After collecting a full set of Autometer carbon fiber gauges, I was ready to start modifying the original plastic piece. I used a 5" speedo and tach, so I had to enlarge those holes using a 4-1/2" hole saw. The other five gauges are 2-1/16" and I cut holes in the panel to make an oval (like ghettocruiser did). Then, I used 1/8" abs plastic and a 2" hole saw to make the insert. Next, I glued it in and here's the result:





Next, came the wiring and I used 8 row terminal strips to organize sets of wires easily (power, ground, light).



Finally, the only thing left was to run the power/ground from the factory wiring harness and the sending unit wires to the gauges. I used about 2ft. of wire for each, which made connecting everything up before mounting the panel a breeze. Here is what it looks like:

 

Looks great. What color is the back lighting?

Eric

 

I have the red backlights, but I might change them to white. I figured I'd give it some time to see how I like them. I'll post a pic whenever I get one. I also haven't done anything with the turn signal/high beam indicators, so I'll have to figure out what to do there.

 

I finally got a decent pic of the gauges showing the red backlights. I'm loving the programmable speedo, since I've already changed rear end gearing once.

 

looks great

 

I've never owned one, but I really like the Firebird dashes with the aftermarket gauges. It looks fantastic!

 

Just great....Now I have ANOTHER mod to add to my "want" list!

Looks great!

 

Turned out nice!

 

looks AWESOME! how hard was it to run the wiring? could you have used the stock harness and sender? i've been wanting to do something like this for a while.

 

Thanks all for the compliments. The wiring ended up being easier than I thought it would be. Using the terminal strips to group wires made it clean and simple. I don't think you can use a stock sender with an aftermarket gauge, and even if you could it would be a good idea to have new senders anyways.

I did use many wires from the factory harness including the power, ground, light, rpm, and fuel level. For the speedo I just had to run the sender wire down to the transmission, and wired the oil pressure and water temp. to the Autometer senders I already had in place (since those gauges in the factory panel didn't work).

This has been one of the coolest mods I've done and it's nice to have finally finished.

 

that looks sweet man!! did you have a wiring diagram to go by? did you have any trouble? i'm looking for all the help i can get to do mine.

 

No wiring diagram, I just used a test light to find what wires I needed. The hardest part was fabricating the plastic oval insert to fit within the cutout from the factory panel. You camaro guys have it easier since there is an aftermarket panel available.

 

Wow, I must say that it looks good. Normally I find that aftermarket gauge installation looks terrible but this really came out nice.

 

how much was this to do and what sizes are the tach and the little guges???

 

My first post has the gauge sizes that I used. The total cost was about $600. I bought most gauges used or new from Craigslist. Also, most people wouldn't need an electronic fuel pressure gauge, so it would be $450 without it.

 

Wow, that looks fantastic. The best I've seen so far for the birds.

I really like how you used gauges with a black face too, similar to original.

 

what is mounted in the defroster switch area?

 

Clever spot for a radar detector

Dash looks good! When I re-do mine eventually, Im going to keep the same configuration, but Im going to make the 2-1/16" gauge panel part of the main assembly like you did. The way I have it now is nice...because things kind of unbolt and come out like factory. But I have that separation between the big gauges and the small gauges which makes it kind of a pain. I plan to re-wire and re-work things a little.

Good job!

For the lighting... I used orange 194 bulbs in all of mine. I like the orange light better than straight up red. I think it matches the original backlighting better.

J.

 

Yep, I have the concealed display for the Valentine 1 radar detector mounted there.

The red ends up being slightly orange-red, but what I don't like is that it is too dim with the colored bulb covers. I have lots of those 194 bulbs around, so I give your idea a shot next time I have the panel off.

 

that is awesome!, how does it get signal?

 

damn very nice setup

 

The main unit is mounted above the rear view mirror and is hardwired to the concealed display. It makes the controls easier to reach.

 

that is sick. definitely gonna have to do that eventually. how much modding was there to do to get it to fit. Love the gauges also

 

Thats a lot of gauges!

What are they all?

 

Not sure which part you're talking about. If it's the concealed display, it fit in that spot easily. For the other gauges, I just had to remove the entire back plastic piece and just use the front trim to hold them all.

