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View Full Version : After 5 months, I finally finished my gauge plate.



Paul408Notch
02-25-2008, 11:17 PM
I got this for my birthday in June, finally got all the gauges in October, tore the dash apart in November, and finished everything off tonight.

The plate. My friend Mike out in AZ makes them. Awesome quality, and they look killer. www.mc-machine.com

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges01.jpg


Loaded up with the gauges. All Autometer Phantom II full sweep electric except the volt which is obviously quarter sweep. (They didn't have a full sweep, and even if they did, it would probably have been twice the price.)

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges02.jpg


The gauges all wired up to the plugs I made up. That way if I need to pull them out for any reason (which I already did once) I just unplug everything to get it out of the way instead of unwiring it all.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges03.jpg


The inside of the dash. You have to cut away all of the plastic back there, but it's not too bad. I took some pictures of my plugs all wired in, but they turned out looking like crap.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges04.jpg


The gauges all installed and sitting in the dash.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges05.jpg


The money shot. This is the best part of the II series gauges. The backlighting is miles beyond what Autometer used to have.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/efipaul/Gauges06.jpg


I think that's it. I'm going to bed.

ibstrokin
02-25-2008, 11:21 PM
Looks awesome

mustangboy
02-25-2008, 11:23 PM
Sweet!!! I'm so jealous. I should have ponied up the extra cash for the series 2's. Maybe if Craig would have had that kickass display at the time I would have coughed up the xtra dough.

5.0calypso93lx
02-25-2008, 11:38 PM
That night shot looks incredible. I love how those look. So does that plug you made for the gauges plug into the factory dash harness?

Maximus
02-25-2008, 11:41 PM
I think Im gonna change my gauges.:(

Looks good guy.:bigthumb

Black Hole
02-25-2008, 11:46 PM
Looks awesome with the lights on guy!!!!

Paul408Notch
02-25-2008, 11:46 PM
That night shot looks incredible. I love how those look. So does that plug you made for the gauges plug into the factory dash harness?

No, I don't think you can find the female plugs that match the factory ones. I just made up another harness that I hardwired into the dash that my plate plugs into. I hit up radio shack and picked up sets of 6-pin and 9-pin connectors, then spent days wiring them up and making things look nice.

cobra_SVT_Girl
02-25-2008, 11:46 PM
NICE!

5.0calypso93lx
02-25-2008, 11:47 PM
No, I don't think you can find the female plugs that match the factory ones. I just made up another harness that I hardwired into the dash that my plate plugs into. I hit up radio shack and picked up sets of 6-pin and 9-pin connectors, then spent days wiring them up and making things look nice.

Very cool. I've been wanting to do the same thing but with the lunar series gauges.

Is your transmission still a mechanical speedo? How did you set that up to work?

Paul408Notch
02-26-2008, 12:00 AM
Very cool. I've been wanting to do the same thing but with the lunar series gauges.

Is your transmission still a mechanical speedo? How did you set that up to work?

You just tap into the speed sensor wire coming out of the transmission where the speedo cable went in. I think all fox bodies have them, and if not, at least all the ones with cruise should. You don't even have to have the right speedo gear in there. You go through the calibration process anyway, so it's pretty simple.

5.0calypso93lx
02-26-2008, 12:04 AM
You just tap into the speed sensor wire coming out of the transmission where the speedo cable went in. I think all fox bodies have them, and if not, at least all the ones with cruise should. You don't even have to have the right speedo gear in there. You go through the calibration process anyway, so it's pretty simple.

Sorry for all the questions, but does the calibration process also allow you to put the correct miles on the odo? What does the calibration process consist of? I'd really love to be able to run this setup, especially with an electronic speedo'd trans.

PaulFiveOh
02-26-2008, 12:10 AM
Just want to comment that the plugs are a really nice touch and it makes it for a pretty professional setup.

How much did you drop total for the gauges? I might look to move in the same direction, but I prefer Autometer Sport-Comp.

91lxnos
02-26-2008, 12:18 AM
Nice set-up (Hey Brian is that how you do it w/o cutting all the wires?)

RIXXX93GT
02-26-2008, 12:23 AM
That looks great man nice job.

poncho2001
02-26-2008, 12:45 AM
That looks pretty sweet. Great Job. :bigthumb

PonymanfiveO
02-26-2008, 01:14 AM
looks good guy. ;)

Bluecrew07
02-26-2008, 01:47 AM
Looks great! love the gauges :bigthumb

mustangoutlaw
02-26-2008, 08:07 AM
Love it!! looks Great Paul...

Paul408Notch
02-26-2008, 08:08 AM
Sorry for all the questions, but does the calibration process also allow you to put the correct miles on the odo? What does the calibration process consist of? I'd really love to be able to run this setup, especially with an electronic speedo'd trans.

Yeah, it calibrates the whole thing. You just start the car while holding the trip reset button, drive to the start of a known 2-mile drive, push the button, drive the 2 miles without spinning the tires, and push the button again. That's it.

I don't care to remember how much I have in the gauges, but it's less than what I would have paid at Jeg's or something since my friends at Cincy Speed are so awesome. And before you drop the cash on the regular ol sport comps, you should check out the super-gangster Autometer display in the store. It may lead you to another series.

PaulFiveOh
02-26-2008, 08:14 AM
check out the super-gangster Autometer display in the store. It may lead you to another series.

Uh oh! Are they broken or something?

theyallslow
02-26-2008, 09:48 AM
all i can say is wow. they look great.

bobtsgt
02-26-2008, 10:38 AM
Gauges look killer Paul. They sure look great in that Tahoe of yours :D Makes me want to change all mine out :( Everyone needs to go play with the Autometer display at Cincy Speed before buying any new gauges. All the newer series rock. Even the green ones too Jason :tongue2:

cstreu1026
02-26-2008, 11:05 AM
I wasn't sure about the look of the gauges until I saw them all lit up. Those are very cool.

Paul408Notch
02-26-2008, 12:07 PM
Uh oh! Are they broken or something?

No, but all of the new ones look so much better than the old ones, they're well worth the extra money.

wes 89 gt
02-26-2008, 12:35 PM
looks great i want to do something like this in the future.

mustang8998
02-26-2008, 07:37 PM
Good job Paul!

And thanks for including the link.

Paul408Notch
02-28-2008, 11:54 AM
Just wanted to put this pic up. A guy on another site I'm on put Ultra-Lite IIs in his car, and they look really nice in this pic.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g24/johndeerrm/mc-machine/IMG_4955.jpg

facemelter71
02-28-2008, 06:57 PM
Sweet paul,glad you got them done.How did that speedo wiring go??

Paul408Notch
02-28-2008, 08:07 PM
Sweet paul,glad you got them done.How did that speedo wiring go??

It's wired, but I haven't taken it out of the garage yet to test it. Drag radials and ice don't mix. I wanted to take it out today, but the roads all are still pretty messed up.