Where did you put your gauges?

[jus2qwk]

Where did you guy put your extra oil pressure and water temp gauges?

I know most people put them in the cab under the heater controls but I wanted to keep the interior clean and I put mine under the hood, kind of unusual but I figured if a gauge was showing me something in the truck I probably needed to pull over and pop the hood anyway and I could see then. Now I'm cleaning up under the hood and don't want them there either. I would love to have one of those nice aftermarket dashes that look stock but cant see paying almost a grand when mine looks almost brand new. also thought about in the glove box or making a custom box to put them under the heater controls... idk just looking for ideas. So where do you have yours?

the reason I cant see paying almost 1k for new dash. The tach is Vew Vintage USA.




where they are now. you can barley see them on the driver side radiator support where it connects to the fender

[Lattimer]

I guess my question would be why you need them? The only thing I felt the real need to have in addition to the factory setup was a clock and a voltmeter.

[Lee H]

The factory gauges are way off in my truck. At normal operation temp the needle is just off cold and the oil pressure gauge is almost pegged. I installed a nice set of autometers under the hood and get an accurate reading for the vitals.

[jus2qwk]

same here my oil pressure is almost always pegged and I don't the the water temp is any where close. Its always nice to know exactly what those 2 are reading instead of hot/cold low/high especially if you have a fairly beefed up engine.

[909]

Has anyone put them in their console?

[GuyO]

I use the empty hole in the cluster. I put a vacuum gauge in the 70 GMC, which is OK. And I put a trans temp gauge in the empty spot in the 72 K5 Blazer. The only things I have under the dash(s) is the Prodigy 2 Brake controllers. Both are mounted in the same place - to the right of the column before the switch under the dash. I don't have a good picture though.

[jhama78]

I'm planning on putting a set of gauges in the glovebox of my 67, that way if I need to take a peek at them, then it'll be possible to do while driving. My 2 pennies.

[cool68]

reaching over to glove box or waiting to look under hood makes no sense to me. building a center console and placing gauges there seems better if you want to avoid bottom of dash.
having accurate readings, and the plus of a voltmeter are worth a little ugly below dash. instead of console maybe add a panel below dash and make things look more like they belong. keep the stock idiot light along with volts gauge.

[jus2qwk]

Originally Posted by jhama78

I'm planning on putting a set of gauges in the glovebox of my 67, that way if I need to take a peek at them, then it'll be possible to do while driving. My 2 pennies.

the more I think about it the more I think I want to go in the glove box. they are out of the way, you can look at them if you need to see them. if I decide to pony up later and get the expensive dash I can just remove the ones from the glove box and no one would know the difference

[bruceman1968]

This was my work truck. Back in 95 I built a new motor for it and the only thing I cared about was being able to see the vitals at all times. I didn't want to mess with the factory guage cluster and I couldn't put them under the dash because of my floor shifter. So I just mounted them up on top. If you use a electrical water temp guage then you don't have to drill any holes.

[70blackfish]

love that tach.....

[72bowtiestepper]

The radio opening on my truck was butchered when I got it...so I mounted my 2 1/16" autometer gauges in that space... made a panel to fit...have oil press, water temp. & volts. Don't need a "stinking radio" anyway...rather listen to my flowmaster exhaust !

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by Lee H

The factory gauges are way off in my truck. At normal operation temp the needle is just off cold and the oil pressure gauge is almost pegged. I installed a nice set of autometers under the hood and get an accurate reading for the vitals.

I replaced all of the stock gauges and added trans oil temp, engine oil temp and a clock. Solved that problem.

[A.T. RockDriller]

Here is mine...
I know it's not the same....mine being a '63...but here ya go anyway..

BTW...I was working on the column when I took this pic....so that's what looks weird about it.

[trukman1]

Originally Posted by Fitz

I replaced all of the stock gauges and added trans oil temp, engine oil temp and a clock. Solved that problem.

SO where did you get the dash pad with the gauge cluster "part" built in? Custom fab or over the counter? Also, what size (Auto Meter?) gauges did you use for the MPH/Tach gauges and the smaller gauges? Do you think they would fit behind a stock dash panel?

Sorry OP not trying to "car jack" your thread...

I have to say I can't understand putting gauges where you can't see them at a glance. How will you know your oil pressure just dropped or the engine is overheating if the gauges are in the glove box or under the hood? IMHO, gauges aren't much good if you can't monitor them while driving.

