Hidden Dash Gauges

[96Turbo]

Yo! I've been thinking lately about how to mount my gauges. I want to build a "panel" in the dash with a hinge in the back, so the gauges can flip down, making the dash appear flush, and flip up so the gauges can be seen. Here is what gave me the inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRx7R8KwX_8

The only difference, is i want the flip up portion on the dash to house only 3 gauges. And instead of flipping up perpendicular to the dash, i want it to only raise up a little bit (the height of the gauge).

Anybody have any insight on how to do this? I would need some kind of electronic actuator....but i'm not sure where i could get one. I'm fairly confident that i could cut the hole properly and mount the gauges, i'm just unsure about how to actually motorize the flip up mechanism. Any ideas???

[vsnz310]

haha thats awesome man!

[SW20Racer]

use a pop up headlight motor and wrap the cover to look like the dashboard??

i know thats not what HE did, but its a good starter idea, ill work on it.

[SW20Racer]

Edit: Prad0gy edited the post above this one. it used to make sense...

the video? yes. his question? nooo?

[reefer23]

sorry brotha but this is a repost
how is it a repost?
he's showing the video as an example and it is also where he got the inspiration from for his idea...

*oh wait let me get my post count up...rofl

get it started when you figure it out, not my steez but definitely creative...

[PRADOgy]

how is it a repost?
he's showing the video as an example and it is also where he got the inspiration from for his idea...

*oh wait let me get my post count up...rofl
.

ROFL..
# 2 who pointed it out
relax captain fucking obvious.. look at the coment above you
honest mistake

[sumoboi7]

THAT IS SO SEXY!!! maybe not the top part but the vents definitly. mb bout the post above. my comp frizzed out n posted it by accident.

[kdashy]

THAT IS SO SEXY!!! maybe not the top part but the vents definitly. mb bout the post above. my comp frizzed out n posted it by accident.

You could've edited your original post.

I like the vent flap, thats some nice james bond stuff.

[pbcstylez]

u need to decide how u want to move that panel up? do u wanna go rack n pinion? or gears?

[pbcstylez]

i woudl personally use gears and stepper motor, but than again how much experience do u have?

i would write a program for an IC, build driver motors to control the movement of the height

all in all its not hard jsut time consuming


or the alternative

find something that works similar and retrofit it into your dash

[GSXRJJordan]

I wouldn't use an actuator, because you'd have to have something under the dash to mount to, for the actuator to torque on in order to lift a "flap", then you'd need to make it's arm exactly the right length, and have exactly the right amount of travel... it'd be a pain.

I would use a servo to lift the flap. This way you can "customize" the range of motion much easier, and since the flap doesn't weigh much, the servo won't have a problem with torquing it up and down. You also wouldn't have the lame "flop" when you power down that the guy in the video did either.

Edit: just saw pbcstylez post: a servo is controlled just like a stepper motor (some servos actually use em). I have a P-BASIC controlled breadboard here, I should find my USB->DB9 (RS211) cable and do it too.

My only complaint is that they're not hidden when the car's on - i.e. cops cruising by still see gauges.

[96Turbo]

what's the problem with the cops seeing your gauges?? Because maybe they might get curious about your illegal engine??

I've got servos from RC cars that i could use....but they don't have much travel. But i'm thinking if i put a long enough arm on it then it could work...the trick would be triggering it. Also the fact that it's 6 volt...

Tell me more about this "IC". i've got experience in wiring & electronics. i could probably figure it out with a little instruction.

[GSXRJJordan]

You would want it to "flip up" on getting +12v (wired to your ACC lead off the ignition), which isn't hard, and kicking down from ~13.5V -> 6V isn't that hard either... the trick would be feeding it just enough voltage (or 6v for just enough time, depending on which type of motor you use) to move it the amount you want.

[S13Boosts]

thats hard.....

[S13Leprechaun]

well what im doing with my car, is right below the radio (cd player) im going to make a sliding door that goes up and down, to cover the 3 gauges below the cd player... just gonna cut thin lines on both sides of the radio trim as a track for it to slide up and down, and put some sort of rubber piece at the half way marks tha goes halfway across the track so it will catch on it and stay up so you can see your gauges... then when you wanna change your cd or whatever youre doing with the radio, you slide it down... and then everytime you park your car or w/e you can slide it over your gauges to hide then so no one wants to jack your shit.. and of course, detatch your head unit.. sound simple but a good idea to me... and you can put the 3 gauges you want there too so its perfect... just a thot.

[s13.dark1]

thats a sick gauge set up to. just another idea to thhink about.

[GSXRJJordan]

Wow lep - sounds pretty good.

btw, your skirts are still on, and lookin good in their original white lol.

[240love^_^]

:aw: Oh my god!
That is cool.

[S13Leprechaun]

Wow lep - sounds pretty good.

btw, your skirts are still on, and lookin good in their original white lol.


haha.. sweet.... yeah hope fully i get around to it this weekend... sounds like a good idea tho? simple, hidden, easy, different... ill post up a thread on it after i make it.. keep an eye out if your interested! hehe...

[slidewaysmn]

http://www.sxoc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=312379 His original post..... i would just do the vent gauges, i think he could have made the dash flip up a bit more flush. Anyone know the brand of gauges?

