Gauges in!
I’ve actually gotten a lot more done than my posting frequency would indicate. Winter really took the wind out of my sails: every time I would get the motivation to get back to work I’d realize that it was too cold for paint to set, or that I hit another “I need an air compressor for that” moment.
But some progress was made. Mainly, I got the gauge cluster done. That turned out to be a huge project, but rewarding one. The gauge migrations worked fine – the fuel gauge is in it’s new smaller home, and the new tach looks SICK. I really like it. I’m not sure its accurate – but it moves! The illumination looks almost how I wanted it, but it is close enough. It’s certainly red. Looks orange in the pictures – but that’s just the camera. With the bezel on it looks even better. I ended up just using my paper mockups instead of going vinyl – but I think that will prove to be a bad move, as they are already curling a bit. Meh. I can always fix that later – the hard part was the stupid LED lighting.
I had to do major surgery on the two cluster bezels I had. One had the correct ac vents, but was in bad shape otherwise. So I frankenstiened them together. Still have a bit more fiberglass and filler work to do on that, then paint. But I will now have the correct AC vents and a proper cutout for the stereo.
Next on the agenda is finishing up the bezel details, wiring in a shutoff for the STUPID POSIVENT system (which I despise) and then glassing the dash. That one is going to be a full weekend project, but TOTALLY worth it. I have some stuff I need to pay off before I spend anymore on the truck, so we’ll see how it goes.
I also finally got a new ride! I picked up a 2007 Saturn ION for a very good price. I loooooooooooove this car. It is weird, because other than the truck I’ve never had an American vehicle. And now I own two GMs! Honestly, the build quality of the ION is right up there with my 1999 Corolla (my previous daily driver). For the record – I LOVED my Corolla. 215,000 miles – and I had to take it to the shop ONE time. But it was time to move on. So I moved on to a silver ION!
Oh! I also did some sweet work on the grill that I will have to take a pic of.
