I am currently in the process of making a overhead gauge pod. I really did not want to put them in the pillar or use the trippen mount, and nothing else I saw looked good. I am not done with it yet but it is starting to shape up. I am hoping to finish it in a few days and will post some more pics then. Let me know what you guys think of it so far. I am thinking about trying to sell some of these in kits of some form if there would be a demand for it. Lets hear what you guys think or any idead you might have.

i think we need to see the finished product first, but i am sure if it turns out nice some people would buy them, i like the idea... are you gonna use fiberglass to mold it or something?

Is it just going to be the gauges sitting in the pod? Or are you making some sort of face to put around them? Looks to me as if they are going to just sit inside the pod seeing how they are mounted to the roof. idk.

I am going to use fiberglass to make a mold and face for them. The idea is to have a modified overhead console that the gauges would mount into. The guages are not actually to the "roof" only the extended portion of the console. I'm currently trying to determine the best way to make the mold. Any ideas would be great. I am hoping to get it finished and some good pictures taken in the next few days.

get some styro foam, carv/mold it to how you want sand paper works well for smothing it out. leaving no gauges in it or holes, then get your resin and fiber glass sheets and go to town and just mold it into the stock overhead, then bondo it up real nice, drill your holes in it were the gauges go and paint.... simple..lol have you ever fiberglassed before or used bondo

Thanks sydwayz. That was my basic plan. I figured that would probably work the best. I've done a little work with both fiberglass and bondo on my old truck. This should be a lot easier than that.

ok i gotcha. Should look pretty good when done then. As for making the face, I would just go ahead and mold it, completely finish it besides paint and then take a 2" holesaw and cut the holes for the gauges. You may have to take a dremel to get the gauges to fit in that hole exactly right. Than paint em.

Let us know what this ends up running you. Trying to get them angled has kept me from trying this.

you can just drill your hole flat and then autometer has theis really cool miss alighnment things that go arount to angle them how ever you want, i always ran them in my race car to angle them so i could see them, and to fine tune them you can change the angle by sanding the back to were you want them
they are called angle rings, part number #2234
http://www.autometer.com/img/products/2234_d.jpg

well any luck yet ?

Its moving kind of slowly but I'm hoping to have the basic shape and functionality of it done by the end of the week. I was making first crop hay all last week and didn't get a chance to work on it then either. It's going a lot slower than I expected it to but I am figuring it out. I've had to change a lot of things as I've been working on it. I still think when it's all done it should turn out really nice.

Great idea .. me personally I like my guages in my face at a quick glance.

Boge, thats why I didn't like the trippin mount as much. I thought it looked like the gauges would be to much of to the side where you would need to turn your head to see them. I am thinking mine should be a quick and easy glance above the mirror.
As a side note Don't try and wash your hands or anything in the bathroom sink after fiberglassing. That stuff stinks and migrates throughout the entire house in no time!!

..........
As a side note Don't try and wash your hands or anything in the bathroom sink after fiberglassing. That stuff stinks and migrates throughout the entire house in no time!!


Dude - gloves and a mask. :eek:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images345x345/235730.jpg

Thought I would give an update on my progress. It's going a lot slower than I would like but it is finally starting to take shape. There is still a lot more fine tuning yet but you can start to see a finished product. So far I have about $75.00 and atleast 60 hours invested making this. Let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestions for improvement. In some of the pics the pod is hanging down a little bit. (I was trying to hold it in place and take pics at the same time.) The mirror is positioned all the way towards the roof in the pics too.

looks pretty good, but do you have the auto darkening rear view. if so that sensor is at the top of the mirror. looks like the gauge mount would obstruct this. if you don't have one then you have nothing to worry about.

Actually it's on the bottom right. right next to the button. At least it is on mine. Yes, I have tested this. I have had some IDOT (to stupid to be a full blown idiot) behind me with their brights on and my mirror dimmed so much I couldn't see nothing but the headlights of the car and that was it. I covered this spot on the mirror by the button and the mirror went back to normal after a few seconds. Even with the guy still behind me with his brights on.

Looks good.

looks pretty good, but do you have the auto darkening rear view. if so that sensor is at the top of the mirror. looks like the gauge mount would obstruct this. if you don't have one then you have nothing to worry about.

The sensor is actually on the bottom of the mirror... ;)

Next to the buttons.

ben

cool looks great just need to get it finished, but coming along great

mine is up top. well, that is good you don't have to worry about it.

mine is up top. well, that is good you don't have to worry about it.

no...thats your compass...I am aware of what you are talking about (and what Im talking about) and no, thats not the light sensor.... ;)

think about it. That sensor up top faces forward. WHY would a sensor for ISRV mirrors face FORWARD???? :confused: It wouldnt....because the bright blinding headlights come from behind you!

ben

I went and double checked it. the sensor is up top on the mirror. the SENSOR is on the MIRROR side. hence dimming when lights hit it the mirror will dim. I know WHAT and WHERE the COMPASS SENSOR is and that is NOT it. plus "little" sensor down by the BUTTONS is NOT a SENSOR, it is merely a GREEN LIGHT.

