Been working on a few bits.

[ratrodmog]

So I have been designing some dash inserts for extra gauges and this is what I have come up with. Not for sale right now as I'm not actually a business but if the demand is there .

Racing style: aluminium with toggle switches and holes for auxillery gauges. The bolts around the edge are actually cam locks. You simply turn the bolt and it rotates a cam on the reverse which locks the panel into place on the lip if the glovebox panel.[frame][/frame]



Here are some others......[frame][/frame]
Top one has small but very powerful maganates in the back so it simply snaps into place on the glovebox panel. Stays in place whilst driving but can be removed easily with a good pull and wont damage the paintwork.

Bottom two use the cam lock system and could be sprayed the colour of your car or left silver like this to match the speedo surround. These are around 9mm thick with curved edges to match the style of the existing dashboard.

I'm also working on a solid wood version to match the Traveller and a carbon fiber effect panel.

Hope you like

[Matt Tomkins]

very nice

have you thought about doing a nice smart one to fir a modern stereo in the passenger glove box?
or even the drivers' glove box

[Budgie]

if the price is right i,ll have one can,t see why the suppliers/manufacturers havn,t come up with this idea, patent pending me thinks

[MarkyB]

The magnets are a good idea, I rather fancy setting the gauges back a bit so all the storage space isn't lost.

[ratrodmog]

Matt - I am actually doing one to fit a stereo into for the passenger glovebox just not quite ready to show yet.
Budgie - Unfortunately this isn't a product that can be patented, I've looked into it already.
MarkyB - I have thought about doing one that incorporates some storage space so will look into a bit further.

[Matt Tomkins]

well, once it's ready, i'd be interested in buying one if the price is right

[Alex'n'Ane]

Yes if cheap enough i'd be up for one. Probably magnetic, looks smoother, cleaner, but all depends on what look your car is going for..

[Matt Tomkins]

i think magnetic would be what i'd go for too -
they look so smart!
any idea of time-scale for them being ready?

[chrisryder]

These are around 9mm thick with curved edges...

9mm thick? what are they made out of? looked like pressed stainless to me, but i doubt that'd be 9mm thick!

they do look mighty nice though. is this what the scrap gauges were for then?

[Jefftav]

Like the look of these and like others depending on the price might consider buying one. Have you tried them in everyday use to ensure they do stay in place?

[ratrodmog]

Matt - I need to sort out my materials etc but should be around 2 weeks to have some fully made up.

Chris - They are MDF so potentially could be made to most thicknesses i.e. could be thinner to sit more flush with the glovebox panel. I just liked the way these ones curved and almost looked 'factory'. And yes this is what I needed the gauges for as once you have cut the right sized hole and lamped on a load of paint the gauges no longer fit so needed to test a few sizes.

Jeff - I havn't tried them whilst driving just yet but will be doing so before I let any go out. The cam lock ones stay solidly in place with no movement at all (shaking the hell out of it) so I may do some of these but with flush fitting bolts if the dome heads aren't too popular. The maganate require a bit more testing and working out how many I need to put in the back.

Thanks all for your nice and helpeful comments

[Matt Tomkins]

sounds great. any idea of prices for any of these yet - in particular a radio one with the cam locks?

[chrisryder]

could you post a pic of one fitted to the glovebox panel thing? interested to see how proud it sits.

[Matt Tomkins]

could you post a pic of one fitted to the glovebox panel thing? interested to see how proud it sits.

i'd be interested in that too - the glove box would still need to be able to close.

Ta

Matt

[chrisryder]

i'd be interested in that too - the glove box would still need to be able to close.

[frame][/frame]

i was thinking these were to do like my dash already is, which the gauges in the 'hole' on the right.

have i got mixed up, or has matt?

[Matt Tomkins]

it could well be me
but for the other side, i don't know how it's work. i know that if it were on the outside, the glove box prob wouldn't close by the time it's got a stereo boss on tghere.
you're prob right, chris.

[chrisryder]

you're prob right, chris.

first time for everything!

[ratrodmog]

I wasn't actually expecting this amount of interest in these bits guys so thanks for that . To answer a few of your questions....

Because these are just prototypes I havn't priced anything up yet as I still have some bits to change but I will indevour to sort prices for anyone who is interested in the next few weeks.

These ones are for the glovebox panel behind the steering wheel so there is no lid to close (except on earlier models which this is not designed for).

I am trying to design one to fit in the passenger glovebox (where there is a lid) to house a radio/cd player but this is a little more complicated as you can imagine. It will be flush with the dash and enable the glovebox lid to close, hiding the radio. I will post up pics as and when I have something to show.

I will get some pics up of gauge panel fitted to the drivers glovebox panel either later today or tomorrow if thats cool.

Cheers

Ben

[Matt Tomkins]

that'd be great if you could

I could prob do something myself, but these just look so smart and i'm lazy (yet almost skint - despite the fact that the car wasn't meant to need any work doing to it at all! - so my interest is all dependent on price!)

smoke grey finish with a nice radio mounting would look lush! - possibly would also need a hole for a cigarette lighter (though i could do this if it's not got a hole there already)

[ratrodmog]

Afternoon. I've been making a few changes to my earlier designs so here are some pics....

I decided that I didn't like the look of the chrome dome head bolts so made a mock up of a panel with recessed cap bolts. These sit perfectly flush with the face of the panel and could be either black or polished stainless steel (only had black lying around). I might also go for a size smaller.
[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

This is just to show how far the gauge panel sticks out from the existing glovebox panel (ignore the dome bolts, they are going)[frame][/frame]

I have made some using thinner material but the problem with this is that you have to use the dome head bolts as you can't recess into the wood as it is too thin. I will try and find some nicer looking dome bolts for these (not slots but allen head).

I have also been testing the magnets on a panel. These do work up to a point but the problem with the existing glovebox panel is that the lip isn't flat and has a curve in it. This means that there are only limited places for the magnets to sit and they don't cover all corners of the panel. I will keep at it though. The use of the cam locks mean that the panel can't possibly come off unless you turn the bolts. This is the most secure system so far.