I have been trying to fix my gauges for awhile, but have decided to just replace them with something new, I stumbled across NVU gauges that claim to be a direct replacement and that will work for my 89 TA from classic industries. Unless I am mistaken I have not seen anything offered for the 89 TA until I came across these. If you have used NVU gauges, how is the quality? I was looking at SpeedHut and go a more custom route, but I would be happy with a ready to go route also.

https://www.classicindustries.com/pr...nv8202101.html

 

Never heard of them but they look decent. They are pricey so I hope they are good. Summit sells them and they have some with reviews might be worth reading them

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...5tUWbSRWUCxQ2B

 

Never seen those before, but they look nice.

 

I suspect NVU is who Hawk's was trying to work with to create modern factory style gauges, but I haven't tried to confirm that with either party. Somebody who knows Bruce might be able to confirm that and get his opinion, if it was NVU.

New Vintage USA INC (mybigcommerce.com)

 

These look pretty awesome and the price is really reasonable. I Purchased autometer gauges and a dash from classic dash. It's a different look obviously so not apples to apples. That said the function is the same and my setup was a bit more money and I had to make the wiring harness. I like my setup but more money, more work and the same function is no brainer!

 

I was hoping Hawks was going to produce the gauges, but that seems to not be happening.

 

@Firechicken82 Your dash looks great!
Nice look

 

Thanks, it was actually a really cool project to do w my daughter and teach her how to solder and make wire harnesses. I feel like there are easier/more cost effective setups like the one the OP mentioned. That said, I'm happy w my result.

 

@Firechicken82 I wish that they made a dash that worked for the 89 Firebird so I could go to AutoMeter, I've used them for years in other projects and because of that I have half of the ones I need.

 

I'll start out saying there's a lot of things I don't know! I remember back in the day people swapping the earlier and late firebird dash parts. I had a friend w an 82 and mounted 86 parts in it. Where I'm going is, I think it may be doable to use that setup. But, there's a lot of things I don't know!

 

I’m considering the NVU gauges for my 86 Camaro , I’m planning a ls swap & there won’t be a speedometer cable drive.They have a lot of nice features that autometer, Dakota digital, others don’t offer. Turn signal indicators , high beam, check engine, custom made in the gauge.They also have stepper motors in all the gauges so they can have a broader sweep. I like the arrangement of the gauges too, gives room for an additional gauge, and the speedometer and tach are more centered than others. I would add a fuel pressure gauge, but you can add 3 additional inputs without adding gauges.
Problem is there is not much feedback on the quality. I searched & found mixed reviews. I guess that’s normal, but it bugs me that people report poor customer service.

 

It bugs you that they reported it, or bugs you that there is poor customer service?

I also look at NVU as lot, but same thing - seen a LOT of mixed reviews, and quite a few mention difficulty in getting help with the products if there's problems. Of course, then there's the counter where someone says they had zero problem at all. Hard to feel confident when the overall score seems to be hit or miss.

 

I usually try to refrain from saying bad things about a vendor because it might've only been me, you know? But in the case of NVU, I've held my tongue for a while now, so maybe it's time I say something more than I said in my earlier post. But I found NVU's service to be weak. They're "so busy" all the time.

I'd been looking at NVU for a couple of years, and then I tried for months to get them to work with me, and they seemed to do everything they could to get me to go away, regardless that I had no budget and offered to lay out whatever $$$ they might want in advance. So... I went away. I ended up going with Speedhut, and I don't regret it for a moment.

I love the quality and products that NVU produces... the styles, designs, variety, standard features, wiring harnesses, etc., and they offer "kits" for A LOT of cars, including 3rdgen Camaros and Firebirds. The website even boasts about doing completely custom work, which is what I wanted to do. But that custom part, I learned, simply means minor tweaks to their off-the-shelf products.

