I've been working on this project for a while in preparation for my supercharger install and finally got it finished today. I just thought others in the FI section may be interested if they were looking to make a more stealth and OEM looking gauge setup. I bought a new steering column cover from Honda (~15$) and fiberglassed a PVC pipe to the top to act as a gauge pod.

First, I cut a hole in the top of the cover using a dremel and test fit the PVC pipe to assure the gauge fit properly (I had to machine the ID out a tiny bit). I also test fit it in the car to make sure the location wouldn't block anything important. I would recommend plastic epoxy, as regular epoxy does not bond to the column cover plastic.




Then I fiberglassed 2 layers to the back to fully cover the PVC pipe and create a smooth profile. I also had to dremel out the center for the guage wires to fit through (not fun with the PLX gauge and its two massive serial/USB connectors. More on that later...)






Then multiple layers of body filly were applied. I just used regular bondo.




I sanded and reapplied the bondo to remove any pinholes and create as smooth a surface as possible.






I primed the surface to make any residual pinholes easier to see and either sand off or fill with more body filler.




After trying to find a suitable paint color/texture I actually ended up using plastidip as paint. It gives a texture and color pretty close to the OEM finish. I'm about 90% happy with the finish (I wish I applied it a bit thinner). I also ended up painting the lower cover in plastidip to match in color. The nice thing about plastidip is you can peel it off if you want to go back to stock or redo any screw ups as well.






And the finished product:




It blocks most of the numbers (but not the dashes) on the tach from 1-3.5k and most of the trivial warning/indicator lights (like airbag and seatbelt) but overall I'm pretty happy with the location. In person it blocks significantly less of the tach than in the picture. I can still press all the cluster buttons and view temp/speed/check engine light, etc just fine. If I were to do it again I would just place the gauge a tiny bit lower.

Also, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PLX GAUGES. I had nothing but headaches with something that is supposed to be a "premium" product. The power connectors are cheaper than something found on a $2 chinese toy (both literally disintegrated) and I had to warranty the screen TWICE. Their software interface also gives the impression of dating back to the 90's. While the idea behind the gauges is great, their quality and execution is subpar (in my opinion) and certainly not something I would expect from a setup that costs $350. You can also still see streaks running across the screen that were "fixed" during the second warranty that I eventually just gave up on (though they were way worse before I sent it in).

 

Looks great! Nice work.

 

Looks good

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Looks great.

 

 

nice project came out sweet

 

Pretty cool. Try sinking it down about 1" from where it is now and I bet you will love it even more. Basically, counter sink about 1/3 of the gauge into the cover if you can. It won't have that tacket on look and will look more like the car came that way.

 

The problem with that is that the blinker switch comes up right below the surface of the cover. I didn't want to start hacking away at the blinker switch to fit the gauge. Even as it sits, I had to cut a tiny bit away to run the wires and allow the cover to fit flush and snap in properly.

I do agree that it would look better slightly sunken in, however.

 

Mad skills...I wish I could do that sort of thing...but I would probably have all kinds of stuff hanging all over my dash...skill less for a reason.
It looks great as is.

 

Gotcha. Any way to move it over into another spot if you were able to recess about 1/3 of the gauge down? Not sure if there is more area under the cover to allow this or not.