Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Well, I was suitably impressed. The first pod turned out better than I expected. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics ( I thought I did.... clearly too many Premiums ). I was however running out of time to get it finished as I was leaving for Cape Town the next morning and wanted it in and working. So as i said before even though it took me 2 years to get this far, I gave my upholsterer well, I'm almost embarresed to say it, but I gave him a day to make the pattern and upholster the pod with thin foam and vinyl. Sadly he didn't have any vinyl to match the colour of the dash, so I went with a grey that matches the door panels and centre console, and my light grey leather seats ( that are now covered with Melvin and Moon covers (thanks to Biggles and Ian T). Now I know I didn't give my upholsterer enough time, and he has also said that I must bring it back when I'm back in Jhb for him to neaten up some of the edging details. He needed another half a day, which I couldn't give him. The contact adhesive was still wet on these pics, so you will see that it isn't following the contours properly where the gauges would fit. Here are some pics ...
Not to shabby.... at least the following ones will be perfect. So now to fit the gauges. Now here I made a huge mess up. Due to time ticking away and I hadn't even packed for the trip that we were leaving on in a few hours time, I made a stupid mistake..... I wanted my EGT gauge on the right with my boost gauge left of that. What did I do.... made a template, but mirrored it and landed up with everything on the opposite side. (again I thought I took pics, but I didn't). There was no time to correct my mistake so I left it as is and off we went to Cape Town with the pod held down with a little bit of double sided tape. The pod didn't move a bit. Direct sun on the pod, or wind blowing on it with windows open at 120Km/h...... no problems worked like a charm !!

When I got back, I made a cover plate, and redid the gauges in the correct position. here are a few pics. The ones I am going to make will not have the brushed aluminium cover plate on, but I can make a plan if someone wants it, but i think a black cover plate may look better..... agggg we will see how things go.... .... here are some pics....

So the gauges other than the EGT and Boost gauge are just in there to close the hole, as I want to get all new gauges that match !!! So you will see one of the back lights on the middle gauge isn't working, but like i said they are just dummy gauges at the moment.

What I tried to achieve is no obstruction to your view out the windscreen. I think I achieved that, and I also did not block off the defrost/ windscreen vents, so I am happy with the result. here are some pics from the drivers position and passengers position.
Also I like the idea of getting the GPS out of the direct sunlight, as that just stuffs up the battery like you cannot believe. This pic doesn't do justice as the holder is still way infront of the pod, but the general idea is there...

Very Nice Mr C, please can I have a non covered one then I can match my seat colour

For sure Ian. I'll be getting more materials on the weekend and start making them up.

Great stuff!

You will see on the brushed aluminium cover plate the slight hiccup on the top left of the far left gauge. I'll fix that up when I get time, or I may just make a matt black cover plate, I'll see how it goes.

These things are unfortunately not cheap to manufacture, I can only make one a day, and the materials are not cheap. Thanks to Peter Connan who gave me a little of that special wax to get the pod out the mold and some PVA Release.

So for one of these dash pods, upholstered but without a cover plate ( I will have to find out a price for that type of material plus cutting the outer profile without overheating the material ) will be R1200.00 ex postage if you are far away from Jhb.

I will also get a colour match as close to the standard Patrol dash colour too.

I have re calculated this out, and rechecked my material costs, right down to brushes and acetone and gloves, a few times over, and my profit is tiny for a day's work WWW , so no fortune is being made here. but hey.... its not about the money, ...there just isn't anything out there in SA unless you import from Aus at 3 times the price.

Please let me know if you want one.

1) JP - 2 off
2) IanT - 1 off ( not upholstered )
3) Tour de Frans - 1 off

50% discount to Forum members???

I wish I could Ian... Even I was caught off guard when I added up all the costs. 2 paint brushes per pod, wax, pva release, gelcoat, epoxy resin, thin fibre matting, thick fibre matting, acetone ( lots of it ), fibreglass roller ( stupid money for that thing), latex gloves, dust masks, cause damn that stuff gets everywhere ..... and the time to actually make the thing, as there is 4-5 layers of wax applied, 2 coats of pva release with dying in between coats, Gelcoat and drying time, first layer of fibreglass and resin, time to dry, and then second layer, and third layer for extra strength to prevent warping and movement if out in direct sunlight/heat.

Even for Aussie standards AUS$ 330.00 is not cheap ( and I don't know how recent that price actually is ), so I don't think my price is bad at all for the pod.

Having done a fair amount of fibreglass work myself recently, i thi k that's a VERY fair price.

Well done Cedric, it looks great.

Of course, i don't want one, because since I drice a petrol car, all the gauges i need come as standard equipment...

hahaha... Thanks Peter, I appreciate your help and advice you gave me.

And the GQ dash is a nice square look too, so would be so much easier too work out than all the curvy GU #$@%?.

Also one doesn't have to use it for gauges... if one wants a double din radio, then the 2 way radio can go in the pod.