Hello there,

today i received my centre gauge pod from Scoobymania, right on time as promised.
Does anyone have any tips how to install this pod securely in a MY98,and are there any do's or don'ts regarding cutting and/or fixing the pod?

THANXXX,

Happy New Year!

 

Hi, again.

Cutting: I marked centres with a bradawl, after marking carefully with ruler and pencil, then drew on with a compass, where the outer edges of the circles would be.Edited to say: at this point remember to allow extra for the bezels of the gauges, their outer edges are larger than the inners!
DO mark it with pencil first to check you have the gauges spaced evenly, remembering the spaces at the outer edges too.
I then cut the holes slightly undersized with a hole cutter, mounted in an electric drill.
You could also drill round in a circle of nearly ovelapping holes, then saw,break it out. If using this method, stay WELL within the circle you drew, then sand it back to the edge.
I then carefully opened the gauge holes out to size with a sanding drum in a Dremel type tool. Sandpaper wrapped round a cylindrical former, (dowel, pen pencil etc) would do just as well, just a bit slower. Plenty of stops for trial fit etc, allows the gauges to be a push fit, but I also secured them with 2 SMALL blobs of clear silicone at opposite edges behind them.

What I DIDN'T do right was remember that the pods are Fibreglass, and I was itchy for days after where glass fibres came off it as I drilled it:

Fixing: mine was such a good fit that it spent the first 4 months just push fitted. After a while it slid outwards under heavy acceleration, so I experimented with Blu-tac, and finally fixed it in place with 4 SMALL blobs of silicone. The Blu-tac was useful as it gave an indication of the best place to put the silicone. The pod CAN be removed if I ever want to, but is permanent as far as owt else is concerned.
Just don't fix it down until you're certain you have all the wiring done properly:
I had probs as my supposed 12V supply permanent live, was about 9V!!!
All OK now though.

Alcazar

[Edited by alcazar - 12/31/2003 4:29:24 PM]

 

hi alcazar,

thanx for the tips,
do i still need to remove part of the tray other than the lid to ensure a proper fit?

[Edited by trolleydolly - 12/31/2003 4:29:29 PM]

 

No, but I took the whole thing out, in order to remove the hinges, as I wasn't sure if they'd be in the way, and that's when I saw that the control box would fit where the "cup holder cover" is. I then replaced the base of the tray.

Alcazar