Any interest in a group buy? 2 door L body specific full legnth A piller pods

[PentastarTurbo]

Update 11-23-04

Just got an email from Lo-tek about the pricing..
Good news, bad news..

read the copy/paste below
-----------------------------
Chris:

The trim piece has been reviewed and priced. There are a couple things that need addressed.

First, about 8" of the "leg" that goes below the dash cannot be reproduced. Second, the undercut (the part that curves underneath) cannot be reproduced. The rough mock-up will show you the changes.

The pricing for a double will be $44.99 unpainted and $52.98 painted. Shipping in USA is $5.99 and international(Canada included) is $11.99

We will get the mock-up out to you this week.

Regards,

Lo-tek, Inc.


IMPORTANT: PLEASE INCLUDE ALL PRIOR EMAILS WHEN RESPONDING
----------------------snip----------------------

Im not too thrilled with their description of what the trim piece will look like..
Also, I finally saw a 2 door L body in the local yard.. So I snagged another stock trim piece sence my stock one was damaged in the mail..
This way when the prototype comes in, I can take pictures compaiting the two..
After posting pictures I will be placing a voting poll whether or not the majority likes the prototype and if we should go any further with this..

remember there will be an exposed section from the A pillar trim to the kick panel.. Im not likin this too much, but I think could mod mine easily using my stock trim piece..

Another alternative is to have a 2 pod add on that fits much better than the FWD performance pods possibly? maybe that one would be easier to mod and mold into a 1 piece? Anyone know where FWD has their made?

Im not sure, just kickin out some ideas..
We'll see what happens with this..

thanks

[supercrackerbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PentastarTurbo Anyone know where FWD has their made?

I had thought Lotek.

[PentastarTurbo]

Update 11-26-04 Rough mockup (prototype) has been recieved

#1
stock (top) vs modded (bottom) picture
here you can see the difference between the stock piece (top and the modded piece (bottom) They have cut quite a bit from the bottom leg of the A pillar trim..
***Im not too thrilled with this because this WILL leave alot of metal exposed***
The stock kick panel trim (near hood release) covers up the bottom portion of the part that was cut off.. If this wasnt cut off.. the kick panel trim only covers up about 1 inch worth of the A pillers trim..


#2
Their note writtin on stock trim piece..
"Lower leg removed"


#3
This note was written on the side that of the trim that faces the drivers side window.
"look underneath"


#4
This is what they were referring to on the "look underneath" note
This was written on the section,
"undercut cannot be reproduced"


#5
Heres is an outlined picture of what they cannot reproduce..
This part is not in view when trim is attached.. This is the part of the trim that curves underneath itself next to the doors weather seal.. (not really an issue)


#6
Heres another angle of the above mentioned part of the trim piece that "cannot be reproduced" As you can see, this wont be visable when the trim piece is mounted..


#7
Here is how they trial fitted the two blank pods for the gauges angle placement and spacing.
They are just glued into place using plastic weld epoxy and this is just the prototype for proper fitment.. Im am supposed to trial fit and take nots and make any changes as needed to send it back.. I will be doing the tril fitting tomorrow (11-26-04)


#8
Here is another angle of the pod placement..
This mite not be perfect, Im going to trial fit this myself and evaluate this for proper fitment and a general ergonomic placment of the gauges and their angles.
The lower pod is directly over the bottom mounting hole for the trim piece..
I will bring this to their attention.. Mite require the use of a christmas tree fastioner style attachment or a 90 degree screwdriver??


#9
Yet, another angle..
You can see how theire just being tacked into place with the plastic weld epoxy..


#10
heres what I was talkin about having the lower pod directly over the bottom mounting screw..
On my home brew made A pillar pod.. I cut this out for the wiring. it didnt move much, but wasnt perfect..


Do you feel we should continue with this venture?
Please vote on the poll here..

VOTING POLL IS ON THE UPPER RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THIS PAGE
Please disreguard the page this is on... The car had frame damage.. DOA

If you've asked to be placed onto the list and wish to be removed.. Please email me personally @ PentastarTurbo@aol.com
I need your first and last name inorder to completly remove ya from the master tally sheet..

Alternative option..

