Well I had to mount my oil temp gage somewhere so I put it below my shift light where the rear defrost button used to be.

 

Looks good. I really like your tach! Nice looking cockpit!

 

how many guages do you have that do the same thing? nice professional setup.

 

I'm curious about the tach install. A few words about it, if you will.

JamesC

 

No gages are redundant. on the A-pillar from top to bottom is my wideband, water temp, and oil pressure. The factory oil pressure gage is attached to the factory tach, which is gone, and the factory water temp gage is very inaccurate and is currently disconnected. Obviously the oil temp is over under the shift light. I'll probably eventually replace all the gages but right now I'm doing them as I need to and can afford it. I installed the oil temp gage to see if I need to run an oil cooler on the car or not. I don't want to further complicate my oil system with a cooler unless the car really needs it for open track days or possibly on longer auto-x courses.



well I did it going on 5 years ago now. I had to enlarge the hole in the gage face plate, cut the clear plastic off, and I had to cut a hole in the white plastic tub that holds all the gages. I also had to cut the metal stamping that goes behind the clear plastic and in front of the factory gage. The gage is held in the black gage face plate with a large hose clamp around the gage body. I was using zip ties but if fell out last fall while autocrossing so I upgraded There is no other trickery other than a little cutting. I got all the pieces at the junkyard and cut them instead of my originals. I use a sanding roll from a Standard Abrasives head porting kit in an electric or air powered drill to cut the plastic pieces.

I've seen other guys mount their gages like that but I think mine is one of the cleaner ones. It does not stick out at all other than the silver surround. There are no visible gaps anywhere and the gage is straight. If you take your time and cut carefully you can get the gage to press in and fit perfectly.

JamesC[/QUOTE]

 

does your 3 gauge pillar hit he dash because Ive heard alot of people had that problem...it doesnt look like yours does though.. where did you you get it from

 

Mine hits the dash too. It's sunken in the pad maybe 1/16" or so. I can understand how people might not like that, but when you're cramming 3 gages on one pillar and trying to keep them all visible, you don't have much other choice. I got the pod from summit. If/when the car gets a roll cage I'll probably move all the gages to the dash with a custom gage panel, and possibly mount some below the vents in the center of the dash.

 

Looks good so far, I was thinking of doing the same with the tach. Good to see someone actually did it

I picked up a used three gauge console with the intent of separating them and replacing the three in the middle. The set I have wouldn't match what you have color wise, but I believe the sizes of each would(1 1/2"). In fact I just checked and they fit perfectly over the face or possibly behind it if the bevel portion of the front were modified. The only reason I have them is because I got them so cheap.
Here's the model I have: Link

Maybe one of these others would look better and have full sweep instead while still being the same size. Link
Make sure to zoom on the images. Looks like you can buy gauges that size individually as well.

Also, I temporarily added a temp gauge in the corner between the middle console and the bottom of the dash. There's a screw already there so you can remove it if you decide it doesn't work for you. I thought I would hit it with my knee but it's never been in my way.

 

looks pretty good!

...did you ever run both water temp gauges at the same time? how far off was your facotory gauge if so?

thanks
brandon

 

Never did. I put the sender for the new gage in the place of the stock one. I know the stock water temp gage on my '91 TA is a WAY off. When the gage shows over 220, the actual engine temp is only 195 as verified by datalogging with my lap top after a brand new coolant temp sensor was installed.

 

i tried to use teh AutoMeter sending unit to power the factory guage and it was going crazy.. ended up throwing a check engine light..

I took that apart and put the autometer lead on the sender and my AutoMeter guage works like a champ.. My car never gets above 190* which is perfect.

Wierd how the stock guage says that 220* is alright...

 

how does your pillar gauge mount attach to the pillar? is it one piece that completely replaces the stock one or does it go over top the stock and get super glued or screwed to the stock pillar?

 

it goes over the original one and is attached with plastic push clips.

 

hey, what size are ur wheels, I just recently picked up an 88 Iroc, and was wondering wat was the widest wheel I could throw on

 

What brand of gauges did you use? I have been trying to find purchase some to install but have no idea of what brands are good. I have been looking at Dakota Digital but they are too expensive!!!!


Going back to the factory temperature gauge being off. I thought the temperature gauge received its signal from the sender in the passenger side head which does not intersect the coolant jacket. Therefore, your gauge shows head temperature instead of coolant temperature. This would explain why the gauge in the car is always higher than the actual coolant temp. Can anyone validate that this is correct?

 

I'm using Autometer Sport Comp gages.

I think the factory temp gage is off because the gage sucks, plain and simple. I don't think the location of the sender is making the difference.

 

You've got a PM

I'll be brief since this is off topic. The widest wheel you can run depends on how much fender and wheel well work you want to do. Check out the wheel and tire forum, and see the stickys at the top. This will help you get started.