Since I bought my atom I was very unhappy with the way the bubbles did nothing to stop the wind, I have attempted many different ways of attaching deflectors to the bubbles and they all did their job but ultimately reduced my field of vision. After seeing what Lane (IIRC) did to his dash that came with humps from the factory, I've wanted to do something similar, and luckily Eric Howe came along with a random dash with bubbles that he had laying around.
So for me, the dash looks terrible (as Positron has pointed out) when you remove the bubbles. I took my opportunity to convert the dash (after removing bubbles) to one with wind deflectors, BUT, I also wanted to integrate my radar detector because I just don't drive any car without it.
First Eric's dash came with the bubbles therefore I had to fill in this edge left from removing them
And I had to fill in the hole for Eric's master kill switch as my car didn't have one
Then I had to build the lip to attach the new deflectors too
Then I settled on this shape for the deflectors, not too tall or too short or too wide or too narrow, I got the idea from Darth's factory wickers
Then I needed to cut a slot for the radar detector lexan to be slipped through which I bent underneath and mounted with the same nuts/bolts that the original bubbles used
This shows my old bubbles with my home made deflectors,
This is my new dash/deflectors
This is my new point of view from the driver's seat taken at eye-level
Here's some more pics, the only thing left is when I get my extra radar detector mount clip I will attach it to the lexan so that the radar detector can be clipped in and removed without relying on velcro and I will bolt the mounting clip to the lexan the suction cups will not be used.
I just washed it before putting it on so it's still wet between the lexan and the dash which is why it looks darker in those spots.
Overall the project took longer then I thought, although to do it again wouldn't take nearly as long as I know what can and can't be done now, the texture of the dash is pretty smooth but I would like it if it was smoother I just can't afford any more sand paper
It does exactly what I wanted it to do and I didn't have to spend more then 4$ for the lexan, and about $50 for the materials. I will admit it's not factory quality but it goes with the other mod's I've done to my car.
Yay! I'm done!
Thanks to Eric Howe for providing me with a Dash to do my experiment and to Lane for giving me the idea of how to mount the new deflectors.
Since I bought my atom I was very unhappy with the way the bubbles did nothing to stop the wind, I have attempted many different ways of attaching deflectors to the bubbles and they all did their job but ultimately reduced my field of vision. After seeing what Lane (IIRC) did to his dash that came with humps from the factory, I've wanted to do something similar, and luckily Eric Howe came along with a random dash with bubbles that he had laying around.
So for me, the dash looks terrible (as Positron has pointed out) when you remove the bubbles. I took my opportunity to convert the dash (after removing bubbles) to one with wind deflectors, BUT, I also wanted to integrate my radar detector because I just don't drive any car without it.
First Eric's dash came with the bubbles therefore I had to fill in this edge left from removing them
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/811.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00082.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00083.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00089.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00091.jpg[/img]
And I had to fill in the hole for Eric's master kill switch as my car didn't have one
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00072.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00074.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00075.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00079.jpg[/img]
Then I had to build the lip to attach the new deflectors too
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00092.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00093.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00094.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00095.jpg[/img]
Then I settled on this shape for the deflectors, not too tall or too short or too wide or too narrow, I got the idea from Darth's factory wickers
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00084.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00085.jpg[/img]
Then I needed to cut a slot for the radar detector lexan to be slipped through which I bent underneath and mounted with the same nuts/bolts that the original bubbles used
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00112-1.jpg[/img]
This shows my old bubbles with my home made deflectors,
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00110-1.jpg[/img]
This is my new dash/deflectors
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00111-1.jpg[/img]
This is my new point of view from the driver's seat taken at eye-level
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00115.jpg[/img]
Here's some more pics, the only thing left is when I get my extra radar detector mount clip I will attach it to the lexan so that the radar detector can be clipped in and removed without relying on velcro and I will bolt the mounting clip to the lexan the suction cups will not be used.
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00113-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00114.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00115.jpg[/img]
I just washed it before putting it on so it's still wet between the lexan and the dash which is why it looks darker in those spots.
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00116.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/asilver1234/IMG00117.jpg[/img]
Overall the project took longer then I thought, although to do it again wouldn't take nearly as long as I know what can and can't be done now, the texture of the dash is pretty smooth but I would like it if it was smoother I just can't afford any more sand paper :D It does exactly what I wanted it to do and I didn't have to spend more then 4$ for the lexan, and about $50 for the materials. I will admit it's not factory quality but it goes with the other mod's I've done to my car.
Yay! I'm done!
Thanks to Eric Howe for providing me with a Dash to do my experiment and to Lane for giving me the idea of how to mount the new deflectors.