When Hawk's bailed out on the custom 3rdgen packages they were trying to get made for us, for which there are a couple of threads, the products very clearly appeared to be NVU, so I figured it was NVU bailing on Hawk's, not Hawk's bailing on NVU. But then, Hawk's isn't saintly either, so who knows? But that's just my own suspicion, based on how NVU was with me. I'm not saying they were a-holes, just that they weren't interested in my plans. It had to be what they wanted me to do, not what I wanted them to do.

Taking them at their word, "just too busy" at that time, I still would've given them another opportunity for a project without a budget, had Speedhut not been willing to do exactly what I asked of them, so I don't need NVU anymore. My products from Speedhut look outstanding!!! I just haven't revealed them yet.

 

I had reached out to NVU with some questions and the email went un-answered. I had decided to go with Speedhut because they got back to me. The reviews were very mixed on NVU.

I haven't ordered from Speedhut as I am still doing some other work, before I get back to the gauges.

 

To be honest, building my own was more expensive and more work. But if there's a problem I can figure it out/replace an individual gauge. I'm in the process of adding an AFR and boost. I have multiple options. The engine swap people should look into can bus gauges. Dakota digital has some. Ls swaps as well as holly, edelbrock efi systems have can bus outputs. It makes gauge panels super simple and extremely versatile.

Don't get me wrong, the speedhut and NVUs look awesome.

 

For me, I want to keep more of an OEM look to my TA, so Speedhut fits that bill, I also want to add AFR, boost, possibly fuel pressure, granted my 3.5" Holley screen can display some of that. I am running a 4th gen fuel tank and didn't want to convert to a 0-90 ohm sender, the Speedhut can be setup to read 33-270 ohm. Granted if I didn't want to keep that look the Holley dash is the way to go using the information from the Terminator X and add the features I need/want.

 

Yeah, I really liked the stock look. The speedhut ones are really cool looking. I totally see the interest in them. I'm curious how the install is w them. Anything could be easier than what I did!

 

Businesses care less and less about customer service nowadays, and it continues to regress. But Speedhut's customer service is excellent throughout the entire process. To me, that's HUGE.

For a "stock appearance," Speedhut CAN create the 85-92 Firebird gauge design. They can do just the grid pattern, or they do the numbers and ticks too, for factory-style modern gauges.

It's custom work, so people can't simply check the boxes, they'll have to phone, and it will cost extra, but the custom charges are far less than they could be, IMO.

 

Getting back to NVU, they do offer a unique product that nobody else offers, and it could be used with any brand products, I'd think. They call it a Snap-Adapt Plug-and-Play wiring connector.
PRODUCTS - SNAP-ADAPT PLUG-AND-PLAY - New Vintage USA

There's not a 14-pin connector for GM, only for Ford. And they weren't going to produce one for GM anytime soon because it would supposedly cost about, "$8,000-$9,000 in R&D," which is hogwash, considering they already have to means to produce these products. I suppose if 3rdgen owners started breaking down NVU's door with business, which we all know isn't going to happen, then they'd be more motivated to produce one for us.

I purchased a 14-pin Ford connector and made it workable, and it only took about 30 minutes, which would hardly cost NVU "$8,000-$9,000." But I don't have the means to create one accurately and properly, so mine is just a modified hack job, which I'm not actually fond of trying to use. But it's quite a simple design, so such a project would seem to be right up the alley of a prominent tinkerer, like TGO's @84 1LE if he should happen to see this.

 

I have the NVU gauges in my 69 Firebird 400. They work great, but the oil sending unit is fragile. I replaced two of the in 8 months. Now I have one from NAPA that's been holding up fine. Also if you order direct from NVU, you can usually get a 10% discount on a set...at least I did.

 

Since there's been some interest expressed by some Firebird owners in modern aftermarket gauges that have a factory-style vibe, I created a thread about my experience, because to continue replying here would be too much, as you'll all see lol. But I got it done with Speedhut, and it's in thread linked below (and this message will be copied, pasted and linked in another active thread, so it might look familiar there lol):

Firebird Factory-Element, from Speedhut - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards