I am gettting a new gauge layout and was looking for inspiration.

So far there is the covans classic, which i don't like b/c the 3 3/8's tach

then there is the guy on here that did 5" tach with 5" speedo and 3 2" gauges but I don't want my speedo to be 5" and I like 4 gauges on the main panel.

So it would seem I would have to break the symmetry. And then It will look silly.

I am looking at a 3 3/8's speedo, and 4 2" level gauges (fuel, coolant temp, oil pressure, volts) on the main panel and a 5" tach I suppose some how intergrated if not built in that won't look like crap

Then extra guages like fuel pressure, nitrous pressure and some 3rd gauge; i guess some silly air fuel ratio or vacuum will go in center air vents or the a pillar. (i don't like 2 guages just hangen around lol gotta have the third even if its a big check mark when the engines on)

So any ideas on my setup?
And custom setup of yours you'd like to share?
Ive seen a few on searchs both here and the web but nothing ive fallen in love with...

thanks.

 

I might be the guy you are talking about that is running dual 5" tach/speedo.

I do not have (4) 2" guages though.

I have (5) 2 3/8" level guages and finally (2) 2 1/16" guages in the pillar.

Here is a pic. I am sure you have seen if you have done searches. I really don't see how you are gonna have any kind of symetry and have a 5" tach and a 3 3/8 speedo. If you find a way, draw it up and post it. idrew my set up for weeks before going with it.



might be a better shot



hope this helps.
Good luck.

-Dennis

 

i have been following your project for quite some time; although i forgot to mention your setup...my first impression is that all your gauges would just seem to oversized for regular use. i suppose if they were black it would help, i guess ill skecth it out to 1:1 scale and lay it in there for myself.

that doesn't look like the stock sized panel...can i get your dimensions?

thanks

/keep them coming...

 

Dimentions for the panel? If that is what you want, then i can't really help.

I have no idea. I did it all on paper then traced it onto the board. It turned out a bit too long in terms of heading twords my legs. So I trimed it right there on the car. Took it out and cleaned it all up.

It was more of a trial error piece.

It is def not stock or even stock shaped panel. If you go thorugh my site you can see how I made it. You can get an idea on dimentions by looking at the holes compared to the panel. You know the size of the holes, so go from there. It really is a fun project if you just realise that there is no template or easy way to do it.

Just take your time and start from scratch. Its the easiest and best way.

good luck

-Dennis

 

ive seen someone start from left to right with the 5" then 3"3/8 and then a couple of 2" all inside the original cluster. Mine dont have tach or speedo yet but i plan to do something similar. check out my page for the pics

 

thanks guys;

dennis how longer is your panel then stock?
and if you could do it again would you do 2 1/16 or keep your 2 3/8 level gauges? and are you sure they are 2 3/8 b/c im only familiar with 2 1/16, 2 5/8, 3 3/8, and 5".

keep them coming...

 

My bad you are right, they are 2 5/8"... Not sure what I was thinking.

Not sure what you mean by longer, but if I had to say, I would say maybeeee about 1" at the most. I made it so it would sit on top of the opening, not in it. But I could have gone the other way if I wanted. Not a big deal.

I would most def stay with the 2 5/8 guages. They are soooo much nicer to look at in my opinion. The 2 1/16 ones just look MINI to me. Way to small. That is why the only 2 that I have that size are vacume and oil temp.

Good luck and if you got any more questions feel free.... My website really should answer most. I posted like 20 pics of me making that thing. But I might have left out details.

But as one last comment, If I could start all over again.... I would make it exactly the same way. I love all the big guages. Very easy to read everything.

 

thanks man....im going to fab up 2 and 5/8's and 2 and 1/16 now...and why did you get oil temp lol extra hole to fill? id rather have a egr temp lol.

if anyone has any other custom setups youd like to share id love to check 'em out...

 

Sorta just needed to fill the hole, but at the same time I thought it would be nice to see how the oils temp compares to the water temp. Maybe let me know if I need to get an oil cooler.

That sorta thing

 

true true...nice setup anyways. to confirm your plate is on the outside, not tucked in like stock? Isn't that like kind of in your face a little bit? I mean its what like 2/3" closer to you and they are bigger?

