The first thing I fabricated for my car
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Joined: Jul 2011
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The first thing I fabricated for my car
Im 18 I bought this 1983 z28 off craigslist and its really been my first project none of the factory gauges worked except for the speedo so I found this piece of aluminum behind my house cleaned it up bought some gauges and made this what do yall think
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,403
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From: ms. gulf coast
Car: 91 R/S , 89 dodge p/u
Engine: L31 GM crate re-cammed , 318
Transmission: T-5 , 4 speed auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42 , ?
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
not too bad for a first attempt . keep up the practice & polish your skills . good luck .
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,028
Likes: 93
From: DC Metro Area
Car: 87TA 87Form 71Mach1 93FleetWB 04Cum
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Not a bad start.
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 510
Likes: 0
From: Murphy, TX
Car: 1990 formula
Engine: 433 sbf + turbos
Transmission: powerglide
Axle/Gears: fab9, 3.50
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Not a bad start.
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,499
Likes: 31
From: Macon, GA
Car: 1992 Camaro RS
Engine: Vortec headed 355, xe262
Transmission: T56
Axle/Gears: 9-bolt 3.70
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Ive got some gray hammered paint that manages to stick my rusty OEM swaybars. Been on there for years - still looks fine. I dont know how in the hell that paint manages to stay adhered to it, but for sure it works!
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iTrader: (1)
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
From: Birmingham, Alabama!!!
Car: 1988 Iroc-Z
Engine: 350 TPI; Stock internals
Transmission: 700r4; TCI-CPVB; BW Hi-Frition
Axle/Gears: 4th gen 7.5 w/ 3:42 gear
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Not bad man... I built my 1st gauge cluster when i was about your age and had to re-do it like 10 times before I got it right. a drimel (?) and a vise will be a good investment as the fella above said...
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Supreme Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,615
Likes: 5
From: PA
Car: 1996 Camaro, 1985 Camaro
Engine: 3.8, 3.4
Transmission: WC T5, 700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.23(?), 3.42
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Overall a good job, but imo you should've taken the extra 5m to go around the edges and holes you drilled with a file or dremel, but other than that nitpick you did a pretty good job I'd say.
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iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
From: http://redacesmoto.com
Car: 99 SS G2
Engine: 389 rwhp ls1 n/a
Transmission: viper spec t56
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
lol general consensus....
not bad! ...
um.... did you actually get it back into the dash behind all the plastic and stuff?
not bad! ...
um.... did you actually get it back into the dash behind all the plastic and stuff?
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 914
Likes: 16
From: Imperial, Missouri
Car: 89 IROC/89 Vert/87 Vert/89 GTA Vert
Engine: 5.7/5.0/5.0/5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 9" 2.77/9" 3:23/9" 3:42
Re: The first thing I fabricated for my car
Not a bad start.
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
So here is the deal with making stuff like this look really good- nothing is ever perfect (well, rarely it happens), learn to hide the flaws
- never expose an unfinished edge- either get the edges perfect (sanding drums on a drill work well for curved sections, the closer to the curve radius that you can get the better it will work, and a file is incredibly good at straight edges) or cover them up with something (even a vacuum hose split lengthwise and pushed over the edge looks good, they make door edge trim that is similar but has a strip of glue inside, but it's not as flexible)
- carpenters do this all the time- a reveal is your friend- trying to line bits up and keep them lined up is a pain, a slight step or detail at the edge of things looks decorative, hides slight misalignment and lets face it, 99% of people don't know if you were going for a 3/32" or 1/8" gap/step... so if it moves it doesn't matter as much.
- aluminum will always eventually start looking ratty unless you protect it- paint it, sand it an clear it, polish it... but leaving it like that will always look incomplete in anything but a race car.
- semigloss and textured finishes are your friends- gloss shows off imperfections in the substrate, scratches..., flat shows off dirt, fingerprints, if you get wax or silicon on it it gets uneven... semigloss/satin hides all of this. "hammered" finishes are gloss with a texture which hides the gloss problems (look cool and are usually pretty durable also)
Nice job and a lot of effort, I'm sire. Makes you appreciate how much effort some people put into their rides. If it makes you happy, that is all that matters. I think it works! Nice job, at least you had the fortitude to not only try to fix it but put the sweat and $ into making it happen.
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