Interior gauge pod

Here's another idea.  You're definitely on the right track using urethane foam to form the basic shape of your gauge pod, but it might be difficult to get the foam to fit perfectly on the countours of your dash.  I would avoid using body filler to make it fit, because if you've never used it before, you might find it is harder to work with than you'd expect.  I think you should start out by first making a fiberglass mold of your dash (not the whole thing, just the area you will be mounting the gauge pod).  Using masking tape, make a layer of tape on the dash in the area you will be mounting it.  Go a few inches larger in all directions and use a few layers of tape, because you don't want any fiberglass resin seeping onto the dash of your precious Evolution (be VERY CAREFUL).  Then use a black marker to draw the outline of your pod onto the tape.  Now you'll be fiberglassing.  Paint a layer of resin onto the tape, stick some fiberglass mat to it, then use your brush to saturate the mat with resin.  Use a stabbing motion to force the resin into the mat and pop any air bubbles. Apply about four layers of mat and extend at least an inch beyond your marker line.  Let it harden, pop it off, cut out your shape using the marker line you drew, and BAM, you have a base that fits perfectly to your dash.  Next I would figure out how you will be attaching the gauges.  Many peolpe make rings out of MDF wood, but if you can find some PVC pipe or conduit that can hold the gauges pretty snug, that would save you a lot of time.  Whatever you figure out works best, put it aside for now.  Now bust out the urethane foam.  Cut out a piece with about the same outline as your fiberglass base and a few inches taller than what your finished product will be (you can glue pieces together with contact cement).  Then attempt to shape the bottom of the foam to fit your fiberglass base.  Can't get it perfect?  Don't worry, gaps are no problem, it just needs to be good enough  to glue into place.  But dont glue it yet!  Now get your gauge holder rings and glue them onto the fiberglass base in the position you want them in.  Hot glue works great.  Next cut a section out of the bottom of the foam so it will fit over your gauges.  Now go ahead and glue the foam to the fiberglass.  Now get a can of expanding foam (make sure you don't get minimal expansion foam). Squirt it into any air gaps between the foam and fiberglass and also fill in the gaps around the gauge rings.  Be careful, this foam expands to three times its normal size, so its very easy to use too much.  Once that is dry, start sculpting the foam however you'd like.  Another word of caution, foam grinds away pretty quickly and it's easy to take off too much. Take your time.  Once you've achieved your desired shape, apply a few layers of fiberglass and let it cure.  Now spread a layer of body filler over the pod (I prefer Rage Gold because it is easy to sand).  Sand away all of your imperfections and reapply filler if needed.  All that's left to do now is vinyl it, or paint it, or whatever.  Vinyl and paint are both difficult in their own ways, but the results are worth it.

If you get a chance, you should snap some photos of the finished product and post them on here. I'd love to see how they turn out. 

wow

that is probably one of the best posts I have ever read....thanks ALOT man....i definetely needed that write up to help me

one question is this....i am unsure of waht I should use for holding the gauges because this is the position I am looking to get them in:

I will probably be doing this in the summer as right now I do not have alot of time for it....but i posted the thread becase I was excited about the idea haha....but when I do it....look for the pics because I will definitely post them man

thanks alot again

hahaha i realized I forgot to post the link on the gauges that i want it to look like

http://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/MediaGallery/0,,30382,00.html

scroll down and ull see the interactive video of the interior..( i couldnt find a pic).....and there ull see the gauges that i want mine to look like

thanks

lol dayyyummmm dude.....how the hell are u a newbie??? lol....you have the best writeups on this forum

anyways....i only have one more question then ill stop bothering you....lol.....all the info uve given me is to make the pod.....now what im wondering is how to mold it into the dash so it looks OEM?

Dude, you're not bothering me with questions.  I have no problem answering them.  Lay 'em on me!  Now regarding your question, molding the pod to your dash, you've opened up a whole new can of worms.  I was definitely describing the construction of a pod that mounts to the top of your dash, that conforms to the shape of it very well, but has a definite seam where it mounts.  If you would like it appear as if it is one continuous extension of the dash,  I'm afraid you've made a whole lot more work for yourself.  There's really no easy way to do it that I know of.  Once I describe this to you, you might find that a little seam is not that big of a deal, but I have no idea how in depth you would like to go on this project, so I'll give you some options anyways.   The worst part about this is, I don't know any way to do this without having to remove your dash (sound like a lot of work?  Guess what....it is!)  If you have a passenger side airbag, be sure to disable it first.  First thing I should mention is that there's no need to finish the pod with paint or vinyl (or even body filler for that matter. Just leave it in the raw fiberglass form).  You're going to have to finish the whole dash.  Just to familarize myself with what your dash looks like, I found the same kind of 360 degree view of the interior on the Mitsubishi website that you showed me for the 350Z (I'm assuming you have an EVO VIII).  It looks like there is a large panel covering the whole top section of the dash.  If you can figure out a way to remove that panel from the rest of the dash and still be able to securely reattach it,  that would probably be your best bet.  That way, you can attach the pod to that panel and refinish it, while leaving the rest of your dash alone.  I still don't see a way of doing that without removing the whole dash.  No matter what,  first thing you should do scuff up the whole surface of the dash with sandpaper.  Glue the pod into position and drill a hole through the bottom for your wires.  Apply a little body filler around the outside edge of the pod to blend it into the dash.  Sand it smooth, and apply about four layers of fiberglass to the entire dash.  Be sure not to add too much hardener to the fiberglass resin, because that will cause warpage, especially on such a large panel.  There's no need to cover the whole pod with more layers of fiberglass than you already have, but you definitely want to fiberglass over the body filler you just applied.  The reason for fiberglassing the whole dash is that it leaves a nice hard surface that paint will adhere to.  If you just paint over padded vinyl, it may look good at first, but it will certainly crack from being flexed.  So after the fiberglass has cured, spread a layer  of body filler over everything and sand to perfection.  Start with 36 grit sandpaper and sand until you have achieved your desired shape.  Reapply filler and sand if needed (and it will probably need it).  If you happen to sand through the body filler and into the fiberglass on high spots, don't worry.  Just make sure it is smooth.  Feel the surface with your hands to find any high spots because you may not be able to see them until after the paint has been applied.  Once everything is flawless, sand out the deep scratches made by the 36 grit with 80 grit, and it's ready for poly primer.  Do you know how to paint?

P.S. One thing to mention about fiberglass resin:  find some that does NOT need to be sanded in between layers.  This type does not contain wax.  It will save you lots of time and labor. 

I wouldn't use uerethane foam if I were you.  If you really are a newbie.  sculpting is done by professional sculpters.  In your case you really need to rely on those basic physics of cloth and how it reacts when stretch it over edges.  stereoonwheels was right about building a base but from there you build the face of the pod out of MDF and mount it to the fiberglass base then stretch cloth of the entire thing and the if you cut the base and face with precision you should have a perfect shape.  Then, resin the closth that is touching the base and the MDF after that has dried completely, then resin the remaining cloth.  After it is completely dry, cut out most of the bottom, minus about an inch ring around it.  use fiberglass mat or cloth on the insde to reinforce, because the best finish will be with the fleece or cloth use on top.

As for molding to your dash, don't.  The fact that you have to ask about means that you're not ready for it.  practice making drop in parts before you work on molding to such a large piece of your interior.  Anybody that works with fiberglass knows it's not fun molding fiberglass to plastic.