Streetlegal

There are a few (proven?) models on thingiverse you could probably use.

If you find a V3 one could you pm me the link or something? I can't seem to find a V3 one. Found some V2 ones though.

I think it makes more sense to run it on the left side. Even if it was on the right, you're going to save what, 4" of wire, or tubing?

 

I mainly say the left because the fuse box is right there, and I know most people poke through the firewall under the TMIC or go through the door by the wheel well.

 

My $0.02

I say have it on the left side as well for the reasons mentioned above.

Ok I just wasn't sure. It's just more tube in there blocking the vent. I mean I could just have it go down and back out the bottom then you can make a hole wherever you want. I am just trying to make the "tube" so that you don't see the wires in the vent itself. Trying to keep it clean

There are a few (proven?) models on thingiverse you could probably use.

Hmm I did not know about that site. I will look into it a bit thanks.

Well while I wait for the other pods I figured I would start on the single. A lot easier to make changes now that I have the vent independent

For the single, which side would be better for the wire tube to come out. Pillar side (red) or steering wheel side (blue). It just depends how I route the tube.

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/single%2052_zpsqq5nvhsf.jpg

I had someone inquire about a AP V3 mount along with a single gauge also. I can do that also, however, I do not have a V3 or V2 nor do I have a model of one to go off of.

I'd be highly interested in the vent with a single pod. Would those be included in this buy or can you print those?

I would have to model it up but it shouldn't be an issue. I have a few others asking for a single also.

If you're interested in selling them, I'm interested in buying one.

 

Is the vent+pod all one piece, or do the vent part and pod part get printed separately?

If these turn out how I want then I will get a list of people that want them and place a big order

It is all one solid piece so it is a complete replacement for the vent and fully functional. I might change the "wire tube" location for them for future ones. I'll have to see what happens if I do

Would any designers/printer think of doing a single 60mm gauge pod for the dash vent instead of dual 52mm's?

It wouldn't be an issue for me to make the single 52mm a 60mm when I finish it.

I'm going to have 2 of the duals printed from another source to see how they turn out.

A few other guys saw what I have been working on and have asked me to make them some too So now I have an Evo 8/9 defrost vent pod and a 15 focus pod in que.

Programming has been a hobby of mine since junior high, so OpenScad was pretty appealing to me.

 

Some things are simpler than regular modeling software, but some things are a lot harder. The strut brace was pretty straightforward. But if you want one circle to be tangent to another circle... that turns into homework problems from hell. I'm suspect that could be made easy with some clever scripting, but I haven't achieved that yet.

 

I mostly use Cubify Design for more complex stuff (formerly known as Geomagic Design, and Alibre Design). It's pretty sweet for $150. Also been experimenting with Autodesk Fusion 360 which is equally capable, and free, I just don't like the UI as much as Cubify.

Yea I hate programming

Update on the pod that I know a lot of people are following.

I was able to test fit the new pod in a car over the weekend when I dropped off some parts for a guy. The outside pod still barely touches the A-pillar, BUT, it fits now so the one I have isn't junk I also looked into some places about getting a bunch printed. To have it made solid like I have it is going to cost me about $100 per pod to print. I am going to order one of them along with one that isn't completely solid that is about $70. I want to see if that one will still be strong enough and whatnot. I am probably going to move the pod over just a little bit more before I do that though. Here's the pics

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/IMG_20160324_201338613_zpsflbhmu3e.jpg

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/IMG_20160324_201442063_zpsbfoy95yf.jpg

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/IMG_20160324_201357283_zpsduasy6jw.jpg

Once I finish this one I will start on the single pod along with a triple. The guy I test fit this on said he would be interested in a triple if I made one.

That makes sense. 27 hours per print is a pretty long print when it's one at a time.

 

Either way, I hope to see a few come out of this, and one on my dash, it's a fantastic looking pod!

