Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi Gents

So I have installed a Madman EMS as well as a boost gauge on my Patrol but never had a place where I could mount them permanently.
I always wanted to get a pillar cover with built in pods, but could never find one so I decided to build my own.

So here is what I have done and I must say I am pretty pleased with the result. The gauges are not in my way at all and I don’t have to take my eyes off the road any more.... safety first.

Step 1 was to find the right spot for the gauges, I used 52mm irrigation hose to fit snugly over the gauges and used a glue gun to secure the pipes in the right place

Step 2

Now that I had my pipes glued on the pillar cover I could start the process of making it look better.

I used a kitchen cloth and wrapped it around the pods to make it more round and fill the gaps a bit. I used resin then to secure the cloth to the pillar cover

Step 3

Once I cut off all the excess cloth I could start with the fibre glass and build the shape I was looking for.
I had to do three layers of fibre glass to get it the way I wanted. It took some time as you have to wait for the resin to dry between every layer and then you have to sand it down before you do the next layer.
I used one of those flappy sanding discs for my hand grinder to help me with the sanding...... saves hours

Step 4

So after I have done all the fibre glassing It started taking shape and I could now start finishing it off.
For this I used some automotive body putty. I used it to fill all the holes and even the surface out. I had to do two coats of putty to get it perfect

Step 5

This was the last thing I had to do that took some time. Sanding!!
Unfortunately here there are no short cuts and I had to sand it by hand. Luckily the body putty I used are high quality and they sand very easy.....quite pricy as well but worth it. After the body putty was sanded down I also used some spot putty to fill the very tiny holes as well to really make it smooth

Step 6

Now all I had to do was give it a coat of MS primer, sand it down and give it the final grey coat of paint to match the rest of the interior.

And that was that..... took me a Saturday for the whole job

Dis baie mooi

Very nice job.

Did you sand the square edges off the Madman?

Very nicely done!!

Looks good mate !!!!