Hey guys, not sure if you remember or not, but a while ago I was working on creating a custom made panel to fit Autometer gauges in my 88 camaro. I posted progress in installments as I went. I wanted to use a 5 inch tachometer and speedometer, as well as 2 1/16 gauges. I also wanted the gauges to be on the same (factory) locations. After some trial and error, and talking to a few people here, it was thought that it might not work. Anyway, I did some tweaking and rearranging, and got them to fit. I figured that I would post my picture of it so that you guys can see what you helped me create. Sorry about the angle of the camera when I took the picture. The Ultra Lite gauges have a silver face and reflects the flash from the camera. Even in the daytime, it will show high glare and you wouldn't be able to see the gauge faces. So, what do you think??

 

Very nice they look sweet!

 

Nice work!

Do you have an oil pressure gauge located somewhere else?

 

nice job man. I did the same with my 91 cluster but I ended up using 3 3/8" gauges for a little more room. Again, nice job.

 

its lookin good

 

I like the attention to detail... the textured paint and green LED turn signal indicators are nice touches

 

Yes, I will. As some, if not most, on here know that I am a gauge ***** I have an a pillar gauge pod(full pillar for 3 2 1/16 gauges) that will have a full sweep electronic oil pressure and fuel pressure gauges, as well as a full sweep mechanical vacuum gauge. I did this so that all the nasty fluids can stay INSIDE the engine bay. Heck, most sanctioning bodies won't even let you run your car at the track unless you have some type of isolators on your oil/fuel gauges.

Actually, it's not paint. The whole cluster is made out of fiberboard. If you were able to read my first posts( I wanted to have links to the original 3 posts but couldn't as the search feature isn't working), you would have known that the fiberboard actually came from my Matco toolbox. It is the part that goes on the top of the box that you can work/write on. It matched the camaro dash almost perfectly. I got the green LED's from Radio Shack for like $0.79 each. I didn't get a blue one for the high beams because I didn't think that it would like right in the panel. I will have to figure something else out to get it in and working.

 

do you or anybody else have any pics of pro comps at night? i want to get them, but I want a sweet looking night gauge that isn't extremely expensive...
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oh yea, your gauge cluster looks awesome!

 

That car is so fast it goes 30 sitting still.

 

Yeah, and she's taching out at 9 grand. I have to calibrate the speedo once I get everything in and working in the car. I chose that particular speedo beause of it's ability to be reprogrammed for anything. Want bigger tires? Reprogram it. Installing new gears? Reprogram it.

 

Looks great man....wanting to do the same in my 1990 Chevy Truck. Could we get some part numbers if you don't mind?

 

That looks very nice. How much did it cost you?

 

you can reprogram the speedo instead of installing a new speedo gear??? if so, sign me up! I want these gauges! also any night pics?

 

Sure, I bought them from Jeg's. Part numbers, and description breakdowns as follows......

Speedometer 5 inch

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=55355

Tachometer 5 inch

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19561

Fuel Level 2-1/16

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19465

Voltmeter 2-1/16

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19489

Water Temperature 2-1/16

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19477

In the triple pillar pod panel I will have....

Vacuum 2-1/16

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19463

Fuel Pressure 2-1/16

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...chItemId=19485

Oil Pressure 2-1/16

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugede...id=3130&sid=11

Jeg's doesn't have the picture or description of the above gauge on thier site, but the price is listed at $199.99

 

Sorry, no night pics. The gauges aren't even installed n the car yet. As far as the claibration goes, it seems to be pretty simple. Here is the calibration process right from the sheet.....

 

Nice to see the layout with the larger 5 inchers on there. Good job.

 

Now that eveything is in *relative* working order, I went out tonight and snapped a pic for you of my gauges at night. I am going to forewarn you, the lighting really sucks(it is as dim as shizit). I also had experimented with the colored loght bulb covers that they give you(red and green). Now, seeing as how my car is red, and has a red interior, naturally I tried the red bulb cover first. Guess what, no light at all. Then I tried the green, yup, same thing, no light. So I let the bulbs go without the bulb covers to allow as much light to come through as possible. Anyway, the pic is somwhat deceptive because I had to turn the flash off to get a true picture. In reality, they don't appear to be as dim as they are in the pic but they are still lacking. So without further ado, here they are in all of their dim lighted glory..........

 

What kind of bulbs do they use to backlight? I'm wondering if you can replace them with something a bit brighter so that your red covers will work. I'm looking at those gauges for my car, but I want a red glow like I've got from my stock gauges/white overlays.

Another option I'm looking at is the new Ultra-Lite II gauges that Autometer just came out with. Those have through-the-dial LED illumination.

 

The bulb covers pretty much suck. I had the same problem with mine. If it wasn't so much money to switch over to the new ULII's I would. I really like how those illuminate at nite.

 

I don't. I want to get a cheap one and tear it apart to see if I can change the illumination colors. I want red illumination dammit.

 

those looks killer! that could be the most the sharpest and most accurate aftermarket gauge cluster i've seen on here.

Question though, do reprogrammable speedo's work for mechanical speedometers?

if you're cable driven you have to look for a mech. speedo, correct?

curious,
brandon

 

Thanks for the compliment, it is most appreciated!!! As far as the programmable speedometer goes, it is electronic, and it is designed to work with an electronic VSS. However, Autometer does make an adapter box that goes on the end of a cable driven speedometer and converts the cable revolutions into an electric signal ie. pulses per mile. So technically, you can use it with a regular speedo cable with an adapter.

 

looks awesome! you can run led's in the factory location on those guages if you wish.

 

hey thanks, i guess that opens more doors for us mechanical guys