Headunit and 3 gauge center dash mod

[Pete_89T2]

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:

100_1012.jpg

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:

100_1013.jpg

And here's how it looks test fit in the car, without the console surround piece:

100_1014.jpg

And now with the surround piece:

100_1015.jpg

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.

[JustJeff]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

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:

Attachment 11422

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:

Attachment 11423

And here's how it looks test fit in the car, without the console surround piece:

Attachment 11424

And now with the surround piece:

Attachment 11425

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.

I like your's, great work.

I'm thinking of re-relocating my gauge. I'd loose my oil temp gauge and put my boost, water temp and oil pressure all on the a-pillar. I have one single pod and one double pod for the a-pillar. Reason being, I'm giving serious thought to building a carputer. I"ve been building computers for a long time and have enough spare parts to build a serviceable carputer. I've got a motherboard, CPU, RAM and spare hard drives. The only real expenses would be getting a 7" touch lcd monitor and building an enclosure.

The only other obstacle is wanting a solid state hard drive. My concern is that a traditional hard drive is going to fail from shock and vibration. I have Illuminas and Tein springs and I just don't see a non-SSD having much of a lifespan. I'd buy a small SSD and only keep OS and bare minimum software. All my entertainment would be on USB flash drives.

My idea is to put the enclosure in the trunk with a push button control in the glovebox for my power supply. I can also run a usb port from the glove box.

Well one other thing to consider is that I have a convertible and the LCD monitor is NOT going to like direct sunlight during the top-down warm weather. It may be so washed out from the glare that it will be barely useable. I may have to spring for one of the expensive LCD designed for outdoor use.

[Pete_89T2]

Originally Posted by JustJeff

I like your's, great work.

Thanks, since the last post I finished it off with a satin black paint that has a very fine sand-like texture to it. Matches my S5 center console texture & color well; will have to shoot a picture later to show it off. I tried covering the panel with the black fake leather as I mentioned, but that effort was a failure. The 3M spray adhesive I used didn't give a reliable enough "stick" along the narrow edges by the radio - vinyl kept curling up along the edges. So I had to strip it all off, then prep & paint.

Originally Posted by JustJeff

I'm thinking of re-relocating my gauge. I'd loose my oil temp gauge and put my boost, water temp and oil pressure all on the a-pillar. I have one single pod and one double pod for the a-pillar. Reason being, I'm giving serious thought to building a carputer. I"ve been building computers for a long time and have enough spare parts to build a serviceable carputer. I've got a motherboard, CPU, RAM and spare hard drives. The only real expenses would be getting a 7" touch lcd monitor and building an enclosure.

Due to the motor-mouse belts, you can only get 1 gauge on the A-pillar of the S5 coupes; that's where I have my boost/vac gauge. Might be able to fit 2 gauges, but it would be tight. 'Vert owners catch a break here.

Originally Posted by JustJeff

The only other obstacle is wanting a solid state hard drive. My concern is that a traditional hard drive is going to fail from shock and vibration. I have Illuminas and Tein springs and I just don't see a non-SSD having much of a lifespan. I'd buy a small SSD and only keep OS and bare minimum software. All my entertainment would be on USB flash drives.

With proper shock/vibration isolation mounts, you shouldn't have any reliability issues with a regular hard drive in a car. 27+ years engineering experience with the DoD/Army has convinced me that even the most fragile of gadgets can be made to operate reliably in combat vehicles for a very long time with a well designed mount. Look in the boneyards for late-model luxury cars (MB/Lexus/Infinity, etc) that have built in hard-disk based nav & entertainment systems - you might get lucky and find shock mounts that can be re-purposed. Another source could be junked cop cars, as many now have shock/vibe mount plates attached to the dash/center console for laptops and all the other electronic crap cop cruisers carry these days.

Originally Posted by JustJeff

My idea is to put the enclosure in the trunk with a push button control in the glovebox for my power supply. I can also run a usb port from the glove box.

USB cable length may become an issue here, presuming the motherboard/USB hub is in the trunk. USB spec calls out a max. cable length, something like 6 feet. Beyond that, and there's no guarantee that whatever you connect to it will work - some USB devices will, others won't.

Originally Posted by JustJeff

Well one other thing to consider is that I have a convertible and the LCD monitor is NOT going to like direct sunlight during the top-down warm weather. It may be so washed out from the glare that it will be barely useable. I may have to spring for one of the expensive LCD designed for outdoor use.

Yup, that and polarized sunglasses will make just about any affordable monitor hard to read.

[JustJeff]

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

With proper shock/vibration isolation mounts, you shouldn't have any reliability issues with a regular hard drive in a car. 27+ years engineering experience with the DoD/Army has convinced me that even the most fragile of gadgets can be made to operate reliably in combat vehicles for a very long time with a well designed mount. Look in the boneyards for late-model luxury cars (MB/Lexus/Infinity, etc) that have built in hard-disk based nav & entertainment systems - you might get lucky and find shock mounts that can be re-purposed. Another source could be junked cop cars, as many now have shock/vibe mount plates attached to the dash/center console for laptops and all the other electronic crap cop cruisers carry these days.

Yeah, I've thought about vibration dampening. I was thinking of finding some rubber stand offs from random electronics, but I like your idea of finding some OEM parts.

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

USB cable length may become an issue here, presuming the motherboard/USB hub is in the trunk. USB spec calls out a max. cable length, something like 6 feet. Beyond that, and there's no guarantee that whatever you connect to it will work - some USB devices will, others won't.

I've been thinking about the same thing with the USB cable length. Two options might be a powered USB hub or simply get a 32GB flash drive and keep it attached to the carputer and in the trunk. With something that large I wouldn't need to swap flash drives, I'd simply have to take it in to my desktop to update it.

Originally Posted by Pete_89T2

Yup, that and polarized sunglasses will make just about any affordable monitor hard to read.

Excellent point, I didn't even think about polarized sunglasses. Between the convertible and biking, nice sunglasses are a must. The cheapest I saw 7" touch LCD designed for outdoor use was $400. But I work for an IT company that does a lot of repair work. We have two techs making a killing repairing iPhones, smartphones, tablets and laptops. Maybe Fate will smile on me and I"ll find a broken touch LCD in need of repairs?

[Pete_89T2]

Decided to mess with the gauges above the radio again. With the gauges flat in the panel at that location, I found it was still difficult to see the entire gauge face and read it at a glance. Always wanted to figure out a way to point them slightly upwards and towards the driver's sightline. Then I had a clever idea to re-purpose some plastic bits that came with my gauges. In my case, the Prosport gauges I have all came with these plastic sunshields. If you slip the gauge into the rings backwards, I figured the part could be modified to make an angle mount. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:



And now the original piece, next to a modified one that gets me a good viewing angle. I determined the angle by trial & error test fitting - and the angle that worked for me may not work for all drivers. I'm 6'0" and sit with the seat all the way back; a shorter guy who sits closer to the wheel will need more angle to get a good sightline. Anyway, the angle is subtle, and just enough to point the gauge face toward the driver. To repeat that angle for 2 more gauges, I made up a wood jig to replicate the angle and used it with a miter box & hacksaw to make the cuts on the other 2 rings.



Since space is limited, you need to glue the right-most ring to the panel first, and then the center ring needs a bit of shaping so it "steps over" the ring to the right. Do the same thing with the left ring, letting it step over the center one. Don't worry if the cuts/grinding are not perfect, the gauge rim will likely cover the gaps, or you can fill with bondo & paint. You'll probably want to paint it anyway, which is what I did. Here's the setup ready for installation in the car.



And here it is completed, right from driver's point of view. Note that you can clearly see the entire gauge face at a glance