[s-cars] Re: Boost gauge for cluster installation

[Brian Powell]

On Jul 24, 2004, at 4:53 PM, lebakken1 at netzero.com wrote:
> Holy Moly.
>
> I want this.
>
> Just when I was about to break out the drill, and permanently f-up my 
> A-pillar, I see this picture. After seeing the same gauge location in 
> many Audi's, especially the 90 series, it never occurred to me to do 
> the same. This is brilliant. ESPECIALLY because it looks SO stock.
>

Thanks for the compliment.  You're correct: the reason I decided to go 
this way is that I am used to having gauges down there in my 90Q20v 
(oil temp, pressure, and battery).  I never used the ashtray or the 
little "storage" below it, so, I went with that.  I don't like A-pillar 
setups.

Here is another shot I have of it.  The flash lights areas differently 
makes colors look like varying shades, but, in person it all looks the 
same...

<http://www.atomicham.com/car/images/console2.jpg>


> I just checked the piece of burl I bought to do a shift knob, since I 
> could not find one to my liking. It is too small, even though it is 
> big enough to four knobs. Looks as if I will have to buy another...
>
> Nice shift knob BTW, the only burl one I have seen. Was this part of 
> the same project as well?
>

I bought the shift knob from here:

<http://tinyurl.com/2w4oq>

It is for a VW Beetle.  The Beetle has some strange way to connect up 
the shift knob.  It comes like this:

<http://www.atomicham.com/car/images/knob.jpg>

I cut off about 3/4" IIRC off the bottom of the wood (along with that 
shaft locking plastic piece).  I then used a tap on the plastic inside 
and screwed it onto the gear lever.  Works great, looks fantastic.  
This is quick and easy.  Oh, I also had to cut out a countersink on the 
bottom of the knob so that the leather boot on the shift handle would 
sit up in the knob.

> Lastly, do you still have the napkin that you drew the plans for this 
> on? I would kill to have a copy.
>

I don't, but, here is what I did:

1) Get some high-quality craft plywood of the thickness desired for the 
panel
2) Glue press the burl onto the plywood
3) Cut it to size
4) Cut out the hole for the gauge
4) Stain -- This step took the longest.  I used a combination of three 
stains until I finally got it right.  I wish I could tell you what to 
do here, but, I just tried and tried until something came out.  Use the 
scrap wood that was left after cutting the panel to shape.
5) I purchased a small can of lacquer and just poured it over the cut 
and stained panel.  I did this a couple of times and it gave it that 
THICK lacquered look of the rest of the panels.
6) I attached some stainless steel strips onto the back and bent them 
to hold it in the correct position and drilled holes in the end of the 
strips to screw into where the screws held the ashtray in position.
7) Use the light power from the ashtray to provide the light power for 
the gauge
8) The VDO Cockpit White gauge is fairly close to the stock gauges; 
however, it is not backlit like the stock gauges, it is lit from the 
edge.  I put red tape around the bulb, and the color matches the stock 
"red" backlighting, but, is lit from the side.

Feel free to write me with anything else as I know I have forgotten 
something.

It took me a couple of weeks of testing and letting things dry, etc. to 
finally get it done.

Cheers,
Brian