E46 M3 cluster swap

[nando]

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

[Wh33lhop]

Yeah, it could be tough. But if you look at a 25 year old cluster up close, they have lots of scratches, but they aren't very noticeable. I was thinking of using acrylic since it can be polished.

I'd guess the nature of the imperfections of a mold probably won't be comparable to scratches.

[nando]

Yeah, it could be tough. But if you look at a 25 year old cluster up close, they have lots of scratches, but they aren't very noticeable. I was thinking of using acrylic since it can be polished.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Yeah, from my experiments, optical (clear) is a lot harder to vac form.

[AndrewBird]

I did some vacuum forming using that exact instructable a few years back. Still have my platen. Make sure you use metal corner connectors for the window screen frame. I tried plastic and they end up melting in the oven and causing problems.

Whatever you use for your mold, make sure it is absolutely perfect. I was trying to make goggle lenses with mine and even with an almost mirror polished piece of lead used as a mold, the lenses weren't good enough to see through. On a bigger piece like your doing, viewed from farther away, it should be a lot easier to get right.

[nando]

What do you mean? Because I'm using the E30 housing? Also the E30 trip odometer "reset" is in a different spot. So I'd have to drill two holes in the E30 cover, and then there'd be the original hole leftover. It would look goofy.

I've been trying to figure out what to do about it forever. I can make the vacuum form pretty cheap, so why not? Also I'm thinking of all kinds of other things I could do with vacuum forming. :)

[george graves]

I'm lost - why do you want to remake the front of the e30 cluster "glass"?

[nando]

Actually Chris, you may be onto something.

Random youtube video on vacuum forming:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ooVBJbYac_4

I'd have to make a mold, but its a much simpler shape than an RC car body.

For future reference:

http://m.instructables.com/id/Make-a-good,-cheap,-upgradeable-sheet-plastic-vacu/

[nando]

Chris,

Could you buy some clear lexan - heat it in the oven perhaps enough to make it soft and then overlay it on an existing cluster to form the shape?

Looks nice, cool to see a project from theory to application come together!

Possibly.. the sheet i have is thin enough to bend at room temp, but it might be too flimsy. Another concern is UV resistance, if i remember right acrylic is better at UV but lexan is more scratch resistant.

A++++ would read again.

To be honest i might have to go back and read it, i dont think i even know how it works anymore.

[Ray Smoodiver]

A++++ would read again.

[UNHCLL]

Chris,

Could you buy some clear lexan - heat it in the oven perhaps enough to make it soft and then overlay it on an existing cluster to form the shape?

Looks nice, cool to see a project from theory to application come together!

[nando]

I'm motivated to finish this after taking so long since MS3 supports it directly now. I don't have to wait to get MSS54 running in my car. :)

wiring will be fun, but I think that's easier than fabrication of plastic bits..

[Farbin Kaiber]

Downright awesome.

[FredK]

Looks like a good fit!

[nando]

I had a sheet of plastic laying around, so I figured, what the heck? I'll try making it by hand, and if it looks like poo, I can have it laser cut instead. I made a pattern at work in CAD, printed it and glued it to a piece of cardboard, then cut and trim it to make sure it fit. Then I taped it to the plastic, and went to town with a knife. I think it turned out rather well..




as it turns out, the outter edge doesn't have to be even close to perfect - the shroud that screws over top of the cluster covers most of the edges. I'm going to glue it together with model cement, fill the corners in with model putty, and then paint it matt black.

Still have to figure out the clear face, but I'm leaning towards using a stock one. The extra hole for the odometer reset will be a bit annoying though. I also have some flexible clear plastic I can cut to cover it instead, which I may try, but it's a complex shape (curved in 2 directions). the one on the pic is obviously damaged, but it was useful for mock ups. if only I could figure out a way to fill in that extra hole.

there's also the bottom edge I have to cover somehow that you can't see in the pic. I might cut what's there out now (basically where the lights go through on a stock cluster) and put a straight piece.