A Pillar Covers

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Major System Category: Interior
Task: Construct coverings for the A Pillar
Parts:
Sheet Metal (26 gauge)
Metal Brake Machine
Angle Die Ginder
Prerequisite Tasks:

1. Cockpit window installation
2. All wiring along A pillar needs to be in place
3. Overhead console must be constructed.

Additional Costs: $20 (estimate)
Time Requirement: 6+ hours
Date Started: August 1, 2015

Date Completed: August 22, 2015

This has been a major hang up on the build. Some people may just want to get the car rolling and do not care about the interior. I do care about the interior looks and layout, and I have found myself spending a lot of time. One issue is the A pillars. I want something more than just a black pipe and against rough fiberglass for an interior motif. In addition, I have wiring running up both A pillars to an overhead console. These connections are for lights, TPMS, mirror (e.g. lights, temperature, day/night sensors), HomeLink, Power jacks for radar detector, compartment for remotes and phone, GPS, Bluetooth microphone, power FM antennae and probably a few things I am forgetting..

Driver's side A pillar. You can see from the body shell that this makes for an irregular shape. This is why I thought I could make acrylic work, but it turned out I could not accomplish this with a single piece. However, with sheet metal, I am to bend and shape and press it into a shape that matches the requirement. Any gaps cane be handled using a carbon fiber trim I purchased two years ago.

I have a need to both secure and hide the conduits. At one point, a third party offered a complete set of coverings for around $400. This was a super deal. But when I went to purchase the coverings, he no longer was making them. That meant I had to build my own. I hadn't planned for this.

The first thing I needed to do was make a pattern. There is plenty of card board waiting to go to recycling, so finding pieces big enough is no problem.

I tried working with acrylic panels in various thickness. I found that 1/32 works best, but it is very touchy and you can screw up very quickly. This comes down to working on something for two days, then wrecking it by accident. The overhead console is made of acrylic, but that module lent itself to the material. The pillar and roll cage coverings require more severe bends, and the acrylic just breaks or refuses to work out.

30 inch metal brake I purchased from Amazon for $70.

Eventually, I came back to sheet metal. However, to make this work I needed a metal bending brake. The one I purchased is a 30 inch brake. Harbor Freight has an 18 inch model, but I determined that was too small for my needs. Typically, I am dealing with lengths between 14 and 24 inches for the coverings.

I traced  the pattern to the sheet metal.

The other problem is the irregular shape of the pillar area. This has to be done with the body shell attached tot he car, but prior to paint. I cut some card board and took it to the car. Here is where it gets tricky. While the shape appears easy when examining it from the outside, there is this pesky roll cage under the fiber glass and it is a 3 dimensional section that needs to be measured around. I solved this problem by taking a tape measure and measuring the circumference along the pillar at different points. I also mounted the dash pod, because there is a difference of two inches with and without the dash pod installed.

This oddly shaped piece of metal is the A pillar covering. It is ready to go to my guy for the carbon fiber treatment.

I cut the pattern out of the cardboard, mounted it on the sheet metal and traced it using a Sharpie. Then it was a simple matter of cutting the sheet metal using an angle die grinder. I have a cheap one I purchased at Harbor Freight that really works well for close work like this. I ground down two wheels cutting out both the passenger and driver's side coverings.

This is the pattern for the piece that runs from the A pillar to the overhead console.

I had to make a couple of bends and pressure form it to the car. It is not a perfect fit, but it doesn't have to be right now. I just need the approximate shape, and I can deal with the finishing when it is attached to the car for final fit. I think I can do attachment using double sided tape and probably a black  rivet or two. Final fit will have to happen before the wind shield is installed.

These are the same on both sides. Although final fitment seems to vary somewhat between passenger and driver side. I think this may be  something I did than a true difference in the body shell..

The cross coverings that run between the A pillar and the overhead console are pretty simple to construct. Basically, it is rectangle with a curved end that has a bend. Compared to the other pieces, I had these cut, bent and roughly fitted in about 1 hour.

Clamped for rough fit on the driver's side. I refined the bend and eliminated the gaps visible in this photo. The other issue is the wires that are present. They need to be there so I can ensure they actually get covered by these pieces.

The curve on the this piece follows the curvature of the wind shield glass. This is going to get a bit tricky on final assembly. Right now I am just clamping things into place without regard to the finish, but when I get to final assembly I have to be very careful. These will have three coats of clear coat over the hydrographics carbon fiber, but it is still a metal piece and things can get scratched.

Primed and ready for hydrographics.

While the overhead console needs to be installed when the body shell is off, these pieces can only be installed withe body shell in tact. I better be sure I don't need to take anything apart at that point, because it is a great deal of work to do that. When I do this for the final time, the car will be close to completion!

A pillar pieces ready for hydrographics.

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