Resurrecting an old thread... As I said before, Jeff's writeup inspired me to try this gauge mounting setup in my FC. 7 months later I finally had the time to do it! Previously I had my gauges in the empty DIN slot under the radio. Basically followed Jeff's general plan for flip-flopping them, by reusing the stock radio mount brackets and some hefty sheet metal I recycled from an old computer case to fabricate the panel. Started with some cardboard to make a template, and played with that till I was happy with the test fit. Then went to work recreating the template in metal. After some work with the jigsaw, hole saw and a bit of metal bending later, I got the gauge panel you see here.
Here's a picture of the panel, mounted with stock brackets, my JVC head unit & gauges test fit:
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Lucky for me, the front threaded holes on my HU that lined up perfectly with holes already in the stock bracket, and they put the thing at just the right depth when test fit in the car, so I didn't have to resort to making slotted holes as Jeff did for the in & out adjustment. Just drilled a 2nd hole in each bracket (to get 2 screws per side for strength) that line up with another existing threaded hole in the head unit. Here's a pic that shows the screws:
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And here's how it looks test fit in the car, without the console surround piece:
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And now with the surround piece:
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If the gauges look crooked, it's because I didn't bother to line them up perfectly and fully tighten the U-clamps on the back. I made the holes a wee bit oversize to provide a bit of adjustability. Now I just need to finish it, because I don't like the shiny metal look. Either going to paint it satin black to match the interior, or I might cover it with some black vinyl I have leftover from another project (DIY hatch cargo cover) that is a perfect match for my leather interior.