Custom Console fabrication

[Jess]

Me and chris (Synerain) are both making custom consoles for our ludes. Chris's is almost done and its phat as hell.

His is goin to hold two 2 1/16th gauges. Its made out of bondo and epoxy.

Mine is going to hold two 2 1/16th gauges and a turbo timer.


Mine is in the very initial stages and will be made out of fiberglass and epoxy.

Here's some pics:

Chris's:
http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/bondo1.JPG

Mine: Just started on it last night

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/fglass1.JPG

more pics to follow in the next few days.

Edit: Crap, something's wrong with my server. pics arent showin up....fark

[grizoove]

I am digging the table cloth :wink:


Looks pretty good guys...good luck completing them.

[Jess]

Still needs a little work, but getting there quickly. I should be able to start cutting holes tomorrow.

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/primer.JPG

If you need one done, id be glad to do it for 80 million dollars

[Synerain]

Wow, looks pretty good... I'll have to check it out when I get back to AU

At least yours doesn't weigh 50 pounds..
haha

[Jess]

dere's a turbo timer in dere. Still needs a good bit of work

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/tt.JPG

[linuxman51]

I'm curious as to how you went about doing that.. I've got a nice gaping hole in my console that needs something of the sort shoved in it (for my own sanity 8) )

[Adam]

I'm curious as to how you went about doing that.. I've got a nice gaping hole in my console that needs something of the sort shoved in it (for my own sanity 8) )


Its made out of bondo and epoxy


I'm sure there is something more involved than that if Jess wants to get into it

[Jess]

it started out with the following orfices:

1. 'double din' sized hole
2. 1" diameter cigarette lighter hole
3. approx 2" x 4" ashtray hole.

First off, i had to convert the 'double din' to a 'single din'. Got some scrap plastic and a head unit 'sheath' (thats what i call them..the cheap metal things that have bendy tabs'. I JB welded that into place and now have a hole roughly the size of a stereo.

Went to lowes and got some fiberglass resin,hardener,cloth,different grit sandpapers,some paper cups for mixing the resin, 5 or so cheap paint brushes, and a spatula thingy for smoothing it out

Went to wal-mart and got some purple epoxy. Its like play-dough. you just knead it and it gets hard. (i remember when I was 13 or so and all I needed was a good gust of wind to get me going). Anywho, I laid 1 sheet of cloth over the entire thing (except my DIN hole) and brushed on some resin (which was mixed with the hardener). I let this dry a bit so it got gooey, then I started trying to maintain the curvature of the thing at the cig lighter and ashtray holes.

Laid about 5 more sheets of cloth on it, using my resin mix on each layer. It had a 'dip' where the ashtray and holes were. OH NO!!, what to do? I set my resin cup to 'pour mode' and just poured a bunch in there. Thats what sandpaper is for.

I had a lot of exra cloth hanging over the edge, so i dremeded it off. Actually, i cut a bunch off. Why? Its hard to explain, but it looked messed up as hell, but there is a method to my madness. MUGHHAAHAHA. This is where the purple shit comes in. I applied this to anywhere that needed it. Like i said, its hard to explain with my 6th grade english skills.

Then i started to wet-sand with 300ish sandpaper, using a dremel for the real high spots.

For the final sand, i used like 600, makes it like glass. a few coats of primer and another sand with 600, and its ready for whatever. Mine is going to be covered in vinyl i think.

The perfect 2" holes were done with the help of a 2" circular bit that can be had for <$10

[Adam]

Curious about total cost, if you don't mind..

Seems like a ton of stuff :D (Although you did make your own console 8) )

[Jess]

GODDAMNIT!!! I had a huge reply written up, then my POS computer crashes. Guess i'll install a keylogger or something. ANyways

Total cost came out (or will come out to after i get the vinyl,padding,and adhesive) to about $60.00. Not too shabby.

Id be glad to help anybody out interested in doing something like this. This is my first fiberglass project, but it came out pretty good i think. Its not done yet, but should be in the next week. I think chrome or brushed aluminum gauge bezels will look good against the black vinyl.

[Jess]

Still needs a bit of work

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/console_3holes.jpg

[Jess]

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/console_vinyl.JPG

[WiggiE]

http://67.33.14.41/car_pics/console/console_vinyl.JPG

Is that a Sony or Eclipse HU?

[Jess]

Eclipse