CurtP

Paging Greg East to the white courtesy phone...

Not being happy with what's out there, I decided to come up with my own version of the center console gauge panel. Not that I really want to put my gauges down there, but I really don't like the pillar gauge pod. I'm making some major changes to the interior and this is just the beginning.

944Phil

Nice, What did you use to finish it? From the picture is looks like powdercoat. How did you get the little lip all around the edge?

homerj

is your radio the same one in the carrera gt

dnovak

I like the looks!

s14kev

I did the opposite recently. Moved AFR and boost gauge to a-pillar. I found having them in the console to be useless. There is no way I could safely look at them when going at any reasonable speed.

I moved water temp, electronic boost controller and knock counter down to the console.

Paulyy

looks neat! i would rather 3 gauges to complete the look like the old 944/924 interior

pontifex4

Nice finish! How you managed not to brass the the Phillips screws is beyond me -- I've never been able to do it.

Tell us -- what more do you have planned?

gregeast

That is too sexy for your shirt!

Well done, as always, sir. I particularly like the tapered head screws and their uniform alignment

CurtP

I have stainless panhead screws too, but forgot to take pictures of it with them installed. Personally, I think I like the black screws better. Overall, I think it turned out well. My only complaint is this panel sits tight against the console where the radio has a bit of space around it. Not sure how I could have solved that. When I was first putting together the drawings, I was going to use four screws around each gauge, but I thought that distracted from the clean look I was going for. I also debated putting a screw in the top and bottom middle. The chrome trim rings are from some generic '94-'97 Honda Accord billet dash trim kit that I got from Amazon for $20.

To answer questions:
- The gauge panel is powder coated. I wanted a flat finish. I could have done anodized instead, but that's done before it's machined where the powder coat is done after. The compensation for powder coating is 0.07".
- The radio isn't from a specific car. I bought it NIB from SW Stereo a few years ago. I don't use it for the GPS - it sucks for that (no moving maps, last map update was from 2003).
- I didn't like the look of the pillar pod. I toyed around with the idea of making a steering column mount, but I didn't care for that look either. Since my car is pretty much stock and I'm running <15psi, the center console mount works for me. I still don't think it's ideal, but my options are very limited.
- I thought about three gauges, but there wasn't another one I really wanted to add. If I ever go that route in the future, I'll have a new panel made up.
- Secret to not brassing screws is to use a slightly smaller bit than you think you need. A #2 Phillips would have brassed them, I used a #1.

Since these trim bezels are chrome, I guess I'm going to be looking for chrome rings for the dash gauges too. I'm not sure that's what I want or not, but I need to tie the look together. Greg - which ones do you have? Are you happy with them?

More pics:

gregeast

I originally had rings from an eBay vendor but they were too polished for the rest of my interior trim and they were kind of narrow. The ones I have currently came from Jaeger Engineering, they're brushed aluminum and wider and I'm very happy with them. Not sure if they have other choices of finish.

gregeast

As for the fit, could you make the back plate black and large enough to attach the screws to the console and then make the front plate smaller so that it threads into the back plate and is the same width as the radio? With everything black you might not see the 'step' this will create. Just thinking out loud...

CurtP

So - what did you do with your old trim rings? How do they mount? I'm going to have to dig up one of your posts so I can take a better look how the rings look.

Stepping the plates is a good idea. I'm going to have to ponder that for a while. I don't know if they can radius the edge or not. I guess the questions remains - is it worth the effort, or does it look good enough now?


I don't want to say too much yet in case I change direction again. But right now I'm going with Alcantara over leather on the dash. Black upper, linen lower.

pontifex4

Interesting. The dash in my new 968 has some cracks, and I was thinking of re-wrapping it this winter, the way John and Aaron did recently. I'm certainly interested to hear more when you get to it.

andycowman

Like it! This is mine

gregeast

Looks good, I like how it's sloped with the line of the console.

Do you call "Fox Two" when you trip that red switch?