[rob the elder]

I thought about having the engine turn pattern hydro dipped onto the boomerang. But I believe that the more detailed a hydro dipp pattern becomes the greater the chance the pattern will look distorted. Especially on a large piece like the boomerang. So then I looked into engine turn vinyl, and found some, but how the heck do you wrap a boomerang. Plus the boomerang is such a large piece that I thought it might be too much. Still I like I like the engine turn pattern as it relates to Pontiac designs.

View attachment 147952
I have carbon fiber that contains very small details. It turned out very well. It takes a skilled tech to get it aligned well on boomarang. There is a break in the middle so they need to lay the ink in two passes. Getting it aligned takes skill

(9) Punisher | Page 39 | Pontiac Solstice Forum

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

I made a little progress on the dash and center console. The dash is almost ready for a quick coat of adhesion promoter and primer. I also managed to make some headway on the dash handle and center console.

I managed to screw up on the handle. The banksia pod I chose is too short. I've never made anything uding banksia pods and the outer (soft) part was thicker than I thought. I imported them from Australia to use for other projects for my GTO. Once I whittled away the soft, fuzzy parts of the pod, it was readily apparent it was too short.

I figured I am now going to have to make something for the ends of the handle to compensate for the pods short coming. Trying to get the shape to match the dash was a real P.I.T.A. At first I was using my Dremel to shape it, but the wood was too dense to grind it away. I tried sanding it, but that was taking forever.

The toll that worked bedt wascsn old rasp. I used that to shave down the wood...but what a friggin MESS! The was all kinds of pod fuzz and saw dust on the work bench from working it down to what you see here.

Anyway, I did make some progress on the center console last weekend, until today.

The center console was cracked in multiple places. I used my Dremel to open up the cracks, so the JB Weld woild have something to adhere to. Before I started cutting for yhe cupholder, I needed to epoxy it back together so it wouldn't crumble to pieces. Once that was set up, I figured out where to position the cup holder (donated from a former project for mynold G5 GT). The G5 had a liner in the cupholder, which I liked, becausebit's easy to clean.

If this looks funny, it's because I positioned the cupholder on a slight angle (rear holder is slightly closer to the drivers side, front holder is slightly closer to the passenger side). This allows my srm tobsit nicely between the holders amc the e-brake.

I know this looks bad / unrefined. This is just setting in place and is in the preliminary stages. I used hot glue to help hold the cupholders in place. I yhen used JB Weld to give it a permanent home. I have a LOT of work left to do on this.

I'll probably use fiberglass to help transition the cuoholder into the plastic...though I'm not 100% sure. I'll see what I can figure out.

Eventually, I'll take this to the trim shop to be wrapped in leather to match the interior.

Thanks again for checking out my thread. Your input is welcomed and appreciated. Until next time, take care!!!!

 

[rob the elder]

Quite a project. I like your plan

RTE

 

[Doc-Z]

Here's a little update on some of the projects I'm working on for the So(u)lstice. First up is a test fitting of the Center console with the cup holder.

I'm not 100% crazy about it and here's why:

1). I could have moved it much more towards the midline of the console and given myself more room for the seat belt
2). The holder just isn't deep enough. ( I started making an extension to bring the sides up ).
3). It's not 100% level. It's a good 98 to 99%%.
I could / should have test fit it in the car, using some water beads in the bottom of the cup to see where the water ran to.

I don't hate it enough to start over. I mean, I recycled an older project from my G5 GT (Cobalt), which I sold to get the So(u)lstice. However, the cup well just isn't deep enough for as large as it is. I already began making some side extensions to plastic weld onto this to help with this problem. I also neglected to use the Cobalt / G5 liner that goes inside of the cupholder when I did the testing with a cup in the holder. It does reduce down the inside diameter and also gives the inner part of the cup holder a nicer look. Plus it is contained, in case of a spill and comes out REAL easy for cleaning. I can't see myself using anything else for the cup holder, but I may move it more towards the center of the console...


So, that is the Cup Holder Console ☝ ☝ ☝, now here's the Sissy Handle for the Boomerang Dash 👇👇👇

I chose to use a Banksia Pod for the handle, for a few reasons. One is, I imported a bunch of them from Australia to use on some interior projects for my 2006 GTO (which is a Holdenimport from Australia). I initially thought the pod was going to be plenty long for this project. I was wrong. After removing all the soft bits from the pod, I was left with something that wa stoo short. To fill the gaps, I decided to make some filler pieces, which will be wrapped in leather. I figured this would...

1). blend the handle into the dash better and...
2). solve the problem of Banksia Pod being too short.

In the pic ☝☝☝ above, the groove in the Boomerang (dash) at the top, seems to line up with the seam in the handle. Not so much on the bottom aspect. This is a problem as I obliterated that groove using J/B Weld to fill it in. I did this because it was too hard to recreate the groove after splicing in a mobile phone holder. I may have to fill in the lower groove as well to help the piece flow together better.

....

 

[Doc-Z]

Again, here are some additional pictures of the dash that I add the mobile phone holder to:

I'm not sure why the groove along 👇 the top of the 👇 Boomerang 👇 looks wavy.

I was thinking of making a couple "chrome" rings for the HVAC knobs, but everything is taking SO LONG to complete since having my heart attack in January. I've been spending so much more time at my office trying to revive that. Taking 3 months off was not fiscally beneficial.