Not done as you can see the tach and speedo need replace/adding but you get the picture. Im putting this here because I said I would eventually get the pics so people could see how it turned out. Although, no one prolly remembers this was like 6 months ago. But here it is...

 

And the center console....

 

and the pod thing... heh...
used a 1/4" thick aluminum sheet, wire wheeled it to get it shiny, clear coated to keep it from tarnishing... used original cluster to get the measurements, and cut the new holes for guages wherever I wanted them. Simple eh? took like 4-5 hours. time frame does NOT include wiring!!!!!!

 

Holy Shtttt!! That is what I have been planning to do on my 91's guage cluster for a while now. I have other ideas for aluminum interior trim also. But, I have not figured out how to custom cut the aluminum. The only thing I have thought to use would be a hand-held jigsaw. What did you use to cut the aluminum with?

Check out the Nov 2002 issue of SuperChevy and check out the aluminum/stainless pieces this guy did on his 66 Camino.

Wow. Please inform me

 

That is pretty sweet man! I am doing the same thing right now with the same ultra light guages, only i am using a carbonfiber dash panel. I am having problems with the fitment into the dash so i need to send it back and get it "shaved" down. Looking good

 

I used to work in a fabrication shop and we used to cut aluminum with a large bandsaw. You could do it with a jigsaw, but you would have to be careful. We also used rotary air grinders to clean up edges. You can actually do a lot with aluminum, but it's expensive so most people don't bother. Hand files will also clean up aluminum if you can get them to work right.

 

here's mine under construction.....
King - i like your layout a lot on your panel!

 

Hey Jay,

Do you have another pic of your warning lights? It looks like you've got them over in one of the vents or something.

 

for my aluminum cut-out proceedure I used 4 things:

To cut the original shape of the aluminum, not the holes, I used a huge electric grinder. - huge means like longer than my arm and almost as wide as me. its for grinding stuff off bridge material for building bridges, and it cut through the aluminum like it was butter.

Next I cut the holes using a jigsaw, and THAT took forever. the jigsaw wouldnt cut the circles even close to perfect, so I just cut the general shape of them... then I...

Went back with a Dremel tool using a mini grinding disc and a cool looking stone bit and slowly perfected the circles... then...

used a triangle hand file to remove the burrs and if a guage didnt fit i would sand / file it till it did. all the guages are snug in place, so I didnt have to use any mounting hardware to keep them still. I did anyways, just in case, except the tach which is snugly into place.

then of course wire wheeled it to make it shiny and clear coat to keep it from tarnishing.... took a few hours to make. the biggest help was the original cluster's outline I used to cut mine. that saved alot of mess-ups and measureing problems...

 

Right on...thanks for the heads up on the cutting. I guess I'll give it a shot with the hand held jigsaw and see what I can come up with. Hmmmm....its going to be an interesting project to get those holes cut like I want them. But, You have the advantage of sliding new guages into your holes, so that the rough edges aren't really noticable. I was planning on replacing the the plastic stock guage overlay with the aluminum. Hmmm...I'll just have to work it out in my head and see how it comes out.

But really. Check out the issue out now of Super Chevy and look at the El Camino interior. Beautifully done. Its almost amazing what this guy did. All the pieces were custom: door sills, speaker covers, dash panel. And the engine interior is all custom pieces too. Absolutely amazing from a design standpoint.

 

Looks good.

 

 

Here ya go Roadracer:



To cut my holes, I initially used a jigsaw with a very fine metal blade to rough cut the holes then used a half round file to slip fit the gauges.

 

That looks nice. I thought of doing something like that only with some 3D flames on it but I decided that it would be to much work, so I am gonna wait until I take my engine out and it is just sitting there.
Cant wait to see the finished product.

Brian

 

Very slick . . .

 

How did you mount the turn signals and warning lights? I am looking to do a similar install, but haven't figured out how I am going to mount and wire in my turn signals.

 

You could use a holesaw for cutting the gauge openings...you can get them at Home Depot for about $12-15 depending on size. They go on your drill motor, and would make quick work of aluminum.

 

Here is what I did. All my carbon fiber came in the other day so I can start building a new mounting plate similar to JAY4SPEED.

 

How did you do that? What kinda material and where can I get it? My husband and I want to do this to my 88 camaro. I'm getting the Phantom gauges. And I want it black to match the dash.

 

Here's my dash using black plexiglass and Autometer Ultralite guages.

 

My version:

 

Very nice Neil...I'm debating betwen something like yours, or building a carbon fiber panel...maye even use red carbon fiber to be different (not for Redraif's car...I should be getting a TA in the next couple weeks)

 

formie thats disgustingly close to what mine looks like! by that I mean only good things of course.