Sence there doesnt seem to be a way for us to have a full and COMPLETE A pillar trim replacment, Would anyone be interested in a triple pod version of an "add on" style?
When I say add on I mean that this would be a pod that houses three (3) 2 1/16" gauges that just screws onto your excisting factory trim piece..

[PentastarTurbo]

something else you mite get a kick out of that im not to hip about..
the form they sent with it..

[PentastarTurbo]

update 11-28-04 The prototypes fitment

I ment to do this yesterday (saturday) but I had a few things come up..

#1
Heres the fitment.. of course it fits just as factory... no issues..


#2
Heres where most people will be concerned.. the leg thay chopped off that couldnt be reproduced.. with all the trim properly back into place, this is how much gap you'll have..


#3
With the door shut, you dont even notice this unless your REALLY looking..
To me this isnt that big of a deal now that i've seen it close up..
Also this shows you that this wont hinder any airflow against the side window when defrosting is needed..


#4
From the pod closest to the steering wheel, here is your clearence..
On my home brew built pod it was slightly less than this, but not a problem.. Unless you wear welders gloves while driving


#5
Hands on experience..


#6
heres another angle.. I actually used a phone book to lift myself up to the headliner to check for gauge angle for the taller fellas and the seemed perfect.. I really wish they had used pods with gauge holes in them so I could trial fit a gauge in there..
I also slouched suite a bit and the gauges are in a pretty good position for all heights..


#7
Heres a picture of where the trim goes against the A pillar next to the side window weather seal.. the underside that has to be removed inorder to do this wont effect anything..
if you notice the slight gap between the trim... this is how they all fit from the factory..

heres a picture of the stock passengers side to show a comparison..


#8
I held a 2 1/16 water temp gauge right next to each of the pods in the exact same angle and took a total of 3 pictures using a tripod on the seat.. the orignal was just of the trim mounted, the other pictures was with me holding the gauge at the same angle right next to the pods and I did a primitive photo edit. very rough, but I thought it would be nessary for a decent visuall for others to see what I saw..

compaired to my home brew

this picture above was taken through the top of my GLHS's sunroof while it was removed and the angle is slightly off, but the placment is perfect on the add on from FWD..

Im half way tempted to just buy another FWD add on and glue this onto the stock trim piece and send this back to LoTek..
Mine stuck out further past the trim because I added it into the excisting trim, I could make this hug a little tighter to the trim than what I orignally did.. Id also take the FWD pod and cut it in half inbetween the two gauges and place them about half an inch further from each other like the mockup piece they sent me..
what do you think of that idea?

Ive already spent some good money on this venture, and dont mind spending a few more to get this done right.. I could try and ask Cindy @ FWD if she'd donate a 2 gauge add on pod for this..

heres my orignal home brew

heres how Id like it to be.. have the gauge really hug the A pillar that way theyre out of the way a but more and dont hinder our site of view..


Is there anything specific that anyone wants me to measure or take a picture of?
Drop me a line at PentastarTurbo@aol.com
Im quite honestly feeling pretty good about this now after trial fitting this and seeing how it looks with the pieces cut off that couldn't be reproduced..
lets hear some opinions..

[PentastarTurbo]

Interest has tapered off I guess?
hmmmmm...

[rfb6435]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PentastarTurbo Interest has tapered off I guess? hmmmmm...

For the bottom part that is cut off would it be possible to have it taper down so that it would go inside of a cut stock part?

What I am saying is that we could have a 2 piece item in order to cover the metal. It would work similar to how the kick panel overlaps the stock pillar trim for the last inch so that we could just cut the bottom 6" of the stock part (or junkyard part) so that it just slides over the bottom of the custom pod taper. This would look perfect to anyone that didn't know better. A ton of car interiors fit togather that way including ours in places.

Actually even better yet, it could choose a place like behind the dash where it is least noticable and make the pod to that length.



-Rich

[supercrackerbox]

I was thinking about the same thing as Rich. If they can do that, I'm down. Did we have an estimate on cost?

Let me know.

Also, I have one of the FWDP gauge pods that I'm not using at the moment, I could loan it to you if that will help.

