DIY DIN Replacement Gauge Panel.. Anyone?
 

Anyone happen to have an awesome DIY DIN replacement gauge panel that can fill the hole where the DVD used to be? I want to make my own and was wondering if anyone has any they made themselves and how they made the mount for it. I'd like to just make it out of aluminum, paint it textured black and slide it in there. Versus buying the $40 units you see being sold at misc Miata retail places.

that sounds like a plan to me.

Guess i'll just jump on the bandwagon and see how it goes. If all else fails i'll buy one somewhere I suppose.

dude, why spend $40 on one when you can get them on ebay for like $20 shipped?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TRIPL...spagenameZWDVW

I've seen those and I like the fact that it angles the gauges for accurate reading of the gauges. I'd have bought one of them before the Thompson Racing ones (or similar companies). Do ou know anyone with one of these units installed and if they had a problem with them being flimsy, not fitting right, not having the right tabs to clip into a standard din fitting? I don't mind testing one out for $20 especially when a piece of aluminum thick enough for my liking is going to be more than $20 specially after i add in my time to make it look good.

Don't forget that a 2 1/16" hole saw will cost you an arm and a leg, if you can find one. I made a temp out of really thin aluminum, and used a 2" and dremeled the hole(s) bigger.

But if my was a true double-din, I probably would have bought something rather than gone DIY.

The DDM setup is very nice quality. Better then any other I have seen. It comes in a 3 hole variety as well. (and without A/F crap)
For me it needs to be painted/powder coated black though.

http://www.rspeed.net/images/product/500-007b.jpg

Yeah hole saws are big money, I would just mill out the alum as I have access to a large machine shop associated with my major so that wouldn't have been a worry of mine.
The DDM one is super nice, I like it alot, but its also like $75 or more if i remember correctly, it's sturdy and looks good but I won't throw down that much bank for a plate.
I'd like to find something with only 2 gauge holes like the DDM that I could cut out later on if i wanted to put something else in there. Similar to the Thompson Racing piece. We'll see, I'll have to make up my mind sometime.

I've got one just like the one in that auction. I've had it in my car for 1.5 years at least.

http://www.fritchard.com/99MX5/DSC03211.JPG

same here. fits fine. plus you can bend it to suit your needs.

Purchased it. Thanks for the picture and advice. Sick interior Fritch.

FWIW, you can see a pic of my carbon fiber DIY panel in vbgarage.

I checked that out Ben, looks pretty sweet. I want to stick with black plastic though just to keep a standard look in the interior. My roommate did offer me some carbon fiber from a air intake off of a Ferrari 550 Marinello from the car that won 24 hrs of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. Be kind of cool to have that history in the car. I'll stick with the black plastic though. :)

no prob dude, thanks for the compliment :bigtu: