see in your work, looks very good, hell i might even get a few one day.



Prôdigy

I don't like the way the gauges point away from you.
So I got a one off made by Frank to have it closer to you as it goes away to the right.
Thus the front of gauges lines up the the AC vent, and back lined up with the windshield. He did a really good job.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...d=138662&stc=1

Nobody else stepping up to the quad 60mm, eh? :) Ah well....probably for the best

hey Damian, this is kind of off topic, but what kind of camera are you using to take your pictures? I really like the picture quality.

I am in the middle of constructing my own quad pod. I will post as soon as i have more progress with it. I just started on Friday.

Nice 6yr thread rez! Will subscribe! Haha!

Hahaha I didnt even realized I brought it back from the dead. lol

Hi Damien,

Frank makes these pods for us right hookers here in the UK and they are THE best
quality I've ever seen, I've got a 60mm quad pod for my tripple rota race car.

Dave

How much does he charge to make a quad pod mate?

This is what i got so far

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...a/IMAG1137.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...a/IMAG1138.jpg

Hey Frank,

Remember to make the clips easy to adjust up and down so that owners can adjust the orientation more. Some people may have slightly warped dashes or who knows what else so fitment will be different from person to person.

Small update and I just contacted Frank about an issue that seems to effect one brand of gauges. I recently acquired one of his pods...wow! The thought, design and workmanship is outstanding! Literally I've been waiting for the next batch of his pods for 6 months and had the chance to pick up a used one.

Unfortunately, I run the PLX Gauge system and ran into the following issues with the LHD 60mm x3 Pod.

Left Gauge: Bezel/Face fit but plug could not fit through to center
section to drop down into speaker hole.

Center Gauge: Bezel/Face did not fit at all. Plug could drop through.

Right Gauge: Bezel/Face did not fit at all. Plug could not fit through
to center section to drop down into speaker hole.

It breaks my heart to think about cutting this pod up. I could bring myself to enlarge interior holes to fit the plugs through. However there is not a solution to the gauge faces not fitting due to bumping up against the sides on the center and right sections. =(