i have a small guage question, i posted it in electronics where it belongs here but it has been 4 days and no answers so, since it's a v6 i'll give us a crack at it:



i am thinking of disighning a custom gauge cluster (using stock speedo and tach at least for now) and i had a few questions. in order to maximize the ammount of gauges i can fit i am using "2-1/16" size gauges. i am going to get an oil temp gauge. which one of the following would be better:

1. summit part # ATM-2638 (oil temp 100*-250* z-series)
2. summit part # ATM-2639 (oil temp 140*-300* z-series)

or in lamens trms, "how hot is our oil suposed to get?"

also, for the fuel level guage. the catalog says most GM cars use 0 ohms for empty and 90 ohms for full, is that true wih f-body cars as well or are we the reason they say most and not all.

thanks for the help. i will keep you all up-to-date on this project if and when it progresses. if i do half as good a job as i would like it is going to kick ***.

in case you would like to know i am going to get the following guages:

oil pressure
oil temperature
cyl temperature
water temperature
fuel level
volt meter

i wanted to get a fuel pressure guage as well but the electric one that matches the rest is 180 bux. the rest are no more then fifty each. the total for them all is $248.14 since that is like a week and a half of pay and i have expenses this will not happen till feburary, unless i get some major money for christmas and my birthday (january).

the hardest part will be fabbing the custom bezel. i am going to need to fit six guages in that spot where two (big ones, fuel/water, batt/oil) now take up, could be difficult, pluss i will need to re-locate all those indicator lights that are built in to the guages. i will probably just have a bank of labeled LEDs. should look pimp. i am thinking of doing the bezel out of dash pad matereal pulled from any donor car i can find in the junk yard. i would like to use polished steel, but i have no means of cutting such matereal or bending the bottom and top edges without making it ugly.

any input would be appriciated

 

don't forget the tranny temp gauge

get the first gauge, same sweep area for less range of temp reading.

Also, for hint, FYI, take a look at the gauge cluster for the 95+ Blazers w/tachs. more gauges than my GPGT

 

Dude check TomP 12 pod dash board. We were just talking about it.

<img src="https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/attachment.php?s=&postid=1160617">

Find a car like Toms and your set. I have an 86 bird too but mine doesn't look anything like his. I think just about every 3rd gen I have been in, had a slightly different interior.

 

The seats, I found out, are actually trans am seats. Figures why it took me forever to find junkyard replacments for 'em!! https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...73#post1294101

Those idiot light holes of mine are only about an inch diameter; I doubt you could find a gauge small enough for 'em, unless you went digital-only. If you search the appearance board (either appearance or body/interior), you can find a bunch of custom gauge panels that guys have done. Some of those came out damned sweet!!

Instead of oil temp, not only do I prefer the idea of trans temp (if you've got an automatic), but what about an air/fuel ratio gauge? Either of those would tell you more about the car then oil temperature would... I mean, if you know the coolant temp, and the engine isn't overheating, oil temp is probably not a necessity.

I want those two gauges (trans temp and a/f ratio), but can't figure out a good spot to add the gauges where I can see 'em- and I don't want to block those 12 holes that girls always think are cool, and I don't want anything mounted on the dash panel. So far I'm left with hanging them below the dash (too far to read), making a fiberglass/vinyl wrapped pod for them and hanging them to the right of the center air ducts (too far to read accurately), or, making a pod and hanging them from the headliner to the left of the rearview.

And yep, our f-bodies are the same 0/empty, 90/full resistance for fuel level. That's why when the fuel sender breaks, the fuel gauge will read over-fill. Instead of the gauge seeing 90 ohms resistance, it sees "infinite ohms" resistance- a break in the wire- and the gauge pegs itself to a way-over-filled reading.

Tip: Grab an orange highlighter or red marker and color the gauge's bulbs red or orange.

