For me, the roadster-look is all about wood and chrome in a car. So I found a cheap way of adding some wood to the dash by applying thin burlwood veneer to the gauge cluster. Gauge rings complemented the wood.
This is how it all looked before I started: I took the cluster out and disassembled it: This, by the way, is the German cluster I used to get the speedo from and the 'real' oil pressure gauge. I took the gauge faces off to see how new faces would be installed: I took this opportunity to install a speedo that reads in km, not in miles. A local speedometer shop set the kilometers to the same value as the mileage of the car (only in km) A 'real' oil pressure gauge from a pre-94 Miata was also installed. For the burlwood overlay I started with a cheap metal overlay I got off Ebay: I pre-coated the veneer with varnish so it would be easier to work with: Then I glued the metal onto the wood: I taped over the wood before I started cutting it out, just to make sure it wouldn't break or crack: Then I started cutting... ... until it looked like this: I took the clear plastic piece off by heating it in almost boiling water and then popping it off: ... and then mounted the rings and the overlay onto the black base.
This is what the cluster looks like now, with the custom white gauge faces installed as well:
Render time: 0.0892 sec, 0.0118 of that for queries.
A 'real' oil pressure gauge from a pre-94 Miata was also installed.
