6 gauge Cluster Install

My original 80mph speedometer died about 3 weeks ago started bobbing and bouncing then nothing RIP.

I saw this about a month ago and though ooh a cheap dash panel

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DASH-GAUGE-PANEL-KIT-CAR-REPLICA-STREET-ROD-STEEL-TRIM-RAT-DUNE-BUGGY-NO-RESERVE-/221350018639?pt=Race_Car_Parts&hash=item33897d3e4f&vxp=mtr


I then picked up a piece of diamond Plate Aluminum 1/8" thick I cut this to fit the cluster space of the original

and will mount the trim panel over it. Like this below, 1/8" Aluminum sounds easy to cut but not with Wiss use a jigsaw

makes for a cleaner cut.




I am installing this Speedometer, Fuel and tach. I know not a perfect match but they will all be black and white with

Chrome.










I have to order some Chrome guages for the rest the black Sunpros I have are not very modifiable. But triple Guage

sets are very reasonable. Tomorrow I will start the wiring and take some snaps of that with details.

I ordered these they are close match to the fuel unfortunately not exact as I didnt know that retro line is

discontinued and chasing them separately can get pricey whereas this 3 pack is 25 shipped!

Fantastic Bro!

I have some stainless steel sheet pieces you can have if you want them.

Man, I'm really liking that. That should look pretty sweet in the dash.

Oh Sweet now you tell me. I have what I need though however I won't say no just yet. Yeah it's coming together

ok however I hit a snafu this afternoon.



As you can see here we have a technical problem I forgot the adapter for the cable. That's ok though I ordered it

from Jegs today they ship pretty fast so few days. This will give some time to get it all right the first time lol.

Here's the wires I butted on from the wires of the old GM connector



I should be ready to get all the gauges going later this week. And yes unfortunately I had to bust through the factory

plastic as there isn't enough room for a Speedo or tach unless they stick way far out,I want mine pretty much where

the original cluster sits.

Myloth wrote:Oh Sweet now you tell me. I have what I need though however I won't say no just yet.

Makes a great top for a floor console !!

Oh right I do need a console I have Hurst Quarter Stick going in soon.


Here's the adapter I needed not cheap at $29 but the Speedometer won't do you

much good without this little adapter.




Here it is assembled, I just received parts today and mocked it up this evening.





The plate below the steel cutout was cut roughly 16x9 to fit the spot where the OEM cluster sat.

That's why I needed the rear plate and aluminum is light, cheap, it doesn't rust and I like the diamond pattern over

plain metal. It's depends how you want it to look. I though about painting etc but decided metal on metal is best.

I also chose a simple 6 gauge layout with just three Leds for L&R signals and the High Beam Indicator.

Got some work done have all the wires laid out and ran the Speedometer Cable

Which fortunately on these cars is a snap. Just disconnect both ends and pull it out

in my case I removed the cruise as well. The connector on the trans is reachable without a jack as

seen here .



The coolant gauge comes with the line and sensor I plan on putting this into the manifold and putting

the sensor for the fan into the block you can do it other ways but I prefer the fan have the block temp

and the gauge let's me know if it's hot or not. I ran the line right above my battery line for the amps

perfect run straight from the back of the gauge to the front of the manifold. If you look to the left of

the booster you see the hole pretty big too I used a 1/2 and had to "round" it out.









I also am upgrading the gauge lights to blue leds here they are side by side.



Hoping to wrap this mess up tomorrow with more pics!

Everything is working except the Fuel level Sunpro actually recommends going straight to the tank with new wire

now I see why, can't seem to get a proper reading from it as I think it's not the right wire. Also Ground and

ground again don't use the factory ground on the gauges that have power like voltage as it cause an erratic

reading run a ground from the frame or body.It also will prevent radio interference.

The blue LED's are gonna look great!

They do on the small gauges I haven't touched Tach(need diff bulb) and the speedo I wanted to test out first

but seems ok now.Been busy installing Rearend today (see my share thread for pics)no time to touch it.

Waited till it was pitch black outside to take a few snaps. I have to install the floor shifter the column shifter is

in the way dammit.

Nice! Much cleaner looking than having the tach mounted on the column.

Thank you this is actually the first time I have done a full cluster. I've had my share of steering column mounted

tachs this is really well SWEET. I thought I might have to crack the speedo to get bulbs but they just use a

pressure fit lock since it holds two bulbs it's the brightest gauge. The hardest part is navigating all the bulb wiring

into something reasonably clean and getting good grounds.(Shoot for at least one chassis ground) Many thanks to

admin for the information without it would have been a PITA. I'm still not 100 percent on the fuel level gauge

though when I get it sorted out I will post any useful information I find out.

Looks mighty good, love the Blue leds!

The solid pink wire is the only wire from the fuel tank sender, it will be a negative ground signal coming from it

Thanks I believe I have it hooked to the solid pink but it says 3/4 to 7/8 full and I know there maybe a 1/4 of tank.

The manual says something like you will have to run a wire to the sender directly. It's pretty cryptic stuff though lol.

the only thing is the pink wire is directly from the sender unit, there are no interruptions, was the old gauge working fine? Are there any settings to switch from on the new gauge or does it just say for GM? I cant remember what Ohm range our sender units use.

I found this it's informative

http://www.chevyclassicsclub.com/the-gm-fuel-gauge-mystery-1965-newer/

They talk of a tan wire going into the fuse box?

the ohms is 0-90 I know I read that, it says full the gauge maybe set for less ohms maybe

that's why it reads full have to read up on the SunPro information to about my speedo.