I could try printing one with a less fine resolution and see how it turns out. It only takes 16hrs then. But thanks I really like how it turned out.

It's probably most effective to print via Shapeways or another company with fast printers.

It's not that our printers are slow you can't really speed it up without sacrificing quality. Additionally I don't think it would print right without a support material.

Plus I'm sure having another company print these would not be cheap whatsoever lol. I'll send them the model of just the vent and see what they say.

Scad files are for OpenScad: http://www.openscad.org/

 

It's a very different approach to 3D modeling than most software. You basically just write a script (using the built-in text editor) which generates the model by combining primitive geometric shapes.

 

The models produced by my .scad files are just fine, by the way. The scripts are just not as elegant as I would have liked. But once I got the parts I wanted, I lost interest in tidying up the scripts. I've got too many other projects I should be working on instead.

Ah ok that is rather different So basically you are programming it whereas I am modeling it. God I hate programming lol

I would really love to print a bunch of these for people (if it ends up fitting) but the problem is that it takes 27hrs to print. Then on top of that is the few hours that it needs to soak to dissolve the support material. I am really only able to squeeze it in on Friday night before I leave.

I did however finish modifying the model of just the vent so that it is separate. Even though that is really what took the most time I would be willing to share at least that model for now. I have it saved both in LHD version and RHD (just mirrored the model so it should work). Just not sure where to host it or what file format (I'm assuming .stl since that is what most printers use)

Uploaded:

 

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1428733

 

I was going to clean up the .scad files since they're pretty ugly, but... oh well.

I'd look at it for you and clean it up but I can't open the .scad file in CATIA :/

also.....

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/FB_IMG_1458576855228_zpskpbss5gv.jpg

Now I need to test fit it.....

So I got just the vent remodeled and not dependent on other parts of the pods. That was quite annoying actually I made a few little changes on the retention to help it fit a little better.

Now with this I can just model the pods off of it and do however many I want. Single, double, quad, OVER 9000, etc

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/Vent%20only_zps2mobhw9x.jpg

I've been really busy finishing the insulation in my shop and pulling apart my car so I haven't had much spare time. sorry :/

Forgive me if this has already been asked here, but is there a single pod design in the works? Just curious as I would be very interested. I have seen the one that Block8head makes, just curious if something similar will be done here?

 

Thanks!

Once I get the twin pod perfected I was going to see about making a single one after I get the vent model complete by itself.

Next time you print one, snap a photo for me before you dissolve the support material.

Yea I can do that for you. I will probably print another tonight hopefully.

Oh look

http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab114/gearhead_18/Vent%20pod/20160113_202348_zpstza9sdkv.jpg

So it pretty much fits. I'm going to move it over a little bit more but it won't need much thankfully.

Couple other things I noticed that I wanted to note before I finalize the model:

-The gauges don't point directly at your face (vertically) but more at your upper chest/neck which I liked since it wasn't right in you eyes but the guy I tested it with made a mention of it. Not that it was bad but he just mentioned it so I figure I will note it here and see what others' thoughts are.

-Horizontally they are perfect

-I want to test it out on one more car possibly just so I can see if there is any variation in the mounting. Had to file it down a bit more to fit in his than for in my car.

If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to say something.

I meant could I just turn it on its side and print it using the z axis for height?

 

Anyone have the stl that I can take a look at?

Doing that on the z-axis would take forever to print and would use a ton of support material (if support is used).

My build area is open, but I get significantly better results whenever I enclose the printer in a giant cardboard box. I've read that using a heat lamp also helps.

Yes if you keep the build area close, but still below, the melting point you will have much better results. Maybe try making a plexiglass box and shining a heat lamp through it?

Well... you could print it in half, and then snap and glue it together. I'm sure some bondo, or heavy autofill primer and paint would make it look as good as an OE unit.

We print things in pieces and put them together quite a bit for some of our 10x scale tool models. It works really well actually. Design a "key" in the parts so they go together the right way.