So i'm turning my GTA into a TTA tribute.
My car is already white with cloth beechwood interior.

Got my new emblems, pace car decals.

I'ved was lucky enough to score the correct cloth high back rear seat.

So one thing its definitly different is the cluster tach.

TTA have a 6k readline with a 0-20psi boost gauge built in.

Now finding one original tach is very hard and most likely very expensive. I haven't found any yet.

So I decided to make one mysefl until I can find a real one.

I studied the TTA tach and decided to try.

I bought a spare cluster because I needed the clear lense and to use parts out of it.

So I scanned my RPM overlay and used MS Paint to make the modification. I which I could have used phptoshop but I don't have that program.

I took care to match exactly all the details of the TTA into my scan, finding the right font took awhile. Placing everything exactly were it should be.
MS Paint have its limit so its not super clean nor perfect.

Then I printed on a glossy photo paper with my very normal everyday ink jet printer.

It came out ok after many tries. Although I scanned my overlays, the color it came out wasn't correct. Took a fews tries until it was close enough.

Lastly I used a special spay to seal the ink because even after two days the ink wouldn't completly dry to the touch.

Then I had to cut the holes and fit a needle.

Adding the actual mechanism to hold the needle don't fit without extensives to the back of the cluster and the printed circuit needed.
Its not impossible, but since its a only a replica and I don't plan to go turbo, my boost gauge is only for show.

I might try to get someone with photoshop skills a better printer to make the overlay perfect.

Overall i'm happy, I have the look, both needle light up, its look acurate.

But since my overlays isn't 100% like the original, not all the numbers light light up correctly.
Its not 100% correct on color, but its the best I could do with what I had.

Anyways heres some photos:

This is an original TTA tach. 6k redline, 0-20 boost gauge. Premium Recommended too.



My startup scan of the gauge I used.


After many hours, this is the most accurate I could make it.
Its pretty much dead on.



Once installed: (the camera flash make it more brownish than it really is)
Its look great and original.

 

You made that ...wow ,that can;t be

it lights up?Is it accurate?can you make speedometers?

simply amazing work .

whats the font called? Is it free?If not where can I buy it?I want to try your tutorial.

 

My tach still work, but the boost gauge no. The needle is glued there.
The Font I used is Microgamma medium extended.
I found it somewhere free on the web
I put my overlay over the original overlay because my overlay is not saturated like the ovriginal and when light up it was a mess.
I will take a picture tonight.
I will rework my overlay to make better. I would really like the see it light up correctly.

 

Found the font here for anyone who wants to try http://fontsup.com/font/microgramma-...-extended.html

Maybe there are other type of papers /photo papers that work better or if you already have the tach image (which was the hard part) saved there are professional ways to print them .This is only matter of what material to print on.

What if you clean/scrape the paint from the original tach and print over that material? Will that work?

I love this style of gauges but no one makes them .

 

I have access to a compagnie that print paper stuff in general, but they arent sure if they can do it and I would have to pay them.

Scraping it off may work...I will have to look into it.

The hardest part (making the overlay template) is done.
I will see if I can find someone with a vinyl shop that print stuff to see if its posible to replicate with vinyl.

 

Just a FYI, the boost gauge comes from a old 80s sunbird turbo 4cyl, so I'm told.
I have a complete 39 mile TTA instrument cluster someplace in my stash.

 

Check this out http://mazda626.net/topic/39309-maki...m-gauge-faces/

it is for mazda but he figured out the paper/material and how to make it look stock.

 

That's an impressive piece of work right there. Very nice.

 

I don't know if this would help you, but someone in CT has the parts to do the conversion.
http://newhaven.craigslist.org/pts/4840831409.html
He has the gauge cluster in the pictures.

 

Here's the issue i'm having right now.
Both needles work great.
But the dial.
I will try sort out the issue and try something else.

 

These are great.
I would only need the face plate.
V6 and V8 tach calibration are different.

 

That's a cool thread, thanks for posting it!

They can be re-calibrated.

I plan on trying to make a face myself so I can keep my 8K RPM V8 tach and find the part from a turbo sunbird like TTOP350 mentioned. I also have a 180mph speedo face made.

 

You don't say that without posting it

a 8000 tach with 20psi boost gauge would also look cool I guess.

There are metric speedometers which have a 180 km/h limit(or 220km/h one but thats pushing it ) .I guess you only need to change km/h with Mph sign and you have a 180 km/speedometer.Again problem is to look stock and work with the lights.

 

The sunbird boost gauge, entire cluster actually, was used in Syclones and Typhoons. It doesn't look at all like the TTA one.