___________________

It's the gauge I just went and found out (on Amazon no less) that the Sunpro gauge is 240ohms

empty and 30ohms full if the GM sender is 90 to 0 and the sender is putting out say oh 27ohms(close to 1/4)

it would read close to full on the Sunpro Rofl. I'm gonna buy the Equus for GM and call it a day!

This one here

http://www.amazon.com/Equus-7362-Fuel-Level-Gauge/dp/B000EVYI4E rate 0-90 ohms.

Hey MyLoth nice build 
I wish I woulda waited 2 days before I bout my 77 caprice 4 door because I saw a 77 coupe for same price ready for paint with rims ...sigh ...
But anyways I was hoping u can list what kinda bulbs us use for high beam /turn signal/ dash lights 
I seen the Equus set for $200 all 6 gauges which is a deal plus bulbs/wiring/adapter for speedo ($25) and a metal plate to hold it all 
Now you got me thinking I can do it in mine since the summit digital panel is $300 plus $100 bezel plus adapter for speedo and its not a direct fit like the Dakota digital ($600) 
I liked how it looked with the blue lights and black face gauges it would go perfect with my interior black and blue
Thanks again man

Myloth wrote:Got some work done have all the wires laid out and ran the Speedometer Cable

Which fortunately on these cars is a snap. Just disconnect both ends and pull it out

in my case I removed the cruise as well. The connector on the trans is reachable without a jack as

seen here .



The coolant gauge comes with the line and sensor I plan on putting this into the manifold and putting

the sensor for the fan into the block you can do it other ways but I prefer the fan have the block temp

and the gauge let's me know if it's hot or not. I ran the line right above my battery line for the amps

perfect run straight from the back of the gauge to the front of the manifold. If you look to the left of

the booster you see the hole pretty big too I used a 1/2 and had to "round" it out.









I also am upgrading the gauge lights to blue leds here they are side by side.



Hoping to wrap this mess up tomorrow with more pics!

I am getting some equus gauge set (speedo,tach,oil press.,volt,water temp, gas) and would like a cheat sheet before I takle this job
The check list
- run speedo cable 
- run water temp line
- cut wire from harness and route accordingly to respective gauges
  I wanted to use spade connectors that I use for my audio installs for easier install/removal. I plan to cut a few inches behind the harness place spade connectors. On the gauges I plan to have wires (2-5" long) already attached with spade connectors for a easy "plug and play" install.
- install and enjoy
Am I missing something?
**MyLoth BIG question on the gauges only the glass off the gauges lights blue which looks awesome but wouldn't the bulb u put light the whole dash? 
Where/ what kind of bulbs did you use for the turn signal light, temp light,seat belt, high beam. 
Also, you said to shoot for one ground on the chassis..what about using and audio ground distribution block to the chassis?
Any more info would be great thanks again.

As far as the connectors that's about what I did trimmed the original harness and added spade male\female or O-ring

connectors depending upon gauge/ground. I discombobulated the entire factory cluster though it exists no more in mine.

The only lights are the gauge lights themselves and three lights I purchased separately that are chrome with lock collar.

two are left\right turn signal and the center is the high\low indicator. May I be struck by lightning if I had any urge to

hook any other factory indicator light. But that's me if you can easily add the seatbelt indicator or such with different

colors they make the lights I used in varied colors I just used all green as it was easier to get and the color is really not

significant as it's only three indicator lights separate locations.

  Now as far the ground I should say yes I used a common ground for everything and as long that ground is a solid body

ground you can run it anyway you want. I just drilled into a spot in the body and used a 1/4" bolt. Small yes but

for this you don't need a huge one it works fine everything in the dash is low power. For my trunk ground that's different

I have a 3/8" bolt for a ground to ensure the Cap and amps are well grounded but nothing like this is needed for the

cluster I think.

The best advice is follow this road map here that the B Body Admin posted

10 Lt Blue- Front LH turn sig
11 Dk Blue- Front RH turn sig
12---
13---
14 i only see pink, with no white stripe- fuel gauge from the tank
15 2 brown(tan) w/white- brake light, one comes from the ignition switch to light up when starting and the other is from the parking brake switch and the combi valve
16 Brown (you said: dark brown)- gen light, comes straight from the alternator
17 Black w/white stripe- ground just for the seat belt light
18 Yellow- seat belt light
1 Tan(you said: brown) oil pressure switch
2 Dk Green- Temp switch, up at the firewall at the junction block, one wire comes from the ignition to turn on when starting and the other comes straight from the temp switch, but you only see one wire at the connector (just an FYI)
3 Light Green- Bright light indicator
4 Black- there are two blacks one is for the ground for the ints lamps and the other is ground from the ignition switch to turn the fuel gauge on etc.
5 Gray- Power for the instrument lights
6 Same as number 4
7 Pink w/black stripe- there are two of these and both are positive from the ign, also for the gauges
8 Same as number 14
9---

What I did was made a legend on a sheet of paper of all the wires here that I added wire\connectors to so I

knew exactly where they went and in the end it works perfectly.

The final product of my dash till the spring. The fit is great, the finish well the dash will be redone come the spring including

a new top and repaint but for now it all works even my center map light\lighter lol. Oh except the shifter that

will be going shortly to be replaced by the floor mounted Hurst Quarter stick I have.