hi i just recently came upon a set of autometer arctic white in dash electric gauges and i am gonna change stock cluster for these. only i need assistance if possible. never messed with gauges before. can anybody help me? any help would be appreciated (see pic below of gauges)

hi
I just did my own install of a set of autometer ultra-lites in my car. what kind of help do you need?

--Craig

sorry to butt in when someone else needs help, but i am also about to perform a full gauge swap in my 89 iroc. putting in autometer ultralite tach, speedo, volt, fuel, temp, and oil press., all electronic. putting 2 of the gauges in a-pillar and the rest in-dash. my question: will the 5" tach + speedo fit in my gauge panel? did u have to widen the factory gauge holes? if so, did the other smaller gauges still fit?? thanks for any info.


Damien

Hey, no problem w/butting in. First, here's what NOT to do. I tried to fit all 6 of my gauges in 1 panel (same gauges as 5L EaTeR), but they just won't fit. I went to Home Depot and got a piece of plexiglass to cut this thing out of ($4 and a lot of time).

Sorry, the pic didn't get posted.

And this is what they finally ended up looking like.

I thought about modifying the factory plastic surround, but the gauges didn't fit w/out more cutting than I was comfortable w/on the original parts. I think I should have either used thicker plexiglass or trimmed off part of the mounting bolts on the back of the gauges b/c there is a little space between the plexiglass and the dash, but the screws that hold the plexiglass on are holding the bolts on the back of the gauges tight agains the plastic behind the panel.

It's a little cramped for room back there, and I almost didn't get the wiring kit I ordered to fit, but I eventually messed w/it enough to get it on there.

I will say that you're gonna love the way these things look in the dash! Let me know if you need something else or if I wasn't clear explaining something (I'm a little out of it right now).

--Craig

wow thanks iroczul8r for the help i appreciate it. definitely a good start. your install looks awesome. i have never messed with the gauges before and need help with the wiring. does everything hook right up?, or do i have to use the autometer sending units, i'm honestly lost here. any help would be awesome(not that you haven't done enough already, but if you're bored.)

Hey, always glad to help! I've got the wiring diagram I made up in my notebook. I'll get it out and make a *readable* version and post it soon. What's your car? This diagram was for my '88 IROC.

--Craig

hey iroczul8r, did you make that or buy it...if you bought it...where did you get it...you mentioned something about plexiglass...is that what yo made it out of and painted over it or am i on crack and you were talking about something else?
one last qeustion: how long did it take you to redo all of the gauges? thanks for the info.

Mike

ohh ok never mind...i just seen your post on your gauges...BTW...nice set up...i think i might do the same.

hey iroczul8r
just fyi i have an 88 sc was 305 now 350 still tbi though

Ok, just to let you know, I've got some projects due this week, so it'll be a couple of days before I can post the wiring if you still need it.

--Craig

yes please post it.

Mike

hey take your time with the wiring diagram, you've been more than kind already, but anything you can post would be awesome, cause i do definitely need assistance, anything at all is most appreciated.

iroczul8r , can I get your part list ????



Thanks

Ok, I finally got to it and made this thing up. When I pulled the white plastic thing off (I'm being real technical here), I saw the 2 "plugs" that slid into the circuit "board" on the back of the white thing. The terminals on the plugs are numbered from 1 to 14 on each side. I tried to make the colors right, but me not being an artist (pretty obvious huh?) they're not very good, but they're close. The ones w/2 colors have a stripe of the center color.

What I did w/the wires was I tied all the general grounds together (except the dash lights) using some extra wire and some butt splice connectors. I also tied all of the general positives together the same way. With everything else, I extended the wires w/the butt splices and put them in the connector to the harness I got from Painless. I found out that I really didn't need the harness and it might have been easier, but oh well.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask if you need something cleared up.

--Craig

And here's my parts list:

These are Jeg's PNs

PN 105-10200
dual 2-1/16" gauge pod for 82-92 F-body

PN 105-4495
AutoMeter 5" 160 mph mechanical speedometer

PN 105-4498
AutoMeter 5" 10,000 rpm tachometer

PN 105-4337
AutoMeter 2-1/16" Water Temp 100*-250*

PN 105-4391
AutoMeter 2-1/16" Voltmeter 8-18 V

PN 105-4327
AutoMeter 2-1/16" Oil Pressure 0-100 psi

PN 105-4314
AutoMeter 2-1/16" Fuel Level 0-90 Ohms, GM 65-up

PN 764-30301
Painless Universal Gauge Harness w/Cable Speedometer

PN 764-80211
Painless 1/2" blue indicator lamp

PN 764-80210
(2) Painless 1/2" green indicator lamps

PN 764-80209
Painless 1/2" red indicator lamp

wow thanks for the wiring info. this is really very helpful. thank you for putting the time into it. awesome.:lala:

IROC

I see the wiring diagram you have. I have an 88GTA with a digital dash and I just built a custom dash. My question is what wire is the fuel level sender. I want to tap off the harness. I am not keeping the digital dash I have all electrical gauges. The pic says right side and left side. What are you referring to I am a little confused. Thanks

the fuel level sender wire is the pink one on the right side. i'm not sure which one you're talking about when you say it's on both the left and right sides unless i'm missing something. hope it works out for ya!

later,
craig

does anyone know where i should make my connection for the gauge to only be on when my key is in the on position.Also im going to buy alot more gauges like 9 or more so a good power source is a must im going to get gauges for the following.

all are electric powered.


Fuel pressure
oil temp
trans fluid temp
volts gauge
air temp before supercharger
after supercharger
after intercooler into throttle body
nos bottle temp
nos psi
coolant temp
vaccum
boost lbs
5 inch tach

sorry if this is such a stupid question but did you roll your new speedometer to the same miles as the original one?

I actually didn't roll my speedo to the same mileage b/c it would take forever and it didn't really matter to me if it changed.

Later,
Craig

iroczul8r,

Nice install!! I did mine with 3 3/8 tach and speedo so I could get all 6 gauges in my main panel since I have a A/F ratio and fuel psi gauges in the A-post pod already. I do have one queston though. What did you do to get the headlight warning buzzer to shut up. It works fine for my lights and key in the ignition but since I removed the old cluster housing it constantly goes off with the engine running. I thought it had something to do with the seat belts but was not sure.

TIA
Chris

Well, I didn't really do anything to the buzzer. Mine doesn't go off ALL the time, but it takes forever to shut up when I first start the car unless my seatbelt is on. One time I got under there and pulled out something and it did away with the buzzer. I put it back in though b/c I have a problem with leaving the headlights on sometimes hehe. I don't remember what part it was either since it's been a while. Sorry I couldn't help you more!

Later,
Craig

That is the same reason I wanted to keep mine plugged in. I actually have not let it go off long enough to see if it will quit on its own.....Have not even tried to see if teh seat belt did it either.
Thanks

I just figured out how to get it to turn off. I put a 1k resistor on the 2 lower left terminals on the left side plug to simulate a bulb. I know a bulb has less resistance but it was all I had. Now the buzzer goes off when the key or lights are left on!!
Chris

Hey, thanks! I'll have to stick one of those in there. I get sick of hearing that stupid thing.

Later,
Craig

well as it turns out it will quiet it down for the seat belt but not the lights. I'll do some playing and see what I can come up with

Talk about digging up an old post! I did a search and this is all that turned up.

Anyway, I was just wondering if everybody uses the 5" speedo and tach when they install aftermarket gauges? Also, will they fit in the oem locations without alot of modding? What part number gauge is the best to match with the dash the closest?