A-Pillar Pod Build Photos.....

bpd1151

Active member
Ok, so since there seems to be some degree of resurgence here (thanks to fellow EBPF member Geswek, a.k.a. "Lord Tubby Ton").....

I figured since there aren't any real vendors out there fabricating these as of this thread creation, that I'd toss out some of the pics involved as to how mine was created.

This way, for any of you looking to achieve a similar design/look in your own SHO's, well then, just point your fabricator to this thread, and it should be of some relative assistance to them I'd guess?

No, this is not one of my infamous "How-To" tutorials, as I didn't do any of the work really. Well, other than wiring up the gauges once the pod was done.

Therefore, I'll toss out suggestions and what not, but again, don't construe this as one of my "How-To's.

Hope it's of some help to those interested in tackling this project.


To start off, you'll need to pre-order this item here 1st:

http://www.glowshiftdirect.com/Universal-Dual-Gauge-A-Pillar-Pod.aspx


Below are some images of the progression of the A-Pillar build......


In this 1st pic below, you can see that the factory A-Pillar was removed from my car, and all of the stock upholstery was painstakingly removed. Additionally, holes were drilled to allow for the wiring from each gauge to pass through, and the factory tweeter, & it's cover were also removed (be gentle those speaker grille tabs break SUPER easy!:



In this second pic, you can see the previously purchased Universal 2 Pod, Gauge Pod is situated/positioned in relation to the pillar itself, and the drilled holes:



Fiber glassing the A-Pillar itself to help build up the surface for pod piece attachment:



Fiber glassing the pod piece onto the factory/OEM Pillar:





Lot's of sanding is what's called for next.....



Whoa whoa..... starting to look like some semblance of a finished product:













Alright, so the above pictures is how it was ultimately received by me, from the individual who was so incredibly gracious in applying his talents to this project.

I decided, unbeknownst to him, that I was going to take this semi-finished piece (in my mind) and haul it on over to the Custom Interior Shop(http://www.markscustomautointeriors.com/contact.html) that has worked on my previous car project's, and asked them to Custom Upholster my newly created A-Pillar Pod. Interestingly enough, it took them having to go through three different vendors (of their own) in order to source the correct OEM material cloth, that was a direct factory match fantastically enough:





Couple of crappy pics that I took with just the gauges themselves inserted into the pillar (but not hooked up and functional):







All hooked up and running:





Some much better quality pro-pics from my photographer pal:






Once again, I hope that this post/thread is of some help to any of you looking to tackle this project on your own.

If any of you should have questions, I'll try to answer them as best as I may, but once again, understand, that I had someone else perform the fabrication on this, and other than hooking up the gauges, I really had zero involvement in any of the fabrication and upholstery aspects of it!

Mike :beer:



 
Best case scenario is somebody repeats this project then takes that to a plastic mold place to replicate BUT the market would probably be really, really low IMHO
 
I actually thought of this--was gonna ping Chris and find out how he managed it.

Most plastic molders require a set number (normally high) in order to do a mold.
 
Who did the leather wrap on the finished pillar?  In the 2013 the A pillars are cloth wrapped... I love the look of the wrap and would like to do both pillars.
 
I know my pillar is cloth wrapped with the OEM fabric used on the pillar(s), as well as the headliner.

The company I had perform this work is a vendor local to me, who specializes in completely custom interior work from A to Z.

It wasn't cheap, and they had to source three different suppliers of their own, in order to locate the OEM fabric.

I don't believe Storm (Geswek) had his wrapped in leather either, but rather the cloth. I know it's an exact match for his, but it looked pretty darn close.

If you would like the vendor's info, i'll be more than happy to send it to you via PM.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 
Yeah mine was cloth. It was tough, we could only find a close a match but you couldn't really tell unless you looked hard!

I got rid of pillar, gave to buddy on here since I moved on from gauges. It was a fun project.

Sent from a mobile, I think.

 
Actually guys I just talked my upholsterer yesterday about being able to wrap these, and he said he usually shies away from doing these. Just to big of a pain and not enough meat.
As for me making a mold of I would need 10+ prepaid orders to even consider doing a mold for. And not having a upholsterer to finish throws another curve into the mix. Although I am sure I could find some else willing to do. But if this project ever does come a reality these pod would prolly be $400+ and that's to much in my book I'd much rather meld pods to OEM trim as Mike had done. And rather then upholstering painting to match interior or flocking it. Flocking is a suggestion my upholsterer, to those who don't know what flocking is, you have seen before car maker have used it inside glove boxes and it's like a velour that is sprayed on and model builders us as well to simulate fabrics.
 
crash712us said:
Actually guys I just talked my upholsterer yesterday about being able to wrap these, and he said he usually shies away from doing these. Just to big of a pain and not enough meat.
As for me making a mold of I would need 10+ prepaid orders to even consider doing a mold for. And not having a upholsterer to finish throws another curve into the mix. Although I am sure I could find some else willing to do. But if this project ever does come a reality these pod would prolly be $400+ and that's to much in my book I'd much rather meld pods to OEM trim as Mike had done. And rather then upholstering painting to match interior or flocking it. Flocking is a suggestion my upholsterer, to those who don't know what flocking is, you have seen before car maker have used it inside glove boxes and it's like a velour that is sprayed on and model builders us as well to simulate fabrics.

As a retired auto upholstery guy, I have to agree with crash. I tried my hand on Storm's and the shape of the pillar with the pods grafted on is demanding to wrap to say the least. Many things contribute to the difficulty, but it is indeed a PITA job. I like Crash's flock idea or possibly I wonder what the pillars would look like shot with a layer of bed liner coat for a more durable vinyl look in place of the fuzzy flock.
 
Larrylu said:
As a retired auto upholstery guy, I have to agree with Crash.

I tried my hand on Storm's and the shape of the pillar with the pods grafted on is demanding to wrap to say the least.

Many things contribute to the difficulty, but it is indeed a PITA job.

Yes!

The degree of difficulty was expressed to me by my own custom interior upholstery vendor.

I never quipped about the price charged at all, as they were not only able to successfully wrap my pillar, but were also successful in matching the OEM fabric.

It was very pricey as I've stated previously, elsewhere.

Upholstery alone was more than double the expense of the pod, and the labor involved to make it.

'Twas worth it to me, to possess a unique piece.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 
bpd1151 said:
Larrylu said:
As a retired auto upholstery guy, I have to agree with Crash.

I tried my hand on Storm's and the shape of the pillar with the pods grafted on is demanding to wrap to say the least.

Many things contribute to the difficulty, but it is indeed a PITA job.

Yes!

The degree of difficulty was expressed to me by my own custom interior upholstery vendor.

I never quipped about the price charged at all, as they were not only able to successfully wrap my pillar, but were also successful in matching the OEM fabric.

I think it might be a little easier now matching a '10 thru '12 cause the upholstery shops material suppliers buy up over runs of OE materials for each production year and they put out catalogs, stockpile and warehouse the material. On a new year if the material has not seen use in a previous year,, it can take a while to filter into the system and be tough to get a hold of. Sometimes the books don't even come out for most of that first year.  After a couple years it usually gets easier. After 5 to 7 years or so some materials start to run out and get scarce. 
 
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