bitemedoughboy.com Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) i have been tossing around the idea of a custom a-pillar gauge pod (they dont make em for my junk) and found this write-up: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4144013 decided it was time so... picked up some 2" ABS pipe and 3 couplers, some sanding blocks, sand paper, more resin (my can had gotten hardener in it the hole thing was gelled), a pint of bondo, a can of high build primer, some chip brushes and a graduated plastic cup. i already had some fiberglass cloth and the other crap i needed. the a-pillar cover: cut up some pieces of ABS, and cut down the coupler (un-cut coupler on left): cut down coupler on a piece of ABS with Oil pressure gauge in it: the most expensive part of the project (5 bucks for 6 styro balls): stuffed the styro ball in the ABS to mark it: filed it down to fit 1/2 way into the ABS: hot glued the balls in the holes: took the rough pods and the pillar cover out to the pathfinder and played around with them untill i came up with some good locations and made some marks on the pillar cover with a sharpie and headed back inside where its warm. cut some blocks out of styro to hold the pods at the correct angle and hot glued the bottom pod on the pillar cover: took it back outside to check the location, had to move it up about 1/2" to allow the cover to snap back on w/o hitting the dash. proceeded to do the same with the other (2) pods: then back outside for the final inspection before the glass and resin... to be continued... Edited January 14, 2009 by bitemedoughboy.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitemedoughboy.com Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) ... cut a chunk of felt and played around with it, stuck one spot at a time with the hot glue and stretched and trimmed till it looked OK for the bottom layer. mixed up some resin and hardener, then goobered the felt with about 3 oz. of goo. (thats the gauge wrapped in plastic to hold the felt around the lip of the pod while it cures) gonna wait till it hardens then do the other (2)... Note: if you buy a measuring cup from Home Depot or Lowe's and it says in fine print at the bottom: "measurements are for reference only" throw it away and go to a good auto body supply store and get a real one. you can also take a known accurate measure and put water in the cup or any mixing cup 1oz at a time and mark the graduations with a sharpie. i found out the hard way that they are off by at least 4oz. i was measuring 4 oz batches and it was closer to 8oz. so i was only using half the hardener that i needed. causing the resin to take at least 4 times as long to harden. another note: i dont recommend doing this indoors, my whole house smells likes resin... (not that kind) put the felt on the next 2 using a hot glue gun to tack it down as i stretched it to a good shape, then gave it a good coat of resin. rough shaped the felt with a file and knocked the high spots down with some 80 grit paper trimmed the felt from around the gauge openings.... and removed the styro from the inside while you weren't looking (forgot to take pics) i put on a layer of fiberglass mat and another coat of resin, shaped with a file again, and sanded the hell out of it with 80 grit paper. then busted out the Bondo to smooth things out a bit. it took a few batches of Bondo to get the cure time right so i could actually work with it (was mixing it too "hot") more shaping and sanding, some more filler, more shaping and sanding.... ... once again while you weren't looking, more sanding, and sanding and sanding..... started with 80 grit then 120 then to 240. and finally a coat of high build primer: to be continued.... Edited January 14, 2009 by bitemedoughboy.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitemedoughboy.com Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 ... ... ... I decided to use a wrinkle finish paint that way i wouldn't have to fill the scratches or the pinholes... got some wrinkle finish Krylon paint.... this crap is tricky to get an even texture, the wrinkle finish paint was a bust. 2 days now and the @!*% is still gooey in spots. i scraped the thick stuff off in hopes of speeding up the dry time. that didnt work, so i picked up a can of dupli-color bed liner and then went to town with a paint scraper and scotch brite pad. gave it a shot of Dupli-color truck bed liner today at lunch time. its so purdy.... ... ... ... ... i need to work the holes out a little so the gauges will drop in all the way... to be continued.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitemedoughboy.com Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) drivers view of the gauges.... i still need to cut some holes in the back for the wires and capillary tube for my oil gauge. will do that tomorrow and hopefully get them in and wired up. i may have put a couple of screw in it to keep it attached, i don't know if the spring clips will hold the additional weight of the gauges and the fiberglass. Edited January 14, 2009 by bitemedoughboy.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 That looks very nice!! I'd hate to ask how much of your time it took though... Regardless, you have a very nice set up that looks quite professional/custom. VERY nice work!! That said, I hate gauges in that location; all of mine are going down low and out of the way. I don't need them so badly that I have to have them in my face. Hey, to each their own.... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Dude... I'd so pay for a set of those 0o' You willing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitemedoughboy.com Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Dude... I'd so pay for a set of those 0o' You willing? maybe.... if i get bored, i have to wait till spring/summer, its too stinky of a process to do indoors, and its a lot of friggin work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zibi Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Awesome work, they look really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 (edited) I will defianltly buy one! please pm a price! im not kidding either lol Edited January 14, 2009 by edicer2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Wow, are those ever badass! I was considering that for my R50 but I have zero experience with fiberglassing... Nice work, they look sick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Man, kudos to you. Very professional and custom looking as Precise said. Man, I am uber jealous...my fiberglass skills need to be honed... GOOD JOB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashjt Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Brilliant job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveMyPatty Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Really all you need to know about fibreglassing is the following: Make sure there are no wrinkles in the fabric you're stretching (unless you want to do A LOT of sanding and filling) Make sure you mix your resin appropriately Be sure that, if you want a nice finish, to spend a lot of time sanding and filling. Then spend some more time sanding and filling. Gauge pods don't need to be structural, so resin soaked fabric is fine. No matting is really needed here. Take your time, plan ahead, and wear long sleeves and a respirator or particle mask while sanding. And, have fun I did tweeter pods on my a-pillars without any glassing experience. If you follow the tips listed above, you'll be totally fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
younie91 Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 wow that looks better then most pillar guage pods you can buy off ebay, good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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