Aftermarket instrument cluster

[moneypit]

Anyone ever considder making an aftermarket guage setup with a sheet metal replacement for the original cluster? Anyone ever have any experience with say, using autometer fuel guages with the factory sending unit? I hear that with some ingenuity the factory speedo cable can be used with an autometer mechanical speedo. They have the same 1:1 input ratio of the factory unit.

Quick! Someone measure the opening in the dash! (the inside width/height of the guage bezel, please!)

[Nathan in MI]

An aftermarket fuel gauge won't work with the factory sending unit--the aftermarket jobs are all made for...I think 80 ohms, and the Ford one is something drastically different (I've read up on all this before, but I don't remember all the details now). You could get an aftermarket sender to go with it and probably rig up something that would work decent.

[moneypit]

The autometer description says that the fuel guages operate on 0 to 90 ohms. Anyone know for sure about this?

[Blaze86Vic]

The have programmable fuel gauges that work with all models, and they also sell different range ones for chevy, ford, ect....

[phayzer5]

I've thought about making a blank metal tray to cutout holes for gauges awhile back just havent got to it yet. Make a tray to replace the cluster that comes out so that when the gauges are installed, i can overlay the towncar's cluster cover panel and itll look nearly stock unless you notice whats actually behind the plastic bezel

[Tiggie]

I want an in-dash tach. But teh CV dash opening is sooo small, it'd be hard to fit one in there. I guess a 3 3/8 would work. But I'd also need a 3 3/8 speedo, which is too small for my liking. Oh well. I guess I'll keep guessing until she blows.

[Grand Marquis GT]

The autometer speedo I bought just required a special custom speedo cable, which I had made for my Merk.

I haven't installed it yet, though... And most of the fuel gauges are GM shit. However, I will be running a fuel cell with a GM sender, so it's all good

My idea involves making a complete sheetmetal part of that dash where the instrument cluster goes, and make it conform how I want it.

[moneypit]

My idea involves making a complete sheetmetal part of that dash where the instrument cluster goes, and make it conform how I want it.

Exactly!


From what I saw on a thread at fullsizebronco.com, if you remove the plastic clip from the stock ford speedo cable and "manufacture" a retaining bracket to slide over the metal end and bolt to the back of the speedo the stock cable will work.

[moneypit]

This one should work:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

[trwp72]

Dash panels ideas....

Check this place out for some ideas... They have some killer looking instrument panels for cars...

http://covansclassic.com/

[1987cp]

Anyone ever considder making an aftermarket guage setup with a sheet metal replacement for the original cluster? Anyone ever have any experience with say, using autometer fuel guages with the factory sending unit? I hear that with some ingenuity the factory speedo cable can be used with an autometer mechanical speedo. They have the same 1:1 input ratio of the factory unit.

Quick! Someone measure the opening in the dash! (the inside width/height of the guage bezel, please!)

Yep, yep, and yep. I've not messed with a custom panel that fits into the factory dash, but the mini-dash I slapped together from some plywood and sheet aluminum for testing purposes was a lot of fun. But the Traditional Chrome gauges I bought look dorky against aluminum (aside from the fact that readily-available aluminum sheet is very thin and easy to bend or dent while going to town with the hole saw and metal nibblers), so my current thought is to make a Rolls-Royce or MG style flat wood panel and mount the gauges directly in that. I might have to learn to do veneering if my skills in working with hardwoods don't improve, but it might just be worth it.

For the speedo cable, I got tired of constantly pushing the stocker back on while cruising on the highway, so I got a cable for a '68 Mustang (non-Drag Pak) and stuck it in. Works great with no more cussing necessary.

Factory fuel sender from my Mercury is 73-10 Ohms. Like I was mentioning on another thread, movement on my 73-10 Ohm fuel gauge was a little odd when I first hooked it up, but it performed perfectly during bench testing while I had the sender out to modify it, so I'm assuming for now that it was a wiring or grounding problem.

[raser13]

you could always go digital

[Mr. Land Yacht]

that's just sweet...saw it in you're earlier post...very kool setup dude! way to be different!

yea, I thought about doing an entirely new gauge setup with AutoMeter gauges...still considering it..but not for a while.

[moneypit]

this is still in the plans- it's just that I want to do the carb/head/cam swap first so I can actually keep up with traffic.