And by the way your fuel pressure gauge under your ac vents....i would guess thats mechanical, and if so i would hope thats not fuel coming into the cabin. So what piece did you get to change from a fuel line to some other liquid in the line while reading the correct pressure?

thanks.

 

Lets see....

Yes the panel is "ON TOP" of what is there. It would look a bit strange if I hadn't covered the whole dash in a thin, flat back cloth. The guages are a bit closer, but just put your seat a bit further back, or like me if you are allready all the way back, lean the seat back a click. hehe.

Yes that is the fuel pressure guage over there. Kinda desided to add that later and didn't wanna pay the insane price of an electric guage, not to metion finding a nice place to put the sender.

anyways, if you go to summit website and look up mechanical guages, it is called an isolator. I installed it where the heater fan used to be under the hood. It sends the pressure to a diaphram and then on the other side of the bladder is brake fluid. It tranfers the pressure change and then that is what reads out on the guage.

Here, I will post a pic of how I have it installed. It is the red disk over to the left.

 

ok, couple of things, the isolator pictured is mounted on the firewall? so one side takes the gas and the other brake fluid? thats pretty neat, and exactly what I was looking for.

and about your fuel setup...looks a little cluttered but i suppose it is the only way to do a nitrous setup with the fuel.
-what reg. fuel regulator you use?
-what nos fuel feed setup are you running
-and what plate is that holding your solienoids?

thanks and sorry for straying off topic but the mounting and hooking up of the fuel pressure gauge is techiniquely related to the fuel delievery system...lol

 

First off, no problem about getting off topic, I enjoy helping out where I can....

The isolator works just as you described. Fuel on one side and brake fluid on the other. It is mounted to the lip that potrudes off the cowl. You are not supposed to mount directly to the firewall. But anyways, that is just a detail. The isolators are around $60 bucks I think.

-what reg. fuel regulator you use?

That is the AEI-13301 from aromotive. Very nice little piece. All the products that aromotive make are very nice.

-what nos fuel feed setup are you running

Well that is a bit of a strange question, as I do not no of any standard ways to run N20, but if there are ways, then mine must be filled under custom. hehe. Anyways, off the 8-AN feed line I tapped into it with a T fitting and reduced it down the 6-AN. Then from there it goes into a holly standard regulator, cost about 20 bucks. There is a fuel pressure saftey switch on one output and the other heads out to the fuel solenoid. If you want to know about my pump and stuff like that, it is a Holly Volumax pump that puts out 250 GPH. That should cover it I think.

-and what plate is that holding your solienoids?

The plate holding the solenoids is the plate that came with my kit from NX. Just a thin piece of metal. I am thinking og getting rid of it and making the little braided lines into hard lines, and having them hold the solenoids. It might be able to buy the plate seperatly by calling up NX. Google it, I am sure you can find the # that way if you really want the plate only.


Hope that answers it all. Later

-Dennis

 

excellent...any problems tapping into your regular fuel line for nitrous?

what size shot are you running....b/c they say to use dedicated line for 150 and up.

 

right now I have a 100 shot in there, but the motor is built to take EASILY 400. But it is a street car so I am not going to go past 200 ever.

And as for the dedicated fuel line stuff that is if you are running small lines. 8-AN is huge. And my pump pumps sooo much fuel that the N20 and the carb will never starve.

I looked into it and did the math considering flow #s and all that stuff. I am good for as much N20 as I wanna push. The motor is all forged too.

 

ok wow...lots of answers...thanks.

and last one i suppose for now...say i wanted the electric fuel pressure...like when i win the lottery...the electric sender plugs into one of the regulator's ports and wires come off?

 

That is 100% correct. It can be tapped into any place that is showing the fuel pressure that you wanna monitor. They are not super expensive, but they are pricey. That is not why I went with mechanical though. With Mech, you get the benifit of it allways working even if the battery dies or something like that. Also there is the "cool" factor of running the isolator. I have allways thought they looked great under the hood. But anyways, there are cheaper alternatives. I have seen electric fuel guages WITH SENDERS for less than 100 bucks... I think Holly makes it too. You might have to hunt through summit's site to find it, but I know it is there. Great part for the $. Hope I covered everything. I have taken a lot of time to learn all the little random things I know about these cars... Makes me happy to answer questions cuz it shows that it is pretty useful stuff to know. Anyways, let me know if there is anything else you are confused about.

Later

-Dennis