Posted this in my gallery in the multimedia section, but I think it's worthy of its own post. 
[quote author=sok07 link=topic=38597.msg1289092#msg1289092 date=1174793434]
Update....Finished up a project with the help of my little brother. It is a project that I put on hold when I bought the Mazdaspeed3, a custom gauge pod that sits in the place of the ashtray/cig lighter panel. It's a first-cut design that looks pretty nice. Other than making the top portion of the plate a little wider, there is pretty much little room for any improvement
The pod holds 3 gauges in a triangular configuration and is constructed out of a plate of 0.1" thick T6061 aluminum plate & painted a nice satin black. We were planning on matching the profile/curvature of the existing ciglighter/asthray, but due to spacing constraints in the area we had to make the plate flatter than planned. Nonetheless, the outcome was pretty good. As for the gauges themselves, we chose to use the basic Prosport (amber/white) oil pressure, oil temperature, and voltmeter gauges. They are wired for white daytime illumination and amber nighttime illumination. Unfortunately, the oil pressure gauge isn't illuminating properly and i'll have a replacement shipped to me within a few days. As pictured, the oil pressure and temp sender/units haven't been hooked up....so they are reading incorrectly. The voltmeter is correctly wired. Some may say that the gauges aren't in the optimum placement for continous viewing, but it is still good for the occasional glance at traffic lights and in light traffic. Also, it makes for good eye candy for a mere $100 and it leaves that center vent area open for that future flip up LCD screen upgrade. I'll try to get some more pics (particularly driver's perspective & night shots) by Sunday evening.
March24_2007
First-cut at custom gaugepod for my little brother's Mz3...and a pretty damn good first-cut if I do say so myself
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**** click on picture above for the gallery ****
[/quote]
in the Mazdaspeed3 night shots
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[quote author=sok07 link=topic=38597.msg1289092#msg1289092 date=1174793434]
Update....Finished up a project with the help of my little brother. It is a project that I put on hold when I bought the Mazdaspeed3, a custom gauge pod that sits in the place of the ashtray/cig lighter panel. It's a first-cut design that looks pretty nice. Other than making the top portion of the plate a little wider, there is pretty much little room for any improvement
The pod holds 3 gauges in a triangular configuration and is constructed out of a plate of 0.1" thick T6061 aluminum plate & painted a nice satin black. We were planning on matching the profile/curvature of the existing ciglighter/asthray, but due to spacing constraints in the area we had to make the plate flatter than planned. Nonetheless, the outcome was pretty good. As for the gauges themselves, we chose to use the basic Prosport (amber/white) oil pressure, oil temperature, and voltmeter gauges. They are wired for white daytime illumination and amber nighttime illumination. Unfortunately, the oil pressure gauge isn't illuminating properly and i'll have a replacement shipped to me within a few days. As pictured, the oil pressure and temp sender/units haven't been hooked up....so they are reading incorrectly. The voltmeter is correctly wired. Some may say that the gauges aren't in the optimum placement for continous viewing, but it is still good for the occasional glance at traffic lights and in light traffic. Also, it makes for good eye candy for a mere $100 and it leaves that center vent area open for that future flip up LCD screen upgrade.
I'll try to get some more pics (particularly driver's perspective & night shots) by Sunday evening.March24_2007
First-cut at custom gaugepod for my little brother's Mz3...and a pretty damn good first-cut if I do say so myself
______________________________________________
**** click on picture above for the gallery ****
[/quote]
in the Mazdaspeed3 night shots
