Gauge Pods

[nathanMR2]

Has anyone found a gauge pod that will fit on the drivers pillar ok?

I know theres has been discussions about this some time ago and that we could only seem to find pods for the left hand drive roadsters. Has anyone tried any universal ones that work/fit?

[roger]

Kanujunkie (Stu of old) had one in his car. Doubt you could get hold of him now unless somebody can help, but  a trawl of his posts might elucidate something.

[Anonymous]

or we could look into making some. going by what lippy has done in his threads with making bits. im actually looking at making one for mine using lippy's methods as i got a load of materials still to do it.

[onion86]

I think there would be a lot of people that would want them. Mine was a cheapy eBay 2 pod one attached to the stock A-Pillar plastics which doesn't look good but it was the only real option.

[nathanMR2]

Ive PM'd Stu to see if he can help.

I wouldn't mind something like Lippys but ive never worked with fibreglass myself. On the other hand I wouldn't want to pay stupid money for one and I could see it going that way if you got a company to build a custom one for you.

I was interested in the pillar one as its not so obvious to people outside the car that it's a turbo.

[onion86]

Yeah same, I think Prolex mentioned something like £80 for them but wouldn't really want to pay that much, dont' think it went anywhere though...
*EDIT* here's the thread  l viewtopic.php?f=48&t=35093 l , may want to PM to see if he's got any update since Sept.

Here's mine, cost me about £12 + 1 nut and bolt but looks pants, it's just there until something better comes along  s:P s:P

[Anonymous]

Yeah same, I think Prolex mentioned something like £80 for them but wouldn't really want to pay that much, dont' think it went anywhere...
*EDIT* here's the thread  l viewtopic.php?f=48&t=35093&p=420296&hilit=pods#p420296 l

Here's mine, cost me about £12 + 1 nut and bolt but looks pants  s:P s:P

if you were to take a mold of that (cost probably £25 - £35) then you could make more of them from that for about £30 - £40 including a couple of coats of primer

[nathanMR2]

What did it look like on Stu?

Got any photos of it installed?

[onion86]

Just the one from when I 1st put it on in the dark which is quite close up, you can see it's a bit grey in colour compared to the stock:

There is a gap at top/bottom as it doesn't sit flush on the stock plastics. This is pretty much what I bought.

I uninstalled the turbo last weekend so the pods are out now which means I can't take a pic. I'll have a fish through my photos on PC tonight to see if I have one, if not I'll just stick them back on tomorrow and take a photo for you.

Maybe just a bit of work like Lippy's pods over what I have might make it look a lot better, I was tempted to butcher the pod bits off to see if they could be put on in a slightly better way.

[nathanMR2]

How did you get on removing the pillar section?

Dont you have to remove the soft top latches to get it off?

[onion86]

Yeah you have to take the latch off but it's a 20 second job, just 2 torx bolts on the latch and the pillar is attached via 2 plastic plugclips (like in the doorcard) and a bit that slots into the dash at the bottom (which you can see in the top left of the 1st picture I posted) so just pull away from pillar and then pull it towards you to unslot the bottom.

[vinp182]

Be nice if we could find someone to make the whole pillar piece with integrated pod So it's not just a 'stuck on' piece

There is a guy on Imoc that does mk2 ones called mr2eddy

[nathanMR2]

Yeah you have to take the latch off but it's a 20 second job, just 2 torx bolts on the latch and the pillar is attached via 2 plastic plugclips (like in the doorcard) and a bit that slots into the dash at the bottom (which you can see in the top left of the 1st picture I posted) so just pull away from pillar and then pull it towards you to unslot the bottom.

I thought removing those was a big no no due to their screw points. Im sure I read of people ripping the threads/mounts part because they are not that great and not being able to screw the latches back on  s:? :? s:?

Be nice if we could find someone to make the whole pillar piece with integrated pod So it's not just a 'stuck on' piece

There is a guy on Imoc that does mk2 ones called mr2eddy

Do you wanna have a word with him Vinny and see what he can do? Seems theres a good few people interested

[onion86]

I thought removing those was a big no no due to their screw points. I'm sure I read of people ripping the threads/mounts part because they are not that great and not being able to screw the latches back on  s:? :? s:?

