Carpokes

Please add me as well.

Thank you.

Any updates?

kwest3904@gmail.com wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2023 1:03 pm Any updates?

Been working away on making a reproduceable kit, and obsessing on a few details for the lenses and LED kit. Much easier to do a one-off for yourself than create a kit for others to install with success. Will do a video shortly showing how everything snaps together and will then start offering the kits. Still waiting on one small PCB for the LED kit, but otherwise I'm starting to stock up on supplies for when I go live with the kit. My biggest concern is how long these will take to make vs. how quickly the initial orders come in. Still planning to price the base kit at $60, which includes the 4 bezels and basic acrylic lenses. The anti-glare glass costs a fortune, so will offer that as an option for those who want to pay the extra -- probably an extra $60 - $70 for a set of 4 (the raw material will cost me ~$50 per set, even buying in bulk). The LED kit will be optimized for these gauges, with some interesting aspects I haven't seen on other kits. Still waiting on one last PCB to start building those kits. Should be ready in two weeks.









PCB gives a clue to one unique LED kit feature -- still waiting on the board though.

At $12+ per piece, I wasn't going to mess around with off-the-shelf clamps...

over $500 in Option anti-reflective acrylic... enough for a dozen sets if I don't screw any of them up.

Tom, I have that same cnc and love it. For items like this I like the masking tape and ca glue much better than clamping. And I am working on some parts in aluminum that require good precision.
It holds everything instead of just the edges.

j.samper wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:19 pm Tom, I have that same cnc and love it. For items like this I like the masking tape and ca glue much better than clamping. And I am working on some parts in aluminum that require good precision.
It holds everything instead of just the edges.

I did try that -- it seems to be the go-to approach in most YouTube instructional videos. It worked great at holding the piece down, but it was a bit more time-consuming and messy than clamps (considering I'll do a LOT of them), but the kicker is the masking tape tended to pull off the scratch protection plastic film on the acrylic, which I'd rather leave on for shipping, etc.

I put an inordinate amount of effort into these clamps and approach to ensure flatness. The clamps are shimmed to produce 100% downforce (no inward pressure to cause bowing like most side clamps); and I went with the smallest squares possible to minimize any warp or bow in the piece itself; and clamping all four edges this way on such a small piece really presses it uniformly flat. I've tested the flatness by running the bit across at .1mm and it's as flat as it can get, with no vibrations as it goes. Seems to be working will, with no vibrating or weirdness, but time will tell after I start doing them in volume....

Tom is it possible to get the LED kit with low output blue LEDS? Might sound odd but I have custom glow plasma gauges so only want the needle to be lit up. I know from another car the blue light makes the orange needles pop
Cheers

Cyberpunky wrote: Sun Jul 23, 2023 4:46 am Tom is it possible to get the LED kit with low output blue LEDS? Might sound odd but I have custom glow plasma gauges so only want the needle to be lit up. I know from another car the blue light makes the orange needles pop
Cheers

I wasn't planning to offer blue per se, but I'm sure we can find a compatible blue for you.

Fantastic work Tom!
If possible I would like the non reflective acrylic with the 2 sets I signed up for.

Thanks again for developing parts for these cars

// Peder

And me if you can post to the UK?

Tom wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2023 4:28 pm

j.samper wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:19 pm Tom, I have that same cnc and love it. For items like this I like the masking tape and ca glue much better than clamping. And I am working on some parts in aluminum that require good precision.
It holds everything instead of just the edges.

I did try that -- it seems to be the go-to approach in most YouTube instructional videos. It worked great at holding the piece down, but it was a bit more time-consuming and messy than clamps (considering I'll do a LOT of them), but the kicker is the masking tape tended to pull off the scratch protection plastic film on the acrylic, which I'd rather leave on for shipping, etc.

I put an inordinate amount of effort into these clamps and approach to ensure flatness. The clamps are shimmed to produce 100% downforce (no inward pressure to cause bowing like most side clamps); and I went with the smallest squares possible to minimize any warp or bow in the piece itself; and clamping all four edges this way on such a small piece really presses it uniformly flat. I've tested the flatness by running the bit across at .1mm and it's as flat as it can get, with no vibrations as it goes. Seems to be working will, with no vibrating or weirdness, but time will tell after I start doing them in volume....

Tom,
I really appreciate all the time and effort you are putting into this, and in my opinion, the result will be far more than the cost of input in time and capital in updating the aesthetics.
I'm all for the non glare material as the standard material can cause unwanted reflections which seem to pop their ugly heads up in unforeseen ways. Glare and unwanted reflection is fatiguing and more than just a bother and desire to avoid them seems to increase with age. I ALWAYS get non glare material/coating on my glasses to increase visual definition and clarity.
Few would take on such a project for themselves let alone offer them to others in a kit.
Your energy, attention to detail, enthusiasm to share, and sage advice are increasing the optics of desirability to owning the transaxle grouping.