 

Formie350, how hard was it to swap in that speedo? I am doing it now with my interior! I have the same one too. Could you give me any tips? If it helps, i have a 700-r4, i do not know what you have! thanks

 

can somebody email me with the plans they used. like building costs to. can i use tin snips instead of a bandsaw. wat kind of aluminum did u use.
email is jocww@aOL.COM
thanks

 

All I can say is WOW, those all look awesome. Ive been thinking about doing this for a while, well as soon as I get the car running again. Anyways, I have a question. How do you wire up the warning lights? is that something you just hook up to the aftermarket guages or is it something I can do with stock guages? Reason being I want to make a small panel with warning lights that go on when there respective gauges go in the red. I think this would be nice to have when racing because it would be easier to watch a few small lights in one spot than all the guages. Anyways any help would be great.

 

Did you all use mechnical or electrical gauges for the tac?

 

That is what I was wondering.

Brian

 

I spliced my turning indicators and warning lights into my factory wiring harness. I got a schematic of what pins on the stock cluster connectors were and wired them to my minibulbs {from radio shack}. All of my gauge lights even dim with the factory dimmer. However after reading the tech article on here about how to switch over to LEDs, I'm trying to replace my regular autometer bulbs with LEDs and that will take away my option to dim my gauges. I would rather them to be brighter than the option to dim them.

My Tach and Fuel level gauges are electric. However, I use mechanical gauges whenever I can. I just tend to believe they are more accurate as any type of resistance that can form on a connector will through off gauge readings. Just my opinion.....


Jay

 

If you click on this link on ebay, they have an aluminum overlay for the 91-92 models. Better leave me one though! Eric

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...859623057&rd=1

 

ditto on the mechanical = better. boost, water temp, and oil are all mechanical on mine. fuel, volts, fuel level, tach, and speedo are electrical.

Tin snips wont work on thick aluminum because.. well.. its too thick! go out and try to cut some 1/4" thick quality aluminum and you will see what im talking about.

<b>turn signals</b> very very simple. When I removed the Original guage cluster, I looked on the back where the cluster connected to the car's wiring. if you trace your finger along the original guage cluster you can see the turn signals are always grounded, and get a +12 from either side of the cluster. Simply find which +12 it is, cut it, and crimp it to the +12 of a regular light bulb... and obviouselly ground the other side. for me the turn signal wires were dark blue and light blue, one on each side. also remember your light TURN On switch will have to be wired into your new console so when you flip on your headlights your guages light up like they used to... thats ALSO very simple, just use a volt meter to test which wires go +12 when you pull out your headlight switch. there should be about 5 of them back there, but all you need it one. crimp about 10 wires onto one of those and from there make a harness using bullit connectors so you can remove the guages whenever you have to. all electrical connections should be removable because you never know when you might have to take one out for somthing, and you dont wana be cutting random wires below your dash to figure out which one it is! trust me one this one, been there done that. and twisty tie everything together for goodness sakes!

 

Sorry it took so long to reply ... the speedo i'm using us the electrical version since i'm running a LT1/4L60E. \

You should be able to use the mechanical cable version which is cheaper.

 

if you look in super chevy there was an add for a cluster with autometter guages /ultralite with a alreay made cluster that was a direct plug it to the factory harness......i am waiting on that!

 

Yeah, i saw that, it is going to be carbonfiber! I just got done making my own, i just need to hook up all of the guages. Thanks Formie, but i already have the guage!

 

Holy crap....I've been looking for a long time for the aluminum overlay. Did you all check out that ebay pic?

I'm trying to keep mine pretty stock looking, so having that little flair without having to do a custom job works for me.

 

I've got another stupid question for you guys! I am having trouble getting the stock cluster out. Only the white piece that houses the light bulbs. It is caught up on the speedo. I read that you need to disconnect the harness behind the speedo, but how do you get back there. Any info would be great, thanks.

 

i'm glad mines been like that for a few years now. Now i need to change it since eveyones is almost like mine.

 

Okay, I have tried a couple times to make my carbon fiber with very little luck. Anyone got any tips? I have a lot of dry spots on the glass side of the fiber. I soak both sides with resin. After it dries, and I peel it up, the resin dried to the glass, and stayed there. This is after 7 coats of mold release. I don't want to draw this out, so if anyone can help, please do so. I would be most appreciative.

 

johnsjj2, i did not actually make my panel, i got it from Carbon Components in California. It came out really nice and i got it for $150 shipped. It is a little pricey but it is not something you will see all of the time! Well, not in my area anyway. I have no idea what the process is to make a quality piece of carbon fiber. It was real easy to cut out the holes and to sand it down to fit properly. If you want to get in touch with the company, just let me know, good luck!

 

So, can anyone help me get the cluster out? I already screwed up the needle! any help? please

 

86IROCNJ,
Thanks for the info. I'm not sure the panel mounting on an 86, and 91 are the same. All I had to do was take out a few screws, and disconnect the 2 wire bundles. After I had it out, I took out, I think 4 more screws and pulled the clear plastic off the actual cluster. I was able to pull out the cluster enough to get the 2 big wire bundles unhooked. Thats all I did. I didn't remove the needles, or the stock overlay.