SOLD!!! – Selling My Custom Defi Gauge Setup – SOLD!!!

I am selling my personal Defi gauge setup. This is “thee” original Broadfield Defi cluster, HUD and center vent setup. This will be a direct drop-in for your S13. So the cluster, steering shroud and center vent plate are all ready to swap into your S13. I normally charge $635 labor just for the custom fabrication included in this package. Please ask if you have any questions or want to know how everything is linked together or how it works. Everything is in absolute mint condition… it’s just time for something different with the new LS3 coming.

Asking $1900 shipped to the continental United States.

Setup will include the following all in metric:

Broadfield S13 cluster:
-Defi Link Meter 52mm EGT
-Defi Link Meter 52mm Water Temp
-Defi Link Meter 80mm Tach
-Defi Link Meter 80mm Boost
-OEM Turn Signal Indicators
-Plugs into your OEM cluster sub-harness

Center Vent Setup:
-Defi Link Meter 52mm Oil Pressure
-Defi Link Meter 52mm Oil Temp
-Defi Link Meter 52mm Fuel Pressure

Broadfield Custom Molded HUD Setup
-Defi VSD Concept HUD

Includes all sensors, cables, Defi-Link Controller II and Defi HUD controller.

It’s About Time

Ever since I fabricated my gauge cluster/HUD and all of the other goodies, my inbox gets flooded with people wanting me to fabricate one for them.  I get phone calls and emails from all over the country.  However, once I tell them how much it’s going to cost them, all communications come to a halt.  Maybe they think I just sit around all day with nothing better to do, and that I should make one for the price of a Subway sandwich!?!  And it’s not like I’m quoting them some uber high price just because it’s custom.  Actually, it’s quite the opposite.  I know most 240 owners don’t have money.  So I virtually cut my custom labor shop rate in half.  Because it’s not like I do this exact type of work daily at my shop… so I give them a deal.  You figure If I have 6 hours into making the gauge cluster, then that’s 6 hours @ $55/hr….. so $330.  I usually quote around $150 – $200 for the cluster…. not bad if you ask me.  However, I never get a single prospect to go through with it…….. until now!  A guy I met last year, Mr. Sangwa(awesome guy by-the-way), dropped his S13 hatch off today to let me do my thing.  We’re talking full cluster, HUD, vent gauges, fuel gauge in the center console, JDM digital climate control swap, clean up his engine bay, double DIN Alpine w/navigation….. I think that’s about it.  So congrats to him for being the first recipient of a Broadfield Cluster.  And I thank him for trusting me with his car.

Recap # 1: Defi Gauge Cluster, Center Vent Pod and HUD 6/6/2007 Part 2

Part 2:  HUD

As stated in part 1, Defi doesn’t make a speedometer.  So I ordered up the new Defi-Link VSD X HUD.  This unit displays an image on a piece of plexi that is angled off the backside.   It is simply meant to be mounted on top of your dash.  My intention was to ditch the plexi and display it on the windshield.  I bought a piece of film from the old original Defi HUD VSD setup.  The old Defi HUD setup was basically the same as the new one, only it displayed on the windshield.  This was going to be perfect because I had sourced an OEM S13 HUD pod for the top of the dash.  My plan was to retrofit the Defi unit into the OEM pod.  Well, come to find out, there was no way I could get the angle correct to display on the windshield.  So I quickly came up with the idea to mold it into the top of the steering wheel shroud.  I felt it would be perfect for a couple of reasons:  1) The plexi is obviously clear, so I would still be able to see the main gauges in the cluster through it. 2) The top of the shroud has a natural notch in it where it comes up to the cluster.  So I would be able to simply extend the backside up to make room for the HUD module….. all the while keeping the overall OEM shape of the shroud.

I don’t really have any pictures of the process.  Since I do this type of stuff for a living, I usually just rock through it as fast as I can and don’t bother with pictures.  Although I am trying to get better about taking pictures of all of my custom work.  So I will try to briefly describe how I did it.  I wanted to keep the profile as low as possible, so I ditched the bottom plastic casing of the unit.  Here is a picture of the unit in it’s stock form for reference,

I then hacked a rectangular hole in the top of the shroud where I wanted the unit.  I took the guts out of the top half of the plastic casing, including the thin plastic film that the image shines through on the top.  The piece of plexi was simply bolted to the back of the casing.  I then super glued the top plastic casing onto the top of the shroud exactly where I wanted it.  I roughed up all of the surrounding plastic(the shroud and plastic casing) with some 36 grit sandpaper.  This would allow the bondo to adhere better.  I then simply slapped a bunch of kitty hair(bondo with fiber glass strands) onto the sides and front to build up the shape I wanted leading up to the plastic casing.  I basically faded the front edge of the shroud all the way to the front edge of the plastic casing.  Then filled in the sides and sanded it to have a natural curvature and OEM look to it.  Next up is a texture coat.  I love a product called SEM Texture Coating.  I use it on projects at work all of the time.  Depending how far away you spray the project, it will yield different textures…. big, small etc.  After that it’s time for a final finish coat.  I chose SEM Landau Black.  It is a very OEM’ish black.  Not too glossy and not too flat.  Simply reassembling the guts and reattaching the plexi to the back was all that was left.  As you can see I chose to do without the black rubber edging on the plexi.  I realize this writeup is very vague, but custom work is hard to put into words.  Some finished pics from different angles,

Stay tuned for part 3:  The center vent gauges and the digital fuel gauge in the center console area.