[jhama78]

The way I look at it, in my case at least... The truck is all stock and has lasted 46 years with the dummy lights. If I hear a noise/smell something unusual then Im gonna pull over and take a look. If I end up cooking my engine due to the gauges not being in plain sight then that'll my cross to bear. Its not like you cant smell antifreeze/oil if it is leaking especially if you happen to be driving down the road with the wind pushing the odor back into the cab.

my 2 pennies.

-j-rod

[leftybass209]

Interesting ideas here. I feel theres plenty of holes in the gauge panel, just need to be filled up. Speedhut has thin customizable gauges that read accurate. That's what I'm going to use. Stock look, modern gauges, right around 500 with whatever configuration you'd want.

[cool68]

Originally Posted by jhama78

The way I look at it, in my case at least... The truck is all stock and has lasted 46 years with the dummy lights. If I hear a noise/smell something unusual then Im gonna pull over and take a look. If I end up cooking my engine due to the gauges not being in plain sight then that'll my cross to bear. Its not like you cant smell antifreeze/oil if it is leaking especially if you happen to be driving down the road with the wind pushing the odor back into the cab.

my 2 pennies.

-j-rod

sure will be your "cross to bear" when you damage a engine when it could have been avoided if you had some accurate gauges.

[Sudden Impact]

Originally Posted by cool68

sure will be your "cross to bear" when you damage a engine when it could have been avoided if you had some accurate gauges.

+1000! Everybody can do as he/she wants. I'll put the odds in my favor with adequate gauges. Just my opinion.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by trukman1

SO where did you get the dash pad with the gauge cluster "part" built in? Custom fab or over the counter? Also, what size (Auto Meter?) gauges did you use for the MPH/Tach gauges and the smaller gauges? Do you think they would fit behind a stock dash panel?

Sorry OP not trying to "car jack" your thread...

I have to say I can't understand putting gauges where you can't see them at a glance. How will you know your oil pressure just dropped or the engine is overheating if the gauges are in the glove box or under the hood? IMHO, gauges aren't much good if you can't monitor them while driving.

Pad came from Just Dashes : http://www.justdashes.com/
Guages are 2.25 inch autometer from summit racing on the dashpad. The pad is available in black only so if you need a different color use SEM vinyl dye. The Tach and speedo are Dolphin vintage white 5 in and the Oil Press, Fuel, Battery and Temp are 2.25 in Dolphin. They will fit into a stock bezel IF you do some trimming with an airsaw.

[sheldon]

Keeping it simple

[Sudden Impact]

Originally Posted by Fitz

Pad came from Just Dashes : http://www.justdashes.com/
Guages are 2.25 inch autometer from summit racing on the dashpad. The pad is available in black only so if you need a different color use SEM vinyl dye. The Tach and speedo are Dolphin vintage white 5 in and the Oil Press, Fuel, Battery and Temp are 2.25 in Dolphin. They will fit into a stock bezel IF you do some trimming with an airsaw.

AWESOME! Fitz, your the man! Thanks for all the information. I'm off to look at some gauges and stuff! SI

[A.T. RockDriller]

Originally Posted by Fitz

Pad came from Just Dashes : http://www.justdashes.com/
Guages are 2.25 inch autometer from summit racing on the dashpad. The pad is available in black only so if you need a different color use SEM vinyl dye. The Tach and speedo are Dolphin vintage white 5 in and the Oil Press, Fuel, Battery and Temp are 2.25 in Dolphin. They will fit into a stock bezel IF you do some trimming with an airsaw.

I love that dash pad....
That sets the bar a bit higher.....

[A.T. RockDriller]

Originally Posted by GuyO

I use the empty hole in the cluster. I put a vacuum gauge in the 70 GMC, which is OK. And I put a trans temp gauge in the empty spot in the 72 K5 Blazer. The only things I have under the dash(s) is the Prodigy 2 Brake controllers. Both are mounted in the same place - to the right of the column before the switch under the dash. I don't have a good picture though.

That '72 is a real beauty...
I had one (fewer options) when I was real young....'78 thru '82....then came a family...bla, bla, bla...(that's a different story)'
I love yours.

Makes my eyes leak.

[jorgensensc]

I used Speedhut gauges for my ls swap. My fuel, volt, oil pressure, engine temp, and trans temp all run off the canbus system. The tach and speedo were not available in the right size in canbus, so they hook directly to the ECM. They do make a gps speedo though if you are running something without an electrical pulse for the speedo. They were very nice and super easy to wire.