[PentastarTurbo]

That idea is excellent!
Ill see what I can do.. I have another doner piece that I could cut off and make it into what your talkin about.. it mite just attach with a little screw on the dash side of the trim somewhat out of site.. OR!!!! possibly have them flare it out slightly so it goes over the piece that you have to cut off of your stock trim that way you can think if it like this.. if you spilled a soda on it and it ran down, it wouldnt go behind the the trim piece.. what do ya think of that? on your stock trim piece you just cut it an inch or so higher up and position this under the new A pillar trim, screw on the kick panel and your set..

also Supercrackerbox..
I wouldnt need to borrow the 2 gauge add on pod, I need to chop it up for a proper fit..

[supercrackerbox]

Well, I was only saving it for the GLHS, but of course, if we get this full pillar one, I wouldn't really need it then, would I? So, I guess lemme know.

[PentastarTurbo]

Im willing to take my time and do this the best I can possibly do..
Id like it to look profession, well made and factory all at the same time.. Im very meticulous when it comes to detail, performance and function.. (read: Anal)
I emailed Cindy @ FWD Performance to see if she would be willing to donate 2 of the add on pods for this.. I mite also have another guy that mite be able to make an actuall full piece from fiberglass.. I guess he does Nascar and funny car bodys and a lot of other things.. Norman at Overboostperformance is coordinating a group buy through the fiberglass guy to have DC style cowl hoods for the 4 door omni's and from what ive seen so far, looks to be a good place.. The only downside I can see for the fiberglass version would be that it wouldnt have the factory texture..

If Cindy falls through, Ill hit you up and we can go from there..
my number is 209 298 7179..
thanks

[rfb6435]

Thanks,

Atleast I was understood from my crap picture that I did in 10 mins at work where I only have MS paint to work with.

I had actually thought of the overlap idea too. It is also a good idea but I think the seam would end up being external rather than internal. If you are worried about spills then just epoxy it togather at the seam...

It doesn't matter much to me but I Think you can have just a line seam if it goes inside of the other piece. If it goes external then you have an external overlap that could also catch on things.

-Rich

Quote:

Originally Posted by PentastarTurbo That idea is excellent! Ill see what I can do.. I have another doner piece that I could cut off and make it into what your talkin about.. it mite just attach with a little screw on the dash side of the trim somewhat out of site.. OR!!!! possibly have them flare it out slightly so it goes over the piece that you have to cut off of your stock trim that way you can think if it like this.. if you spilled a soda on it and it ran down, it wouldnt go behind the the trim piece.. what do ya think of that? on your stock trim piece you just cut it an inch or so higher up and position this under the new A pillar trim, screw on the kick panel and your set.. also Supercrackerbox.. I wouldnt need to borrow the 2 gauge add on pod, I need to chop it up for a proper fit..

[powermaxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PentastarTurbo Interest has tapered off I guess? hmmmmm...

I'm still interested. I'll check back once in a while to see how it's going....

[PentastarTurbo]

Update 12-05-04 Alternative idea and deadline..

Heres an alternative option to the full trim replacement (that isnt a full trim replacment)
Pictures thanks to Victor Dobney as example..
Ours would only be 2 gauges (not 3 as shown)

Here you see this style of overlay looking very "non comprimised"
The stock trim piece is below the overlay..



Heres how it blends into the bottom of the stock trim..


another view..


and the only comprimised look of something like this is on the edge..
Which isnt anything big at all...


This would definatly be a much easier piece for them to produce because there are no lips or anything like that..
If I dont hear any feedback about the direction of this group buy, Im going to ditch this project alltogether and make my own personal trim piece..
I need your help to get this goin and all im askin you for right now is your opinion or ideas..
Im not tryin to be a prick, its just that a weeks worth of waiting for responces and only getting 4 has me antsy and id like to either get the ball rollin or roll it into the gutter..
Ive invested lots of time and my own money into this and im not makin cent one..
Im not in it for the money sence theres no money in this for me.. But I dont want to waste my time or money or something that people arent interested in.
I wont proceed till I have opinion on what they would like to do..
If I dont hear from at least 75% of the people who have spoken for a total of 35 pieces, Im going to dump this project and just say "I gave it my best"
My deadline to hear your input for this is December 12th 2004..
thanks

[BB3]

Did ya get the feedback that you were looking for? Just curious about the status of the project. - Bill