 

and here i was wondering how much red bulbs would cost, you're the man tom. then my guages will be blingin` i have a manual, would i still want a trans temp? and yea air fuel might be a good idea,

ok so modified list:
oil pressure
water temp
fuel level
volt meter
vaccume
cyl temp
air fuel

i have also started considering a full pillar (holds three) for the bird. allthough i think pillar pods look tacky as hell(sorry tomp and others), i am allready re-doing my entire dash, so what more can i do

 

No offense taken! I've had that pillar pod since 1997, probably before most of you owned your f-body, and definately before the whole import-rocket craze! In fact, back then, you couldn't buy a triple-gauge pod, it was only single or double. Myself, I prefer the added-gauges look.

You wouldn't need trans temp for a manual... I <i>believe</i> (someone correct me if I'm wrong, please!!) that it doesn't matter how hot a manual trans gets. If an automagic gets too hot, the fluid breaks down and doesn't protect the trans anymore.

If you don't dim your gauges down to hell like I do (you can barely see mine at night, I think it looks stealth-like! Yep, I have deeply-routed problems...) then there's a post up on the appearance board about a guy on eBay that sells twist-in LED's. There was even a link up to his auctions and he had them set up for Autometer gauges! See https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=213503 for more info.

 

Yes, TomP, you are correct about the manual vs auto for temperature failure. I suppose if you went high enough you could make a manual fail, but you'd have more serious problems than that by then.

Xophertony, auto transmission heat breakdown chart attached.

 

tomp:
that is longer then i have owned my bird

blazermaro:
thanks for the chart. but i have a stick

 

BlazerMaro, thanks for the chart! How hot do manual tranny's get, anyway? Do they get hotter than automatics? I'd imagine an automatic would get hotter because of all the clutches, and because of the torque convertor, where in a manual trans I'm guessing that the clutch would be the hottest piece.

 

so i got back in my car yesterday and looked at the dash, i think i have enough room for two rows of three gauges, so i can put six in there. they are as follows:

cyl temp
oil pressure
fuel level
water temp
air/fuel
voltmeter
and a bunch of LEDs

man this is going to rule.....

 

Gotta have a mini vacuum gauge but you can put that on the dash. I have mine run with clear PVC and it just wraps around up and under the hood, into the door, sneaked along the dash window crack and a white face mini gauge is staring at you. But it sits there so Well and never moves. its deep in the window crack. People think its a NO2 gauge.

With vacuum you would think there would be problems with the door shutting on the hose but there isn't. I actually paid an extra $1 to have a brass insert put in the gauge to minimize bounce, I also use some very very tiny .41mm carb pilot jets out of a motor cycle in the middle of the hose to do the same.

Get a real smooth reading. I really bought them for carb tuning. Not really automotive style but real accurate.


Gaugestore.com $7-8 industrial gauge with inserts.

Them air/fuel gauges are kind of pricy. Take apart and hide the guts for a digital volt meter behind the dash and just display the LCD display.

"Here is a general idea at what the O2 sensor voltage output looks like. As you can see, the slope around 400mv, which is 14.7:1, or perfect combustion, is very steep. This is why only computerized fuel injection systems can really hold anything close to 400mv. If you're wondering about how a sensor can read oxygen content in rich mixtures where there is no extra oxygen, the sensor begins to act as a temperature sensor above 400mv.

"

Spend the money you save on the air/fuel and get a 3 wire O2. If your gonna be watching it all the time might as well.
I will do it my self sooner or later.

Don't ya just hate loop mode when your car is cold and first starts n run in loop until the O2 heats up and the computer starts working???

I'm on a role tonight and its not even firday. I slept 18 hours yesterday.

 

Yes, TomP, auto's do get hotter than manuals, and the reason you thought is correct. According to a friend who delves into the black arts (auto tranny repair shop) the main issue there is the difference in fluids. Due to the nature of ATF and what it needs to be able to do, it breaks down and stops protecting against wear at higher temps. Heavyweight gear oil (manual) just gets thinner. (To a point.)

 

I heard the mention of a trans temp gauge. Isn't it possible with an automatic to pull out one of the bolts where the technician can check for line pressure and put in your sender? Whenever I had the money and time that was my plan for the trans gauge.

Does anyone have an oil temp gauge on their car? I've heard of putting in a T fitting for the oil pressure sender and slapping the temp sender in there.

Has anyone seen the AutoMeter gauge pod for the Mustang that goes around their steering wheel? I wonder why they can't make something like that for the F-bodies.