[[email protected]]

I've thought about doing something like this. I was in my buddy's Audi a4 yesterday and I noticed the little compartment where the cig lighter is. If you push down on it, it just pops open real slow and nice. Something like that would probably be neat and stealthy, and not very complicated.

[180sExy]

holy crap Batman that shit is TIGHT!

[pbcstylez]

I've thought about doing something like this. I was in my buddy's Audi a4 yesterday and I noticed the little compartment where the cig lighter is. If you push down on it, it just pops open real slow and nice. Something like that would probably be neat and stealthy, and not very complicated.

umm i have an a4, and let me tell u that is not easy

there is quite a bit of r&d to get that compartment to move so fluidly, ill tear mine apart n look

[pbcstylez]

haha.. sweet.... yeah hope fully i get around to it this weekend... sounds like a good idea tho? simple, hidden, easy, different... ill post up a thread on it after i make it.. keep an eye out if your interested! hehe...

hey Lep

lets take this to PM, ive been thinkin bout doin exactly the same ting u mentioned for the last 4 years

[96Turbo]

after giving this some more thought, i'm thinking that having it all motorized is a little unnecessary. I'll probably just build a hinged housing similar to what is shown in the video, but not quite as big. And rig up some sort of latch so it will stay down, but will release when pressed down, and a spring will keep it open.

It will be the same type of action as on those old school stereo cabinets. You know the ones with glass doors with the magnetic latch thingy?? Not magnetic, but where you push it in, it clicks, then it opens up.

[pbcstylez]

magnetic will work great also cheaper and easy to mount just run a metal bar down the side of the slider and have a magnet prop it up in any position

[Full-Lock]

the dash vent one is good
the other one i dont like, it doesnt look right when its down

but ya the vent one is sick

[96Turbo]

i agree, i like the look of the vent gauges, but i wanna keep my heat and AC. I think it would be pretty weak without the main vents. I'll just do something in the middle on the top of the dash. but make it look a lot cleaner than the one in the video. and yea....magnetic would be a good idea!! i could probably get a magnetic latch at home depot too

[RedStage]

needs to make Transformer sounds when it opens and closes :)
pretty neat install, good luck with yours.

[!Zar!]

Speaking of hidden guages and transformers...

Daniel aka ootransformeroo installed guages like the one in the video. But his setup is SO much better.

Just takes some time and ingenuity.

[A Spec Products]

Speaking of hidden guages and transformers...

Daniel aka ootransformeroo installed guages like the one in the video. But his setup is SO much better.

Just takes some time and ingenuity.

Yeah, his setup on the S14 was sick

Just used the airbag panel on the pass side

He had video too....don't know where tho

[blinds04]

Yeah, his setup on the S14 was sick

Just used the airbag panel on the pass side

He had video too....don't know where tho

I hope it's ok with ootransformeroo:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/th_Video_032107_002.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/?action=view&current=Video_032107_002.flv)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/th_Video_032207_001.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/?action=view&current=Video_032207_001.flv)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/airbaggaugepod007.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ootranceformeroo/airbaggaugepod007.jpg)

[96Turbo]

that's gnarly. although it's kinda a tough angle for the driver to see. The passenger gets a nice show of the defi's. I'm thinking about making a metal plate like that with them all angled about 20* toward the driver. It would add a lot more work though....

too bad the S13 dash doesn't have that nice airbag flap

[bwake 5]

personally i would just have it push button open.... when you push on the ac vent it would pop down.


thats just me

[smelly240]

for the guy who asked (i didnt see it answered yet) i believe it was said in another thread that the gauges are stri

[sumoboi7]

i still think that vent idea is sexy.

[sumoboi7]

i think imma try that. i would hook it up to a switch so you could close it if cops were to pull u over.

[PhAtXSuMo]

i seen pictures of guauges on the Passenger door panel looking straight across im not sure where i saw it i believe in a magazine a while back?? anyone know such of a thing?

[sumoboi7]

who ever pos repped me thank you.

[PhAtXSuMo]

who neg repped me..... thats not cool... i didnt neg rep anyone on this post. so whoever did that is shady as hell. not cool man.

wow people are mean on here, jus sayin. hella haters. wtf people. wut did i do? wutever.

i never seen someone so but hurt about being neg repped before :loco:

[RUTH'LESSDET]

wow i like:hitit:

[pirate_texxx]

i think you should combine the idea from the video and the idea from that transformer guy....

put a thin sheet of metal under the pass airbag cover then power it up and down with a s13 headlight motor.... mount the gauges at an angle so you can see them though. then instead of wiring it through the ignition put a small toggle switch down near the driver kick panel so you can switch it up or down as desired......... its just a thought, but what do i know

[TRU_DAH-V]

yeah sounds like a good idea so you can also have that mad tyte jdm sleepy eye effect lol :rofl:

[!Zar!]

The Gauges in ootransformeroo's car look like they aren't at an angle, but they are. Where they are at now yields no visual conflicts.

Looks even better in person.

[GSXRJJordan]

I'm all about using the airbag panel on my new S14. That's tight. +rep for videos :)