Here are some pics, because "I know what I am talking". Compass sensor on front of mirror housing facing windshield. Light sensor on mirror itself, facing rear window.



http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7074/img1045kzp.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4782/img1048kws.jpg

AAAHHHHHH. His is definitely different than mine. Looks like he is right for his and others like his. Mine and yours Ben are where we said it is. But his is different. Shoot. The buttons look a little different than mine too.

Thanks Darius6t9.

ok nvmind my bad sorry about that. :o:

I did not see that you have an 07. In late 06/early 07 they changed the mirrors. For the GMT-900's they switched suppliers, I think from Gentex (01-06) and then in late 06 for whatever reason they switched to Delphi. So, the last of the GMT-800 classics did get the new style mirrors in them (because production overlapped between the two programs/platforms).

ben

No problem dude, thanks Mackie




ok nvmind my bad sorry about that. :o:

I did not see that you have an 07. In late 06/early 07 they changed the mirrors. For the GMT-900's they switched suppliers, I think from Gentex (01-06) and then in late 06 for whatever reason they switched to Delphi. So, the last of the GMT-800 classics did get the new style mirrors in them (because production overlapped between the two programs/platforms).

ben

i have a sensor on the back and the front of mine. I can tell you for a fact that the sensor on front (facing oncoming traffic) is not the compass, the compass sensor is in the base of the mirror towards the windshield. That way it always points forwards no matter which way you have the mirror pointed. Now, that sensor on the front (oncoming traffic side) is to detect the ambient light and the rear one is to detect light from behind you. Comparing the two values it decides how much to tint the mirror.

At least that is my understanding. of course thats my type of mirror that i grabbed from a newer year truck than mine at the junker. Without onstar

i have a sensor on the back and the front of mine. I can tell you for a fact that the sensor on front (facing oncoming traffic) is not the compass, the compass sensor is in the base of the mirror towards the windshield. That way it always points forwards no matter which way you have the mirror pointed. Now, that sensor on the front (oncoming traffic side) is to detect the ambient light and the rear one is to detect light from behind you. Comparing the two values it decides how much to tint the mirror.

At least that is my understanding. of course thats my type of mirror that i grabbed from a newer year truck than mine at the junker. Without onstar


I know how my setup is. There are some pics of my mirror in earlier posts. You can take a look at those.

I am nearly done with the final shaping of the pod. After I am done with shaping and sanding the original part smooth to match the texture of the addition I will be repainting the entire console. I am looking for suggestions for what color I should paint this thing. I was going to stick with the original tan color but this is the only thing that is this color in my truck so there is really no reason to try and match it. Any thoughts on what color would look best up there. Thanks for any ideas.

I am nearly done with the final shaping of the pod. After I am done with shaping and sanding the original part smooth to match the texture of the addition I will be repainting the entire console. I am looking for suggestions for what color I should paint this thing. I was going to stick with the original tan color but this is the only thing that is this color in my truck so there is really no reason to try and match it. Any thoughts on what color would look best up there. Thanks for any ideas.

Mine overhead mount is painted to match and looks well. If it was me, I would paint it the same color.
My $.02

Anything else other than color match would look kinda goofy IMO. If you painted it black, it wash out your gauges plus you'd have this black pod in the middle of a light colored interior??? :thumbsdow

I was thinking I might try and match the blue-gray interior of the rest of the truck but I'm not sure if that would look good and how good of a match it would be. I also thought a gray color might look good.

I finally finished the pod. This one is not exactly what I want yet, but I really wanted to see what it was going to look like and fill the hole that has been in my ceiling for the last few months. Put about 500 miles on this weekend with it in and I really like it.

I plan on continuing to work on the general shape and trying to make it blend into the stock portion of the overhead console yet. Some of the angles and shapes just don't look right to me yet.

Here is a few pics of what "prototype A" looks like. What do you guys think?

looks like it came from the factory that way. nice job

nice job. can you post some more pics, close ups and brighter...

Here is a few more pics. If you want a specific angle let me know. All the angles and curves are not exactly what I want but this is getting pretty close.

looks awesome. you do good work

Looks good

Looking good!

Wow that looks great! Think you could fit three in there? Looks like you could pretty easily.

Looks good. I know how much work that is. Heres mine.

Dave, That looks great! How long to make that fit?

Looks good. I know how much work that is. Heres mine.

Dave looks good..........how big is the screen?

Wow that looks great! Think you could fit three in there? Looks like you could pretty easily.

I think three would fit in there. It might be a tight fit due to the angle angles the guages are put in at. If three were put in there it might be difficult to get to the back of the guage located on the far passenger side. I would really have to look at it closer and maybe play with it a bit to tell for sure.

I think three would fit in there. It might be a tight fit due to the angle angles the guages are put in at. If three were put in there it might be difficult to get to the back of the guage located on the far passenger side. I would really have to look at it closer and maybe play with it a bit to tell for sure.

That would be awesome if three would fit, I really like overhead pods the best, but want to run three gauges.