All but the a/f ratio gauge are Autometer carbon fiber gauges:

(left to right)
- boost/vac
- Innovative XD16 a/f ratio
- programmable speedometer
- tachometer
- volts
- oil pressure
- electric fuel pressure
- water temp
- fuel level

Since I'm out of room in the dash, if I wanted to add another gauge, I'd have to replace the 2 gauge pod with a 3 gauge pod. I was thinking an exhaust temp gauge or air intake temp gauge would be neat to have with the turbo.

 

Thats one of the cleanest setups I've seen. One thing that's deterring me from putting an aftermarket panel in my GTA is that I haven't found a simple way to angle the gauges up to the eye like they were from the factory.

Looks like it would be easy enough with the way you cut the panel like that, I could cut some styrene tubes to fit in the insert panel and angle the gauges that way, and then coat the entire thing with plasti-dip! The only other thing I don't like are the huge ugly autometer bezels on all their gauges!

 

Just to show you a couple pics of my Phantoms with the Amber/Orange 194 bulbs...

Here is an OLLLLLDDDD pic of my pillar gauges along with my stock dash cluster.



And a newer pic. Not my current set up 100%... but an earlier version. In this pic, the lights are cranked. They are PLENTY bright. I usually run the car with the dimmer set at 50%. Its perfect for me.



Turned down a bit. The only things left that are stock illumination are my HVAC and headlight switch. So it all blends pretty well.



J.

 

Thanks for the pictures, I think your gauge setup looks really nice. I'm not sure if my gauges will be able to get as bright as yours even with the bulb swap since mine have a black background instead of white. I think it's still worth a shot to try it out though.

 

Did you ever swap to white?

 

Wait my bad read it wrong, do you still have the same color or have you changed it yet

 

Not yet. I'm currently swapping to a First tpi intake, and afterwards, some of the smaller projects like this will get done.

 

alright sweet

 

nice car

 

Im planning on doing this to my t/a. I have a question, Im running a carbed lsx and a full manual 4l80e. Do I basically run all new wires, or Do I reuse the factory stuff. Do you having a wiring printout you can send me? I horrible at reading schematics.

 

You can reuse some of the factory wiring including the power, ground, and dimmer light (use a test light to find these). Also the tach (white) and fuel level (pink). Then run a wire from the speedometer to the speed sensor on the 4l80e. Everything else I would run new since you should install new senders anyways.

 

2015 Autometer Dash Restomod




Firebird Formula 1991 Custom Autometer Dash








calebzman, your setup is awesome! It blends with the original interior. It has inspired me and I came up with this after lots of headaches! I went with the 194 covered bulbs and it is quite dimmed and color inconsistent between gauges. It’s not perfect but it retains the OEM look and specially the OEM warning lights. I custom ordered from Autometer to match with the added phantom style. I used the OEM dash cluster and original back connectors. I added prosport clock and dual IAT gauges http://www.fastwrx.com/products/pros...ake-temp-gauge Would be nice for your turbo!


Cheers

 

I had a need for 6 smaller gauges without using a pillar pod, so here's what I came up with.

I used L.E.D.s for the turn/Hi-beam indicators and a bigger LED for the CEI.

the 2 lower amber LEDs are to indicate which of the 2 fuel pumps is running.

.....

 

Looks incredible W72! I like it, especially the angle with the plastic pods. I have a small green led for the fuel pump but it's between the defrost and trunk switches. At the time, if I would have known, I would have put the green led with the warning lights.
Keep on customizing!

 

You both did a great job. Definitely clean installs. W72, you must be an electrical engineer with those wiring skills. LED's would make a great addition to my panel.

 

Thanks, but not an EE for sure, just patient. Everything is soldered and shrink wrapped and you can see I used Molex connectors to make it removable/ serviceable .

I bet I have 20 hours bent over the workbench just doing the wiring. The LEDs were cheap on Amazon and solved the problem of trying to integrate the factory turn/Hi beam into the cover panel I made.

Odd thing is, when the horn is honked the Hi-beam LED glows dimly so I'll have to look into that, maybe a diode inline will solve any back feed that is occurring.