sold

[george graves]

Sold

[ZM Blue Devil]

very nice, one of the definate unicorns of this disease.

I wonder what else is available from the same car, seats look sweet as well.

G man when are you going to build one of these?

[BeirBrennerE30]

Very nice piece!!!

[bmwpower]

Nah, that things got nothing on your gauges.

[karzrtoyz]

George, any way you can make one up that would be affordable to the poor masses?

[Holland]

George, any way you can make one up that would be affordable to the poor masses?

Seriously. As much as I want one of those I cannot afford to blow that kind of money on something like that.

[bmwpower]

George, any way you can make one up that would be affordable to the poor masses?

Stick it in your blanks (ala George) instead of your vent.

[george graves]

I've been playing around with the idea in my head. So, I've been looking up as much info as I can. That's where I found this for sale ad. I've collect every picture, and bit of info that I could find on them - and have them all organized in a "future projects" folder.

The electronics would'nt be the hard part, for me it's the plastic.

Mainly I've been thinking about how to mold that piece, or something like it.

It's not something I could get manufactured. The smallest runs are somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 units or something dumb.

I'm looking into small run, DIY small mold making. The only two problems with that are heat and UV. You know how hot your dash can get in the sunlight - especially in you live in California. And I'm sure you could understand how quickly something could fade with all the sunlight.

There are actually a few companies born out of the craft industry that have some really cool new products for making molds - I'm thinking of giving them a try.

Anyways, if anyone buys this one, please let me know.

[Mr Two]

When I worked with miniatures, I would sculpt with special two part epoxies and use stuff like plasicard. You can make a rubber mold from something like that pretty easy. Usually that stuff would be cast in resin, but for a higher temp environment you'd have to find something else.

[e30 Luv]

george: not sure if this would fit your particular application, buts its cool

http://www.emachineshop.com/

[kamotors]

george: not sure if this would fit your particular application, buts its cool

http://www.emachineshop.com/

thats a cool website

[kronus]

gg - I have access to a 3D printer... see if the resin regular 3d printers print with is strong enough to hold up under that sort of heat. If it is, we may be able to work something out.

[Cobra Jet]

Why not take a standard E30 vent and fool with that in order to design your own "gauge holder"? These can be found by the dozens in local junk yards (and would be cheap as well). You could use these and not have to worry about damaging/breaking the part since they are around in abundance. Use that as your working template to create/mold/figure out... While it may not be the best approach, I'm sure you could make something BETTER in which your custom gauges would fit into a vent assembly much like the original, rare Alpina vent assembly.

[george graves]

http://www.emachineshop.com/

Yea, I know of them. Thanks for the link. But it's much better to find someone that is willing to work with you to custom make jigs and stuff if you are going that route.

gg - I have access to a 3D printer...

That would be great for a mock up, but the finish and materials wouldn't cut it - I would think. (Since most all use heat to form the material - lasers or extrusion like a hot glue gun.

Why not take a standard E30 vent and fool with that in order to design your own "gauge holder"?

Yea, that's what I'm thinking too. But how much cooler it would be if it was a faithful representation of the original?

[GlassBreaker]

Could possibly get something milled rather than cast or injection molded? Would not be that expensive if order was of appropriate volume.