Stiggy Pop
In the cool kids club
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2011
- Location
- Granville, MA
dried SEM trim paint is very flexible, you're not going to be able to sand any kind of finish onto it.
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240 Dash Top 3-Gauge Pod Mods
- Thread starter dbarton
- Start date
I went to a place here in the states to look into making a mold for some Volvo 240 stuff. Very honest place, they signed a no compete/reproduce clause before I showed them my design/ ideas. They said it was standard procedure for them. The mold was over $5k. Funny, when I asked if I could take it home he laughed. What did I Know? He took me to the back of the facility to show me where they make them and said I would not be able to move the thing. Showed me "small" molds for toys and such that weighed about a ton or two.
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Meanwhile here's some progress.
This is more PVC, but it's not 1/4 inch. I needed a couple 3/16 inch thick pieces and I didn't have that size, so I glued three 1/16 inch thick pieces together using PVC glue. Once dry, I was able to trim and grind/carve them like they were always one piece.
You'll see what these are for shortly.
Dave
.
This is more PVC, but it's not 1/4 inch. I needed a couple 3/16 inch thick pieces and I didn't have that size, so I glued three 1/16 inch thick pieces together using PVC glue. Once dry, I was able to trim and grind/carve them like they were always one piece.
You'll see what these are for shortly.
Dave
.
Attachments
Last edited:
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Those 3/16 inch pieces are spacers that will go between the front face plate and the rear plate that holds the gauges. That spacer is needed to clear the gauge bezel ring thickness.
The back piece that will hold the gauges got three 2 1/16 inch holes. If you're curious how I lined them up to the front face plate, I drilled the hole centers on the back piece at the same time I drilled center pilot holes on the front piece before cutting any holes out with the hole saws.
Dave
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The back piece that will hold the gauges got three 2 1/16 inch holes. If you're curious how I lined them up to the front face plate, I drilled the hole centers on the back piece at the same time I drilled center pilot holes on the front piece before cutting any holes out with the hole saws.
Dave
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Attachments
Last edited:
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
These spacers will also give me more support when I cut deeper vertical lines into the front face plate.
And now you can see the gauges mounted in the combined faceplates. Some small and easy adjustments will be needed to make the gauges all perfectly centered in the bevels. That will be done by some grinding on the holes in the back plate.
Dave
.
And now you can see the gauges mounted in the combined faceplates. Some small and easy adjustments will be needed to make the gauges all perfectly centered in the bevels. That will be done by some grinding on the holes in the back plate.
Dave
.
Attachments
Last edited:
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
I'm working on mounting the gauge assembly into the pod shell.
Here is a view showing two PVC blocks I cut down and epoxied in to hold the assembly. I also need to add some blocks where the circles are, but I plan to make them so that it can also be secured with a screw on each end. I'll have that figured out soon enough.
And a front view below with the assembly in the shell. I did cut the vertical slots deeper (about 3/16 inch), but I haven't painted yet.
Dave
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Here is a view showing two PVC blocks I cut down and epoxied in to hold the assembly. I also need to add some blocks where the circles are, but I plan to make them so that it can also be secured with a screw on each end. I'll have that figured out soon enough.
And a front view below with the assembly in the shell. I did cut the vertical slots deeper (about 3/16 inch), but I haven't painted yet.
Dave
.
Attachments
slow240
Home Schooled
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2008
- Location
- Suffolk VA
WOW. By the time you're done it's gonna be hard to tell it apart from a real one
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
No. A real one was constructed differently. impolvo just sold one with broken parts, but there are links to pics of the inner structure in his thread: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=338482
Dave
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dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Maybe from a distance or to someone who doesn't know the details or difference. My goal isn't to fool anyone, but I would like it to look like it belongs on my 242 dash. I didn't think it did before these mods. We'll see when I'm done.
Here's a pic on the dash.
Dave
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Attachments
Jack leg
Never A Break
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
- Location
- Sedley, VA
Dave, a question about the orientation of the gauges.
