Like most projects that people undertake, I had an itch that I wanted to scratch which in my case was a halfway decent place to put gauges in my car. I liked the design of the ABT gauge pod for the early style dashes like in the early 4k's and some UrQs. The problem is that this pod does not fit the later style dash (like in my car), so I figured I'd make something similar. I decided that I wanted to design a small enclosure that would fit in the space above the dash immediately to the right of the instrument cluster. The nice thing about this position is that the wires that go to the gauges can be fed through the little plastic "panel" on the side of the instrument cluster. I think I'm going to fit some kind of a DIN cable in that area so that the pod can easily be disconnected. The other nice thing about this pod is that there shouldn't be any need for screws to hold it in place. I plan to use velcro to adhere it to the dash so I don't beat up my dash in case I want to remove the gauge pod.

Below are some pictures of the "prototype" and a link to the schematic for the different parts that make it up. It should be noted that the thickness of the metal wasn't really taken into consideration with the measurements, so they should only be used as a guideline. The pod fits into the recessed area on the dash for a snug fit. The guages actually use this space (the small recessed area) to allow clearance for the gauges since they are angled backwards slightly due to the slope of the dash. I plan to modify this design so that The front "face plate" can be unscrewed and replaced in case I want to use more or less than the maximum of three gauges (2 1/16th.. larger MIGHT fit...). I also plan to make the top piece removable so that the gauges can be easily hooked up/removed. The large gap between the left side and the first gauge location is necessary due the viewing angle of the driver. Putting the guages any farther to the left would make them unviewable from the drivers seat (because of the switches on the instrument cluster and the viewing angle). It should also be noted that it may be necessary to use a 90 degree fitting on any mechanical gauges (like the boost gauge in the picture) since the clearance is pretty tight near the bottom of the enclosure. I first made a mockup of my design out of cardboard to get a rough idea of what I wanted this to look like. Anyway, After going through a few different shapes, here is what I came up with (sorry about the bad pictures.. no digicam so these were scanned on my flatbed scanner...):

from left to right: front, left side, right side
from left to right: bottom, top, inside (note the recessed area)

For the specs, click here

UPDATE: This is what the pod came out like:

More photos are viewable here.

Update 2: I replaced that gauge pod with one based on individual gauge cups: