E46 M3 cluster swap

[Ray Smoodiver]

Awesome first attempt Gronholm!

[AndrewBird]

Yeah, definitely not enough. It's actually pretty amazing how far it will droop before it tears.

When the plastic is hot enough, it will pull down into each one of the holes in your platen and suck down tight into ever sharp corner.

[nando]

Yeah, i figured it should have stayed in longer. It was drooping 3-4" but the sheet is 12"x18".

[AndrewBird]

Rule of thumb for temp on the plastic is it should droop half its width. My guess is you didn't have it hot enough and it had trouble forming around. I formed a piece of 1/8" abs over a 4" tall mold and had no problems. Something as thin as a cluster lens shouldn't have any problem.

[nando]

yeah that's what I'm going to do. I knew this wasn't going to work the first try so I didn't bother to modify the original face. what I'm thinking is I'll put two "bumps" where the new holes will go so it sort of sticks out like the original did. I also need to trim the flange around the edge so mine conforms to the right shape.

next try I'm going to seal the frame that holds the acrylic a bit better and use modeling clay between the platen and the cluster face, to elevate it a bit and cover a few more holes. I also need a new shop vac so I'll probably pick one up, this was using my house vac which is problematic because it's full of dust.

then I'll dry the other sheet I have for 4 hours and leave it in the oven longer at full temp. I think the 0.090" will work as long as I can solve the bubble issue which just means there was still water in the extrusion. The manufacturer says I can also leave the film on during the thermoforming process which I may try to eliminate dust problems, but it means the film can't have any scratches or those will transfer to the form as well.

btw once it's formed the bends make it much stiffer than just a flat sheet. That will help if I need to go thinner as it won't be all that flimsy. It feels really nice in my hands, I think this is going to work perfectly!

[UNHCLL]

You can see the crease where it didn't confrom to the "nub" for the trip odometer reset.

Could you sand/fill the OE hole for the reset on your "real" form and then drill a new hole where needed for the e46 reset pin?

Looks pretty good for a first shot Chris!

[nando]

Do work..





Definitely not perfect but this was just a test run to see how it works. I put zero effort into my mold, it's literally a spare cluster face i grabbed from the garage, wiped off, and taped to the platen.

I think i will want to use a thinner material, possibly 0.050". This was 0.09" and it didn't like some of the sharper bends. I could also leave it in the oven longer. You can see the crease where it didn't confrom to the "nub" for the trip odometer reset.

Optical clarity actually isnt too bad for a first try, the only problem i see is acrylic is hydroscopic, so you have to dry it or you get bubbles. I did dry it for at least an hour but it wasn't enough, it probably needs 4 hours at ~170f.

The rest of the defects could easily be polished out no problem. I didn't do anything to the stock face, which had some scratches but none of them appeared to take.

[nando]

Couldn't resist starting on this thing..



Already had most of the materials laying around. Might do the platen today, but its snowing :)

[nando]

Fish tank cluster ? It could double as a heater !

lol. I didn't get that the first time I read it..

[LJ851]

Fish tank cluster ? It could double as a heater !

[nando]

sure, lol. I get that at my local NASA supply store, right?

I don't think it needs to be terribly thick. maybe 1/8" or less. once you get some bends in the material it should be pretty stiff. I'll probably experiment with a few materials and thicknesses. thinking of making the mold out of an old cluster since it's already pretty smooth. should work fine for at least 1-2 uses. maybe make a prototype out of wood until I can figure out my material, thickness and method.

I'm going to get the wiring complete and tested in the car, get the black face glued and painted, and make the clear cover last. I still have to do final coding for the K-factor and fuel gauge calibration - I don't want to put a bunch of effort into a nice shiny clear lens and then realize the whole thing doesn't work at all. :p

[Wh33lhop]

wh33lhop's just a hater!

Just change my post to hate hate hate hate hate :p

[george graves]

the E30 trip odometer "reset" is in a different spot.

Ah, I see - yea, that's tough. Make a wire with a z-bend in it?

I've never seen vacuum forming (at home) done with anything of the thickness that you're after. That's not to say it can't be done.

How about you mill it out of transparent aluminum?

[nando]

wh33lhop's just a hater!

[UNHCLL]

I guess that depends on how i make my form. :p

Elmers glue, popsicle sticks, and fuzzy pipe cleaners should work just fine.
Then when people critique it, just claim - "You dont understand the style I was going for... I didn't want it to be clean az fuk!"

;)