Ok heres the thing: I want to fabricate this gauge boxes to put on my dash & roof console. The only material that I can think of is fiberglass. Now, what I need to know is if there is a way to give it the same texture as the rest of the plastic? I think is might look wierd if I sand it. And I dont want to start the fabrication untill Im a 100% of what to do.

 

im not quit sure..But you can probably buy the same material and texture as the rest of the car and fabricate it into what you want..or buy textured fiberglass maybe??...not sure but ..what gauges are you putting in there??

Matt

 

Maybe do it in fiberglass, paint it, and while the paint is still wet, touch it with a soft sponge, will give it somewhat of the same texture, maybe another product for another texture, somethign closer to what your thinking?
Cool Idea by the way...

 

the stock dash is a core with padding and vinyl over it... if you want your dash hump thingy to match, make it from fiberglass, then have a shop(or you) glue thin padding to it, then pull some vinyl tightly over it. if you match materials good, it will look factory.

 

you might be able to use that undercoating paint from a spray can and then paint over it to give it the textured look and feel. i read a post a while back about a guy doing that to his custom gauge bezel and it looked fairly close to stock.

 

Im thinking of digital gauges bejind a piece of tinted glass.

 

MrDude_1 you say I can buy vinyl & cover the box. Where can I go look for this?

 

this is the gauge I have in mind

 

And another

 

whops!

 

sounds like you're big on electronics and digital things. Why not go all out?

 

Id feel sorry for a passenger riding in that car LOL

 

No I want my GTA as stock as posible. The thing is that I need a few gauges & Im looking for something that wont look out of place inside my car, so thats why Im going for digital. But dont get me wrong I wish I had the money to get a kitt replica inside & out, and a '89 Turbo TA, and a '79 Anniversary TA, and a '99 Aniversary TA, And stay with my GTA for a daily driver.

 

i redid the interior on an old 79 camaro . the trim was in horrible shape i just sanded it down and feathered the trim with 3m chip guard till the texture was the same (a little sanding was neede ) then i just painted them . they looked like new.

 

i love kitt. wish i had a TA to do that too....

 

I'm the guy with the gauge panel. I got this texture with 4 thin coats of Duplicolor's black aerosol bedliner (from the automotive touch-up paint section at Wal-Mart.) It looks great in the dash, only slightly less textured than the stock plastics.

 

I am actually thinking about doing the same thing in my camaro.

I am just thinking of making one box and mounting it above the A/C control panel it should blend in there okay on that little ledge.

I was thinking of making the box out of plywood then painting it or sticking some vinly over it. I was also wondering how to get the texture have it a little rough.

You guys think plywood will look like crap? Not sure if I want to mess with fiberglass.

WHat I want mounted in there is the A/F meter the boys made in the DIY PROM forum, Trans temp gauge, FAN LED and switch.

 

if you do it with wood, wrap it with the vynal, don't paint it. painted it would look terrible. all the places that do custom center consoles use wood wrapped in cloth or vynal, not sure on the type of wood they use though. some do use plastic or fiberglass. i think you should use a softer or smoother wood then plywood though. i also think thats a great spot for guages. would fit perfect under the overhang of the dash pad.

 

MDF would work well wrapped in vinyl, but I like the look of sheetmetal coated with aerosol bedliner. It just matches the dash soooo closely.....

 

Have to check out that aerosol bedliner.

I ditched the plywood, would not have worked as I liked. I actually found a nice little plastic box in an electronics shop that looks good and not out of place.

 

You could try it with fibreglass, then body filler and smooth everything to the exact shapes and contours at the edges that you want. Then lay on some textured finished paint it. Some trial and error after that with colours, should get you a reasonable match.