Lockdown Gauge Holder
As part of the air suspension/on board air upgrade I want to do, I need a place to mount an air pressure gauge. I found a nice Smiths one on ebay cheap, and decided to mount it in front of the auto gear shift. On my truck it has a wooden trim around the gearstick area which I like so I wanted to build it into that, and there is a recess under the wood trim which I think may be for coin tray which seemed ideal for the gauge to go in, so I hole sawed a 52mm hole into the console and tried to get the gauge to fit nicely.
Unfortunately my choice of position was not very good as the gauge with air unions on is very deep, and also the centre console is not that easy to fit, and impossible with the gauge fitted where it was. You just can't slide it forward past the gear shift.
So back to the drawing board, I need to mount my gauge somewhere else, and do something to repair the hole in my console. Decided to make a nice gauge holder further forward where there is lots of space and depth for the gauges, also I could have more gauges, and perhaps even lights and switches! I am going to make it just using parts and tools that are already at home.
Used some left over floor insulation to make the template. Its nice and crispy, easy to cut and has 1cm squares printed on. Very handy stuff. This is the angle needed to match the dashboard. Scored it with a screwdriver to make a mark.
Cut it with the angle grinder and a very thin disc. The varnish and veneer are very easy to chip but the angle grinder gives a good cut.
Looks good. Next make a template with the floor insulation.
Made it oversize to start with as I will need to trim the ends.
These areas I will need to avoid, and you can see the mountings that I need to retain.
This line shows where the trimmed wood panel now fits, the plastic console will have to be trimmed, but I need to retain its shape and its mounting points. I didn't cut along the line I drew, I cut it further forward along one of the plastic ribs.
Next I cut the corners of the template with the console in place, I also have trimmed the wood panel more to remove the bit I hole sawed, but I have kept the bit in front of the gearstick as it has a mounting point underneath.
Used an old aluminium sign, it's about 2mm thick, drew around the template, cut it out with the jigsaw and a metal blade, tidied the edges and then scored the fold lines with a sharp stanley knife. The tabs at the bottom of it will hold it in place as it will be clamped by the wooden trim. The top will be against the lower dashboard.
Folded the edges just by hand in the vice, used a 3mm piece of stainless clamped in the vice to give a nice sharp edge. Fiddled around with it a bit, trimmed some of the corners off etc.
View from driving position. When you have the shifter in park, it covers the middle of the panel.
If I make a mk2 version, I would make the tabs at the side bigger, so they line up with the cut bits of the plastic console. But it is ok for now.
I can either fit 1,2,3 or 4 gauges in the area, I have decided to go for 3 gauges.
1 - air pressure in tank, air pressure in rear suspension.
2 - oil tempature of the gearbox.
3 - don't know yet. I have a water tempature gauge but I already have that on the dashboard . Possibly rear ride height? I can't afford any new Stack gauges as they are so expensive!
Any suggestions of gauges an overlander might need, and why, would be appreciated!
I wanted a bit of grey trim to stop the top rubbing the dashboard, I don't have any the right colour but used some electrical cable (2 core and earth) insulation cut down the middle. Looks ok I think.
Next is a test fit, paint the panel and start to sort the wiring and pipes.