Have Not Done Anything Great In A While..So I Made This..PICS!

[slownrusty]

Well guys I went ahead and finally made my own three gauge pod for my 280ZX Turbo. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason that you cannot adapt the same to your S30 car as the A-pillars are VERY close.

 

Cost: Approx $100-$125

 

Time: Pretty much a full weekend (15ish hours).

 

Difficulty: If I can do it you can too...and I am pretty stupid...! Some body work experience would be good but not really needed.

 

Material needed:

1) Fiberglash mesh

2) Any type of bodywork Bondo Duraglas type product + Cream Hardener

3) 100Grit and 220Grit Sandpaper

4) A Drill and small-ish bit and 3-4 regular self tapping screws

5) A Dremel or hope you have an extremely steady surgeon's hand

6) Some plastic containers you can throw away to mix the Bondo up in

7) Tape

8) Patience!!

 

Here goes:

Order the Miata Gen 1 Gauge Pods ('90-'98), I ordered these from Summit Racing and as I wanted to do a three gauge pod, I bought a 2 pod and a single pod as nobody makes a three gauge pod for the Miata and blended them together to make a 3 pod. Autometer Part Numbers 20661 and 20660.

 

I experimented with over $200+ of pods and everything from Miata to Fox Body Mustang to Evo to Z32 so I know what fits and what does not. Trust me the Miata is the closest.

 

The A pillar on my ZXT is 64mm wide and the Miata is 67mm wide and flares out to 72mm - so right away you know some work is going to be required to make it work and make it look slick. I am trying to achieve a clean factory look with no ugly screws and mis-fitting bulgy pieces - something that Mr.K might be give me the thumbs up.

 

Many people say heat and re-shape...but I am still boggled how that might work as plastic and heat can get ugly and these Autometer Gauge Pods are a high quality very stiff injection molded plastic that would take alot of heat to re-shape and consequently if you are not careful will distort easily them with too much heat. So I stayed away from this option.

 

Here is what you need to buy (of if you already have this stuff, which you should if you own a Z...LOL!! - you are off to the races!):

 

Remove your factory OEM A pillar trim and try not break it...I broke mine...UG...so more repair will be required when I am done.

 

Measure twice and cut once!!! Run a piece of tape down the side of the pods to act as straight line and trim the 3-4mm you need to make the pod actually match the width of your OEM A pillar trim. I used a Dremel with a metal cutting wheel and it sliced through that plastic like a hot knife in butter:

 

 

Place the pods on your factory A pillar trim how you want them and drill some small holes and use 3-4 self tapping screws to keep them secure in place for the fiberglass Bondo stage. Also this will give you an idea of how much gap you will need to fill:

 

Notice the light between the pod and the pillar!:

 

Trimmed and fastened down (yes I like power tools...LOL!):

 

Mix up your Bondo / Fiberglass concoction of choice. I started with a VERY strong metalicized Bondo product and use the Fiberglass mesh under it to bond this body filler to the pods and the A-pillar trim and also to give strength and bridge to gap caused by the wider pod. The first application looks like $a$$ but not worry it gets better as you sand it down and apply thinner and thinner lifts as you get down to the final stages.

Here is the first ugly lift (and my new front mount IC as a table top!)

 

And underneath, you can where my A pillar broke when I tried to carefully remove it! You can also see the fiberglass mesh...this is the key ingredient in this process, without this mesh the Bondo or what ever you use will crack and fall out in time...if anyone has ever done concrete work you will know what I mean:

 

Sand...sand sand sand sand (dust mask recommended) and a few more lifts later - looking better:

 

I then finished off the last few thin layers lifts with Duraglass..which incidently is a product I love to use:

 

I used a Magic Marker to mark any surface irregularities, highlow spots or voids and then filled and sanded accordingly:

 

Then done....!! Autometer take note! I will mount it in the car this weekend coming with more pics (so look for that post). I primed it in these two pics and the paint was still wet so could not mount it. I am going to wet sand it and then spary paint it the same color as my interior (red) to match and use Krylon Plastic Spray Paint.

Not bad...

 

 

I hope that helps anyone attempting something like this.

 

My Best - Yasin

[Cruez]

Nicely done...

 

I hope to start fabbing up some fiberglass pieces for the wagons interior when its time

[DavyZ]

Yasin, great work! Very professional looking and it'll be completely functional too. Leave it black

 

BTW, post some pics of it mounted w/gauges pleeeze.

 

Davy

[naviathan]

I'm curious, it doesn't look like you opened up the backside for wiring and mounting? Do you plan to cut that later?

 

Looks awesome though.

[slownrusty]

I'm curious' date=' it doesn't look like you opened up the backside for wiring and mounting? Do you plan to cut that later?

 

Looks awesome though.[/quote']

 

 

Yup....I did not want to weaken it more by cutting holes in it during the sanding and molding process....and BTW...I Love "Backside"...LOL

 

Yasin

[naviathan]

lol, didn't catch that when I typed it. Give me a break, I'm a product of the North Carolina Education System.