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View Full Version : LancerShop A-pillar 2-gauge-pod cover



vtluu
01-09-2004, 02:26 AM
Jan suggested I pass along this info. I got the 2-gauge-pod A-pillar cover from LancerShop a few weeks ago and have been working on painting it to match (somewhat) the stock pillar cover colour.

The first important thing to note is that despite any claims to the contrary, this is not a replacement A-pillar cover. In the photo below you can clearly see it's missing all the framework and tabs that the stock cover has that allows the pillar cover to be attached to the car frame.

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/09_G.jpg

The pillar (currently) is available in black plastic. This is a photo of the pillar after sanding and two and a half coats of primer (really about 3 coats + wet sanding). The second thing worth noting is that the pillar does not come with a hole for the tweeter. This is somewhat-easily remedied using a dremel tool. The plastic tweeter "grille" is partly glued to the OEM pillar but easily removed so you can glue it onto the new pillar.

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/04_G.jpg

More photos can be seen in my gallery. (http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/album12)

vtluu
01-09-2004, 02:33 AM
I've been very bothered by the fact that this pillar cover goes over the existing one. :roll: Last night I finally thought of a solution: I'm going to use my Dremel to cut out just the gauge pods, paint them a glossy gunmetal or metallic black and epoxy them to the original A-pillar.

EvolvedDSM
01-09-2004, 02:51 AM
Even though it doesn't have the clips, etc... of the OEM piece, is there a possibility that it can be wedged into place and held there by the surrounding trim pieces (headliner, rubber frame molding, dash)?

vtluu
01-09-2004, 03:04 AM
I doubt it. I think the two metal-lined tabs on the stock cover are the main thing holding the stock cover on, with some help from other plastic tabs and pins on the stock cover--really nothing else holding the piece.

The instructions that come with the cover state that it's meant to go over the existing cover. It comes with 4 somewhat-wimpy-looking plastic screws that you're supposed to use to attach to the existing cover, by drilling holes in the latter.

vtluu
01-10-2004, 03:39 AM
Attacked the pillar with the Dremel tool today; here's the result after some more sanding and a hopefully-final coat of primer:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/10_G.jpg

Another nice thing about this way is that I now have the option of positioning the pods higher up to further minimize any visual obstruction they may cause.

EvolvedDSM
01-10-2004, 03:59 AM
Nice work :shock:

vtluu
01-10-2004, 04:05 AM
Thanks. The toughest part was that my brand-new Li-Ion dremel tool broke after just 1/2 hour. I think it overheated 'cuz for a while the motor could barely put out any power despite a full battery. Then it switched to its present mode of malfunction where the speed control is busted and it will only run at the maximum speed (I think)--35000 RPM. :shock: That was enough to finish the job but with the tool running at that speed it was way too easy to mess things up very badly with a slip of the hand.

Tomorrow I'm probably gonna go to Fry's and get myself a "warranty replacement" unit--if you catch my drift. :wink:

vtluu
01-11-2004, 12:33 AM
I suck!

Today I put on a beautiful coat of gunmetal-coloured paint. But I needed to put on a second coat and I wanted the first to dry faster. Earlier I'd used a hair dryer to harden the primer coat, but that was labour-intensive so I figured, why not just heat up the oven to something warm like 150F--not hot enough to melt plastic, right? Well, either I overestimated the accuracy of my oven's temperature control, or severely underestimated the melting point of plastic, 'cuz when I checked on it after 10 minutes, the tops of the pods had melted and flattened. How's that old adage go? Ah, yes: "Haste makes waste."

D'oh! Can you say, OWN3D? There went $56. :?

Just ordered a new one; sucks though 'cuz my gauges are coming in on Wednesday and I'd been hoping to put them in next weekend. Guess it'll have to wait another week. Anybody care to add "help Tam install his gauges" to the agenda for our 1/24 meet? :wink:

howiEVO8
01-11-2004, 12:44 AM
you got any penthouse under that pile? lolz

vtluu
01-11-2004, 12:57 AM
Nah, but if you want you can look at all the naked boobies in the National Geographic mags. :P

DB8GSR
01-11-2004, 12:04 PM
Nah, but if you want you can look at all the naked boobies in the National Geographic mags. :P

LoL! You know you got hots on them tribal chicks with nose rings. :P

vtluu
02-18-2004, 11:43 PM
Finally done with this. So, after the fiasco with the last A-pillar, I ordered up a new one from LancerShop. I ordered the one that's purportedly "painted to match the interior color" but what really interested me is the slightly different configuration of this new pillar, which angles the pods a bit so the gauges face you more squarely.

Anyway here are a couple photos of the pillar pods (alongside the actual pillar cover) as I received them:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0012_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0014_G.jpg

What the photos don't show is how laughable LancerShop's claims about the pillar being painted are:
- The "paint" is just a simple primer coat.
- The coat was very uneven; on one edge of the pillar there wasn't enough at all, and the base plastic was showing through.
- The primer had lumps in it due to dirt and dust and stuff.
- Under most lighting, the grey tone of the primer doesn't come close to matching the stock pillar.

Anyway, using the pillar cover as-is wasn't my intention, so I promptly broke out the Dremel tool and went to work cutting up the pillar into pods that I could mount on the stock pillar. Here it is after cutting and sanding off most of the primer:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0038_G.jpg

Next came 3 coats of primer (1 coat + wet sanding + 1 coat + wet sanding + 1 coat):

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0052_G.jpg

And 2 coats of colour (gunmetal), followed by a matte clearcoat:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0064_G.jpg

I probably should have done 3-4 thinner coats of colour, as the paint didn't go on as evenly as I would have liked. Oh well. I didn't want to use a gloss clearcoat because that would have been too shiny. Anyway things looked pretty good after the matte coat and cleaning with some Armor-All.

I cut large holes into the original pillar so I could pass all the tubing and wiring through and route them neatly down the inside of the pillar. For a long while I was set on gluing the pods to the pillar, but after not being to find a suitable adhesive, and further consideration, I decided to use the two screws that came with the pillar cover, and the four plastic fasteners that came with the first pillar I got. This way, should I ever need to service or replace the gauges I could remove/cut the fasteners and easily access the gauges.

And here it is, installed (finally!):

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0106_G.jpg

and a rather poor photo of what they look like at night:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album12/0118_G.jpg

JanSolo
02-18-2004, 11:54 PM
That looks SOOOO good.

vtluu
02-18-2004, 11:59 PM
Thanks. And today I was finally able to grip the gauge faces tightly enough to turn them just enough to be nice and level. :)

BluEvo
02-19-2004, 10:19 AM
thats siiiiick! looks good Tam.