BMW 325TI custom gauge pod build with pics

[budget76 10+ year member]

Well, got it started today. I'm fiberglassing my gauges into the area where the cig lighter/ash tray are originially, in front of the shifter. I don't like the whole a-pillar look, and didn't like how most ways guys did it made them sit nearly flat. I will continue to post progress pics, given I don't fawk it up:biggrin: I'm gonna do two or three more layers of mat on this section, then you'll see where i'm going with it.

So, pics are of the tape-off job, then of the first layer of glass. Ran out of mat, so one spot is missing the mat, but it's not a big deal. May cut out that area to get access anyway.

Opinions? This is my first glass job, just been reading up a lot.

Click to read more...

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

It looks like it has potential.....

 

[budget76 10+ year member]

I've gotten a fair amount done in the last two days. Progress pics:

Making the gauge mounts, making sure they're straight and glued tight, while waiting for the third layer to dry.



Third layer dried:



After a little prying with a small flathead, she popped right out. No pic of fresh out, but this one shows it trimmed up:



In place, showing fit:



After a lot of time with popsicle sticks and hot glue. Gauge sitting. Smaller circle is for a cig lighter:

 

[Mitch86 5,000+ posts]

Good start! Interested to see the outcome...

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

whoa chris...two things...when did you get a BMW...and when did you start glassing?

 

[ctt0002 10+ year member]

It def. looks good. Waiting for a good outcome and don't rush through it. Take lots of pics

 

[budget76 10+ year member]

whoa chris...two things...when did you get a BMW...and when did you start glassing?

Haha, picked it up a little over a month ago. Needed a more comfortable car for college than the Scout, so you'll see the scout on Main Street up for sale soon, sadly.

First glassing project ever. We'll see how the final project turns out. The GTO sounds good, heard you drive by a couple times.

 

[budget76 10+ year member]

Well, I'm 95% done, for now. I'm not going to smooth it out and stuff yet, I have more important things to do, but I do have to grind out the openings and a little of the outside so it sits in the hole better.

I used an old baseball sock as the cloth to stretch over. The first pic you can see my way of making the sock sit right and make the PVC pipe area where the gauges sit flat and how it should be. Not good on describing that, but basically it didn't stretch right unless I did it.

Next pics will be with the cig lighter and maybe gauge mounted, then that's about it for a while. Got to figure out if I've got a head gasket problem. Hope not, but it's not looking good. That'll be fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[budget76 10+ year member]

Installed pics





Didn't buy the other two gauges yet, or hook up the water temp yet, so that's why it's not powered on for the pics. It's staying like this for now. You may notice my console's black instead of gray. I sprayed it flat black. I am slowly changing my whole interior to black, from the stock gray. At the end, the only things gray will be the dash, headliner, and cloth in the rear armrest panels.