Recap # 1: Defi Gauge Cluster, Center Vent Pod and HUD 6/6/2007 Part 1

Preview of the end result,

Part 1:  Gauge Cluster

This project was a fairly quick one I did back in the middle of 2007.  I simply wanted something cooler than the OEM 240sx gauge cluster.  I had no idea at the time that it would garner so much attention from not only 240 owners, but I have also seen it posted on many other automobile forums.  So I am greatly humbled that others appreciate my hard work.  With all of the customization I do, whether it’s for my car or for my job, I like the OEM’ish look.  I want someone who knows nothing about cars to think nothing was done in my interior…. or maybe think that it’s an upgraded OEM option.  So onto the cluster.  First off the gauges:  I chose the brand Defi because, well, they are Defi!  They are of the utmost quality, they are the exact look I like, I have used them in previous cars, I like how the gauges are all linked together to a central control unit and I really like the brushed aluminum trim ring they use.  Another plus was that they came in various sizes:  52mm, 60mm, 80mm and 115mm.  Of course there are only a couple different ones that come in the two larger sizes….. so I was limited to what I got to choose for my two larger gauges.  I went with the black face because of my tradition of holding to the OEM’ish look….. especially since they had green illumination.   Blue illumination or white face gauges would of just looked out of place.  The only downfall to this entire gauge cluster idea is that Defi does not make a speedometer.  And since this car is daily driven in everything but snow and salt, I needed a speedometer.  I could of crammed a digital one in with only a small rectangular window to display the speed, but then it would of looked crammed in there.  I wanted a nice simple but not overly bare cluster.  So I got a hair-brain idea to use the Defi HUD and retrofit it into the OEM HUD housing.  I was able to find the OEM HUD housing for next to nothing… cool!  So I ordered everything up only to find out that the Defi HUD that displays on the windshield had been discontinued….not cool!  However, there was a new one that displayed onto its own back plate made of simple plexi-glass.  Sweet, I’ll take it and simply buy the old HUD film and display it on the windshield like I originally planned.  Well, not so fast…… more on this in part 2

Building the cluster was pretty straight forward.  I simply hacked up an old cluster to begin with.  I wanted to maintain the OEM mounts, black interior surround and the OEM clear plastic front.  The only part of the OEM cluster that had to be cut to perfection was the black surround, as this was going to be butt up against the back plate.  So in order for it to look as good as OEM , it had to be perfect.  Once that was cut, I made a back plate out of 1/4″ hardboard.  I cut the holes for the gauges and turn signals.  The gauges were to be flushed in to give a smoother look…. so those holes also had to be perfect.  To be perfectly honest with you, I HAD to flush them in.  The two big 80mm gauges would of hit the clear plastic OEM face had I not flushed them in.  So sometimes things just work out for the better even when you don’t plan on it.   For the turn signals I took the OEM arrow and mounted it underneath a piece of PVC to form the housing,  I then hacked out the white plastic area that the OEM bulbs twist into.  I glued these onto the back of the PVC and I instantly had turn signal housings where the bulb could be easily replaced.

The white housing back of the cluster just had to be hacked up good enough to clear for the back of the new gauges.  It didn’t need to be pretty.

The new plate that the gauges are mounted in needed to be finished in an OEM look.  So I used two of my favorite products.  I used SEM Texture Coat to get the texture I wanted.  Depending on how far away you spray it, you can get varied results with the amount of texture.  For the finishing coat, I used SEM Landau Black.

All that’s left is to glue the plate in, snap the back white housing on and attach the OEM clear front plastic.  Part 2:  HUD, coming soon!

The Beginnings

Well, here it is….. Broadfield’s Blog. I figured I might as well jump on the bandwagon. I’m always building/fabricating something, so this will be a nice centralized spot to showcase the progress and results. This will not be limited to building imports though. This will also be a great arena for discussing car audio, gaming and whatever else floats my boat at the time. Stay tuned for my first planned modifications for the S13 this year.  I will also be going back and doing recaps/write-ups on projects that I have done in the past.  Thee all famous Broadfield Defi gauge cluster and HUD, my interior in general, engine bay etc.

Comments are welcome!