As the title says, I am making a stainless steel gauge panel. So far, I have the hole cut out for the gauges, and they fit pretty nicely. Unfortuntely it will look kinda unfinished since I dont have the tools to roll/bend the steel.

If I did however, I could put a bezel around the edge, with a little bit of an angle, and finish it up.

So far though, this is what it looks like:





Thoughts?

 

i think s4 gauges look old and horrible

 

I meant more along the lines of craftsmanship, and what you thought it would look like overall, not the quality of the gauges that I am currently using. I have a list of Autometer sport comp gauges that I want, but cant afford at the moment. This is my current fix.

 

man i love those pretzels they are the best ever!!

 

I want to convert to this sometime

 

^^Those do look nice, but meh, I like all analog. It just looks better to me to have a full sweep.

Come on! Any feedback about the idea of mounting that, or what the finished look will be?

And yes, those pretzles are awesome.

 

I'm just gonna say goodluck, I think it might look a little ghetto.

 

^True, but it does get rid of weight, and function before fashion is my goal.

Im planning on boxing the ends of it in, so that it has a finished look to it, though without a bezel to cover the gauge mounting screws it probably will end up looking a little sketchy.

 

FRP with mounting tabs in the FD Hood is great for what you are looking for.

 

What? I dont understand what you just said...

 

this is going in an fb??

 

I have the stack and it look like this in a FD...

 

MMM i want it, The I could get rid of the gauges. Just run some warning lights for when temps get exceeded. That or there is the AIM setup as well, also a very nice peice. However, I would have to change haltechs.

 

FC actually. Its gutted, and now only has the two seatbelts and the two seats. No door panels, no speakers, no dash, no ac, ground down the rear speaker towers, no carpet.

88 GTU if you were really curious.

 

are you adding other gauges in the plate???

 

i was thinking... for your edges since you said you dont have a rolling toll or bender... i remember on my ae86 project i made a plate for my msd box and i had nothing to bend the edges with.... so i began to look around and for some of the flexible rubber strips that go on the edge of car doors to protect them from other cars when you open the door... (know what im talking about??) and i put it aroung the edges since its flexible it turned with the plate real nice... anyway just something you might want to try....

 

No, for the moment there will be no more gauges added to this panel. When I do my complete setup (about the time I do my T2 engine swap...just need a rebuild on the motor...) It will have fuel, voltmeter, 9k tach, 160 speedo, wide band AF, oil pressure, oil temp, coolant temp, fuel pressure, boost gauge, and have a 6 switch plate wired in for all of the electronics, instead of the stock switches and panels.

I know what you are saying with that rubber, but I meant more along the lines of something to surround the actual gauge itself. Like on the Mini Cooper, and Cooper S, how it has that piece that surrounds the gauges that accents it all, and makes it look finished. Thats what I want to do. I kinda want to hide all of the mounting hardware, so that it looks a little cleaner.

 

oooooohhh.... i see what you're saying now...i guess for now i dont think that will bad.....IMO atleast....

 

Either way, I dont think anyone else decided to take my route for this car, so its still unique to me.

 

What I was saying is that the cleanest mount for a Stack cluster would be with a FRP surround. You make mounting tabs to go where the stock one would bolt up. But with the FC cluster I don't know where they are.

 

Yeah, about those mounting tabs...I ground them off. I didnt want them there, lol. In the future I will probably end up welding my own onto the firewall so that I can put stuff where I want, but for the moment, its mounting to the seam at the top of the firewall, and the steering column.

 

Okay, more pictures, got everything sorted out, with screws holding it down. Gonna tighten things up and throw some red lock tite at it so that it doesnt end up rattling loose.









It currently has screws holding everything in, and im going to go try and fit it to the steering column now. More pics soon.

 

Update: Panel is in the car. Have an idea on how to mount the top part, but at the current moment, it is only bolted to the steering column. I should have pictures up tomorrow.