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DIY center vent gauge pod

13K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  Matchi 
#1 ·
alright guys, here goes my center vent pod. I was sitting around today bored and had some extra things laying around so decided I would start throwing some things together and see what i could come up with.

first off i had some left over pvc pipe from an old fiberglass pod i did in my last ej coupe so i cut out 3 pieces and used hot glue to put them together and at least make sure they would even fit in the center spot.

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next i took an old gauge bezel i had and cut out the center vent section. i skipped the whole process of removing this from your car since im sure everyone on here already knows how or can figure it out.

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it was a very close fit, but with very little trimming around the edges worked just fine.

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once i got that far, everything fit fine, so i went ahead and sprayed the pvc with some flat black rattle can i had just to darken it up and cleaned up the bezel, then glued the pod into place making sure to have even spacing and good vision on all the gauges.

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this is where i have stopped so far. there is more to come though, im going to fiberglass in to fill in the empty spots and smooth it out some to make a better transition. just need to pick up a few things first. stay tuned.
 
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#15 ·
He did say he wasn't sure what to do.

I say if you are good a wrapping it then match it ti the dash material to help it look like it is supposed to be there. Otherwise filling and sanding is gonna be even more work to get it perfect for paint. But I think it's gonna look cool as hell either way:bowdown:
 
#16 ·
thanks for the input guys. yeah i started out thinking about just paint, but then i thought about the black wrap just so it would look more natural too. just like you said hoove, it would look more like its supposed to be there, and i like that look. i might do that first and see what it looks like, if nothing else ill just pull the wrap if i dont like it and go the paint route, either way im going to like the shit out of it.
 
#18 ·
thats just the way the pic turned out. all three gauges fit fine, and are nice and snug, so thats not a problem. but yeah it is some work thats for sure. i think thats what has me leaning a little more towards just wrapping it, since that would mean a lot less finishing since the wrap will cover any imperfections
 
#20 ·
if i remember right, i think it was 2 1/8, but that might be slightly off, its been about a year since i bought it. i just took one of my gauges to lowes with me and just started putting it in pieces of pipe until i found one it fit in. LMFAO!!! but it would also depend on your gauge size too. some are 50mm some are 52mm so that might be the easiest way anyway.
 
#22 ·
got it all wrapped up finally! took quite a bit of work to get it in the corners so im glad the material i used had a little stretch too it, that helped alot. i also fabric'd right over the driver side vent as well since i dont use them anyway. made it look a little smoother and cleaner.

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then went ahead and wired in all the gauges, got them sorted out and installed ready to drop in the dash.

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i will post finished pics in the car and working tomorrow afternoon as soon as i get home from work and the gym.
 
#23 ·
no problem man. sorry i couldnt give you a solid answer. all total i really only had about 3 hours or so in the whole project, just the time between when i could actually work on it was longer. definitely worth the time though, the side pillars are just a little played out so i wanted something different, and this was something i hadnt seen yet, at least not around my area. so thanks again too everyone for the input and props i got.
 
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