73 Road Race Cuda

[AU6pack]

Yea I do like a challenge especially when it comes to fabrication. I know I will make it work, just how it will turn out behind the bezel is the question, might be kind of ugly but we will see. It isn't super hard, just difficult and if I didn't have a shop full of metal working tools it would be even harder. I will definitely post pics along the way.

You might have a few instant customers if you can fabricate a bezel for the Speedhut gauges. I'll be first! I've spent a lot of time looking at the gauges, looking at the bezel, looking at the gauges.....

How to mount each gauge at the right angle with the correct set back....

[70chall440]

That was the intent, however I discovered that I had to trim the bezel slightly so that the SH gauges would lay against the bezel. I don't know that a lot of people are going to be willing to do that.

[70chall440]

Got the Stealth painted, back to the Cuda.

[crash340]

Good job mate

[70chall440]

Thanks, it turned out pretty nice IMO. The owner is super happy.

[js29no]

Nice job! looks like you had good flow. what did you use product wise.

[70chall440]

The paint was Omni single stage, did 3 coats. I also applied 3 coats of clear over it.

[js29no]

Wet on wet?

[70chall440]

Yes; 10 min flash time between coats, however 40 min between base and clear.

[js29no]

That's cool.

[70chall440]

Got some time to work on the gauges today. I had a euphony this morning and decided to make a piece of sheet metal that wraps around the gauge bezel to get the angle/s I needed and then reverse engineer it into the dash frame. After some messing around I think I arrived at something that is going to work well. Keeping in mind that I worked on it for about 4 hours or so, as I had to attend a Special Forces Association picnic. Still have more work to do but I think this will work out. My original intent was to make the gauge pods individual to facilitate installation and removal, however now I am thinking I am going to have to stick to one panel or perhaps I will split it and have 2 pods.

[Mpdlawdog]

You really love painting that black!!  Love the gauges! 

[70chall440]

Painting what black? If you mean the bezel, it will have the normal wood grain on it.

[70chall440]

finished the instrument cluster for the most part. Gauges line up nice and I am happy with the way it all fits. I obsessed about a couple of issue like the gap at the bottom of each gauge and the bezel and finally decided to accept it for what it is.

For those of you thinking about doing this, some FYI

1. the bezel has to be modified IMO. Yes it is painful to start cutting up a $300 piece of plastic, but since they repop them I wasn't too worried.

2. to get the gauges to sit nicely and to line up, you really have to be patient and methodical. I was going to do individual "pods" but determined this was going to take a lot more work than just doing one piece.

3. you really need to have your dash frame out of the car so you can get to everything and see every angle. I am sure you could do in the car, but IMO this would be much harder.

4. I am sure if your modified the bezel, you could make something to attach the gauges to it, however IMO (again) I would not want the gauges supported only by the bezel, not to mention trying to install it as one complete unit.

5. make a lot of templates out of construction paper, card board, etc. this will give you a really clear idea of what needs to go where and sit a certain way.

In all, it wasn't super hard, it was a challenge and I am sure someone can do better, but this is my result.

Note, the bezel will have the normal woodgrain cover. I am trying to determine what to do about the blinker and high beam holes since they are now in the speedo.

[70chall440]

Here are some pictures. One point, the right side has to come out slightly more than the left side (about 1/2") to meet the bezel as it is angled towards the driver.

For those of you interested in trying this. To modify the bezel, get some fine line tape and tape off the tops (see picture) and then use a dremel with a saw blade and run it at a moderate speed (if you are going too fast it will melt the plastic quickly, it will melt regardless but you want to control it). The objective is to make the "barrels" of the bezel flat so the gauge sits flush or relatively flush.