Mine have been fine and they've been on and off maybe 4 times but I'll keep that in mind for the new car. You 'can' get the plastics off without removing the latches but it would bend/snap off a 3mm x 20mm piece which is the only part that physically goes under them; however, getting them back on without removing that bit of plastic would probably be a lot more difficult.

[josh279]

I wouldn't take a mould straight off that as the final piece would then have a lip where the aftermarket pods met the original pillar.

What you'd want to do for a mould would be cut the individual pods off, position them on the a pillar where you want them,
Cut the holes in the pillar to fit the pods at the right angle etc,
Fix the pods from behind with araldite,
Use body filler to lose the gaps and blend the pods in,
Apply mould release wax to the face of the pillar,
Cover in fibre glass and wait (you could do it in plaster of paris, less flexible but far more fragile),
Hey presto you now have a mould of the face.

Fun part would be fitting the finished product to the car as a replacement of the original A pillar. Also you'd lose the textured effect of the plastic as it's a b*tch to mould

[nathanMR2]

Looks like we have a volunteer  s;) s;)

[Anonymous]

Those brackets can be a problem to get off. Ive had to dremmel a hole in the screen frame to get at the back with the angle grinder before.
Ive pulled the pillar trim out from under without damage.

[josh279]

I'm happy to have a go at this, might take a while as I'll be doing at the weekends.  Also got to convince my dad to give me a hand, considering that he's hand built fibreglass moulds both of and for 100's of cars, including a Ferrari Daytona GTB race car I think he might still be useful   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   (still got the moulds behind the shed)

As I have an N/A car and therefore don't use pillar gauges, you'll have to help me along:

1) How many pods do people want on the pillar

2) What size(s) pods do you want: 52mm or 60mm

3) Style and positioning. shed loads on ebay, seperated, side by side, piggy back

4) Do you want a direct replacement for the original pillar, which will be a flat finish either in primer or matt grey/black to match other interior plastics
    This will either be a full length stick over the top of the original A pillar, or completely remove and replace A pillar piece.

    or

    Small gauge pod that sticks on at the bottom of the pillar, finish will be as above

5) How many people want them

Happy to make variations on a theme, but the more variety there is the more they cost to produce

[nathanMR2]

This is going to be very price dependent but i respect your balls  s;) s;)

Ill go first...

1. If you going to do it then probably 3 pods is what i expect most would be looking for.

2. Given the nature of the car (ie being small) i would be going for 52mm

3. Seperated

4. Carbon fibre would be nice  s;) s;)  personally i think you might make a really big job for urself replacing the whole pillar. I would consider having mine flocked or wrapped in carbon

[loadswine]

i respect your balls  s;) s;)

 I would consider having mine flocked or wrapped in carbon

s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   Sorry, I couldn't resist!  s:) s:)

I reckon most would opt for 52mm diameter. For the record, Stu's ( kanujunkie) had 2 60mm pods and I think it was a TRD or something like that and was very hard to find. Mega rare.
Personally, I wouldn't mind a single 52mm gauge pod that comes out of the steering column cowl just in front of the main instruments, just for my boost gauge.

[josh279]

I'll speak to D!ck and see if I can get a spare A pillar placcy bit, order some pods then I shall have a play.

I'll let you know how it goes,

Personally, I don't think I'll get my balls flocked, least not by anyone on here  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[vinp182]

Without trying to take away work for Josh I'll pm mr2eddy to see if he is interested. His pods are highly rated with the mk2 guys

Can't hurt to ask I guess

[josh279]

No problem with that vinp182.  I just had a look at his pods over on mr2oc, and they look excellent

[onion86]

I'm good with either 2 or 3 pods (I'm sure I can find another 1  s:) s:) ) and currently got 52mm gauges so that would be best, not too keen on the CF idea though not my thing. Would be nice to see if this could become something, cheers for offering to try something out Josh  s:) s:)

[vinp182]

Message back from mr2eddy


Hey Vinny ,


Its normally no problem to make a A pillarpod for the MK roadster .

First / I need a original A pillar from a RHD car . that piece a need for making the mould .

2 / I need some pics form the dash and roof and demesions from dash to the roof . so i can see for fitting the pods .

3 / Need somebody for trying fitting the prototype pillar pod ,