Thread: Twin Gauge Holder

I went with one of these on my old D1, although it may be a bit big for what you need.


Regualar size
Mud Dash Pod For Defender (to 06) & Discovery 1 & 2 - Devon 4x4 - MUD-006-MUD


Smaller size
Mud Dash Pod Mini For Defender (to 06) & Discovery 1 & 2 - Devon 4x4 - MUD-005-MUD

Can't help with the gauge holder for D2 .. I'm trying to figure out something for mine too.
But my reply is about the black painting of the pod/binnacle.

I painted my D1 binnacle years ago in satin black. Best mod for a Disco(1 or 2) for visibility.
Grey gives a washed out look directly ahead of the driver, I guess the fawn/brown coloured ones even worse!

Looks a bit strange being black with the rest of the dash in grey, but now there's a 'black hole' directly in the drivers line of sight(no reflection on the windscreen) where I can see the dash out to the sides, but not the reflection of the binnacle.

I reckon pain it black, satin is better than matt, as matt will scuff and dust up more readily.

ps. D1 and D2 binnacles are the same fit.

Did a repair of the binnacle to begin, simple one (found out I don't have flywire to strengthen it up) just put spot welds on the underside. The ryobi cordless solderer was about half way with the philips head looking tip.

Then I am mocking it up with the binnacle.

It is going to be touch and go as to fit, but after moving it around, for mine at the moment the left hand side of the binnacle looks right as the slight angle of the gauges is the right - you will see in the photos20210819_201249.jpg20210819_201259.jpg20210819_202751.jpg20210819_202831.jpg20210819_202914.jpg20210819_203756.jpg20210819_203806.jpg20210819_203812.jpg20210819_203818.jpg

Originally Posted by cripesamighty

I went with one of these on my old D1, although it may be a bit big for what you need.


Regualar size
Mud Dash Pod For Defender (to 06) & Discovery 1 & 2 - Devon 4x4 - MUD-006-MUD


Smaller size
Mud Dash Pod Mini For Defender (to 06) & Discovery 1 & 2 - Devon 4x4 - MUD-005-MUD

Sorry you misunderstood, actually did purchase one already but it just doesn't work for me, think once I got in my hand and put it on the dash, the finish and style was just not right - sure it would work out of the box but sent me looking elsewhere.

Originally Posted by AK83

Can't help with the gauge holder for D2 .. I'm trying to figure out something for mine too.
But my reply is about the black painting of the pod/binnacle.

I painted my D1 binnacle years ago in satin black. Best mod for a Disco(1 or 2) for visibility.
Grey gives a washed out look directly ahead of the driver, I guess the fawn/brown coloured ones even worse!

Looks a bit strange being black with the rest of the dash in grey, but now there's a 'black hole' directly in the drivers line of sight(no reflection on the windscreen) where I can see the dash out to the sides, but not the reflection of the binnacle.

I reckon pain it black, satin is better than matt, as matt will scuff and dust up more readily.

ps. D1 and D2 binnacles are the same fit.

Interested if you (or someone else) knows the dark grey black colour of the console as this makes a whole lot of sense to do both the same colour.

Forgot to note that the height of the gauges due to the angle of the back of the dash binnacle is not obtrusive at all, seems like the gauges will show with about 4/5's of the dial visible looking straight ahead.

My binnacle cracked in half when I attempted to remove it last week. Probably because the screw mountings and spring clip mounting points were totally destroyed already and the PO had sikaflexed it down. I glued it back together with plastic primer and superglue for the two halves and hot glue for all the other bits that had broken off. I then fibreglassed with tabbing cloth and epoxy underneath to reinforce the binnacle because I don't trust it's eggshell brittleness. I also rebuilt the mounting points in fibreglass and epoxy. Where the screws attach behind the steering wheel doesn't need to be that flash because you really can't see it when installed.

Anyway, enough waffling. I mention this because I repaired my rear bumper the same way a while back and it's going great. Part of that repair was to finish the job using "trim paint" i.e. a spray can of paint specific for trims. It doesn't need priming and also dries with a slight ripple finish similar to the finish on a lot of plastic trim. I'll use it to paint the binnacle, which will be black (I have the brown interior), but you might be interested in it because it also comes in grey. Much better than using regular spray pack enamel, I think.

Spent a good hour and a half with a pot of boiling water moulding the gauge holder yesterday. Got it to where there is no major stress holding it to the curvature of the dashboard binnacle. However did find my initial cut of the binnacle was a little too forward leaving a small gap at the front under the holder and have to make more cuts at the back to insert the gauge.

The moulding is time consuming, placing the holder (not totally just the area to mould) in the water for around three minutes to allow it to soften enough and then subtle moulding, sometimes pressing along a rounded edge to get the right profile, other times just using finger pressure especially at the front edge to wrap around the hard curve at the front edge of the binnacle.

As to fitting have ordered to some double sided foam tape to seal the unit and to firmly attach the holder have got some small allen head bolts ordered. Thinking it will require about 8 to firmly attach but will probably do more for surety.

IF you look at the initial pictures it may be impossible to think it would 'fit' but believe me it is not that difficult to get to where I am at the moment, just time consuming.

Pictures are a little difficult to take as there is some 'lifting' but this will give you a fair representation as to the fit of the holder
20210906_072008.jpg
The slight lift of the pod as it is, is easily profiled to the dash by applying very little pressure

20210906_072015.jpg
Again there is a fair bit of easy flattening of this edge which will he held down by the bolts. The easiest way to profile this side was firm pressure against a hard rounded edge, Repeat and Repeat again!
20210906_072023.jpg

This was the hardest part of the moulding, the tight turn onto the front edge of the binnacle


20210906_072035.jpg

Indication as to how it will look, the lower part of the gauge may be hidden but the important area of the gauges in line of sight.

This is the one I'm currently making for my D2A.

This is what I did with my D2 for extra gauges.

IMG_0810.jpgIMG_0809.jpg

Had to trim the corners off the instrument cluster so that it fit back down properly. Biggest PITA was running wiring down the back of instruments, not much room there.