IIRC, doesn't the normal 3 gauge pod have a slight driver orientation? Does the OEM above dash pod have a driver orientation? Does it even matter? Would this be something we could work toward if possible?
IIRC, doesn't the normal 3 gauge pod have a slight driver orientation? Does the OEM above dash pod have a driver orientation? Does it even matter? Would this be something we could work toward if possible?
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
The standard 240T in dash setup does point slightly to the driver. The dash top gauge pod does not.. But since these are set back further from the driver, I think it'll look fine.
I briefly considered cutting angled holes for the gauges, but in the spirit of making this more like a Volvo pod, I left them straight. If I don't like it later, I can make a new front face with angled gauge holes.
Dave
I briefly considered cutting angled holes for the gauges, but in the spirit of making this more like a Volvo pod, I left them straight. If I don't like it later, I can make a new front face with angled gauge holes.
Dave
Last edited:
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Update time.
As I mentioned previously I decided to cut the vertical slots deeper. After cutting, I could see some jaggedness in the bottoms of the slots. I didn't know if it would show after painting, but either way, I didn't like it. So I mixed up a small portion of epoxy and carefully laid it along the bottom of each slot. It self-leveled and filled the jagged areas really well.
Dave B
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As I mentioned previously I decided to cut the vertical slots deeper. After cutting, I could see some jaggedness in the bottoms of the slots. I didn't know if it would show after painting, but either way, I didn't like it. So I mixed up a small portion of epoxy and carefully laid it along the bottom of each slot. It self-leveled and filled the jagged areas really well.
Dave B
.
Attachments
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Thank you to Redwood Chair for sending me a sample piece of the 3M 1000 grit gold sanding pad.
As I mentioned, I was not happy with the paint finish from SEM trim black. It was not flat enough for the face plate and not really smooth enough either since it tended to lay down thicker that other flat paints. So I sanded it smooth again.
I picked up a small can of Testors Flat Black aerosol and sprayed a extra piece of PVC below as a test. A few thin coats. It makes for a very smooth, very flat finish. Then I very lightly polished an area you can see in the pic. It began to pick up a slight shine that I compared to an original Volvo dash piece. The match was very good.
So I sprayed the face plate and did the same treatment. The pic doesn't do it justice. It turned out nice.
Dave
.
As I mentioned, I was not happy with the paint finish from SEM trim black. It was not flat enough for the face plate and not really smooth enough either since it tended to lay down thicker that other flat paints. So I sanded it smooth again.
I picked up a small can of Testors Flat Black aerosol and sprayed a extra piece of PVC below as a test. A few thin coats. It makes for a very smooth, very flat finish. Then I very lightly polished an area you can see in the pic. It began to pick up a slight shine that I compared to an original Volvo dash piece. The match was very good.
So I sprayed the face plate and did the same treatment. The pic doesn't do it justice. It turned out nice.
Dave
.
Attachments
Last edited:
Jack leg
Never A Break
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
- Location
- Sedley, VA
That finish is very impressive and the slots looks good!
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
Thank you.
UPDATE TIME:
I've been working on the mounting points inside the pod to hold the gauge plates. Using PVC primer and PVC glue when gluing PVC to PVC. Using Gorilla clear 2-part epoxy for plastics when gluing PVC to the ABS pod cover.
Dave
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UPDATE TIME:
I've been working on the mounting points inside the pod to hold the gauge plates. Using PVC primer and PVC glue when gluing PVC to PVC. Using Gorilla clear 2-part epoxy for plastics when gluing PVC to the ABS pod cover.
Dave
.
Attachments
Last edited:
dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
This completes the pod except for the mounting of it to the dash. I have an old (cracked) dash I pulled out for the next steps. It will be a lot easier to figure out the mounting this way.
Also I see that I have some finish work to close up some gaps between the pod and dash.
Dave
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Also I see that I have some finish work to close up some gaps between the pod and dash.
Dave
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