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Ideas on mounting stock gauges outside the cluster?

dyeager535

dyeager535

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Only the temperature gauge/gauges.

Finally got around to welding a bung into the 465's PTO cover, so was able to hook up a temperature sender to it. (Digression: I know it's not needed, just a good proof of concept for future engine oil temp sensor/sender applications)

Using a stock truck temp gauge, but can't bring myself to butcher it up to make it fit something. Does anyone have any idea what I could mount this to so that it's stable and maybe protects the terminals on the back? The intent is to be able to move this between vehicles, so not a permanent fixture. Maybe like a box, thin angle aluminum, something. I'll probably run two gauges as I will probably want to see trans and oil temps both.

The gauge is set up so that the face bolts up at an angle, but that's not really an issue since I would be able to angle the setup however I need to.

Ideally I'd like to make it look halfway decent (had considered using a hole saw and mounting them into a 2x4 lol), but I'm not going to go to the hassle of covering the face of the gauge, etc.

Edit: For future reference, Mouser part numbers for the connector and terminals for the three wire temp sender/sensor:
Three wire connector, with both seals assembled: 829-12065287 (Delphi number is just the portion after the hyphen) ($2.00)
Three wire connector, bare: 829-12065286-B ($.41)
Connector wire seal: 829-12065285-B ($.48)
Terminals: 829-12110236, 829-12089290, 829-12103881 $1.19, .25, .30 respectively
Seal, connector to sensor body: 829-12052893-B (this is a guess, I did not order, but is violet as what assembled connector has) ($.39)

Cannot tell the difference on the terminals, didn't compare closely, but all appear to work with this connector. Probably each for thinner or thicker wire.
 
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I'd make a box out of fiberglass mat. Just make a form out of something like 1x6 and smear a thin layer of Vaseline on the inside as a release agent and throw the fiberglass inside to form some nice sharp corners or smear some silicone inside the corners for rounded corners. Then to mount it you could either embed some neodymium magnets somewhere inside the fiberglass to mount on a metal dash or for more versatile mounting (like on top of the dash) use some wide Velcro strips.
 
Have not worked with fiberglass yet, certainly an option.

I like the idea of embedding magnets! May not always be able to use that feature, but when I could, it would make "mounting" a lot more secure.
 
Were it me I'd 3D print one, but I'm a nerd.

Other options include appropriately sized PVC pipe cut to length, and/or acrylic or ABS pieces. My local plastics place cuts to size free, so I walk in with a list of thickness and dimensions, and 10-15 minutes later leave with all the pieces I need to glue together. Only costs a few bucks.

-- A
 
Well then print it up! lol

Wouldn't be TOO hard to make these fit a "standard" gauge mount, as long as you were willing to trim the metal face down. I just can't do it. I even have a mount I'm pretty sure they'd fit in.

I wouldn't mind learning fiberglass work, but gluing ABS together wouldn't be bad either.
 
Mutt's current temporary triple.. couple screwholes down low... stock AM bracket...





3d22d267.jpg
 
Hmm. Anglealuminum was one idea I thought of, that with magnets to mount as in your photo would be doable methinks.
 
dyeager535 said:
I wouldn't mind learning fiberglass work …
Click to expand...

It's not hard. Once you do your first project with fiberglass you'll be dreaming up countless things to make out of it. Not to mention it's fun, not messy and odorless. Just make sure you wear gloves and don't get any on your hootus.
 
dyeager535 said:
Well then print it up! lol

Wouldn't be TOO hard to make these fit a "standard" gauge mount, as long as you were willing to trim the metal face down. I just can't do it. I even have a mount I'm pretty sure they'd fit in.

I wouldn't mind learning fiberglass work, but gluing ABS together wouldn't be bad either.
Click to expand...

3D printing tends to be iterative, so if you were closer it'd be doable. Otherwise I gotta mail you prototypes, you mark on it where to add/remove material, then mail it back. Blecht.

Dremels solve many, MANY problems like this.

rampage said:
It's not hard. Once you do your first project with fiberglass you'll be dreaming up countless things to make out of it. Not to mention it's fun, not messy and odorless. Just make sure you wear gloves and don't get any on your hootus.
Click to expand...

You have a new and unusual definition of the word "messy" of which I was previously unaware. Anything and everything I've done with fiberglass has been catastrophically nasty.

In any event, the hootus-care reminder is very important. Had a near-miss recently with expanding foam insulation, the bright orange "fire code" stuff. Would go well with my hair color, yes, but ... just, ugh. :haha:

-- A
 
Shhhhhh :deal:

I guess the not messy and odorless sarcastic comment doesn't translate over the inter-web too well without one of those emotions. :doah:
 
LOL, I just figured maybe you were super-talented with it or something lol.

Is the 3D stuff strong enough to be supportive if it's printed out fairly thin? I understand it won't be happening here, just curious. I'm sure at some point it will be much more common, it's moving quickly. I'm ready for 3D metal printing to be affordable.
 
Not that anyone cares, but everything is worthless without pics. Except this, as it's a worthless pic. Wasn't dressed to crawl under the truck and make it all professional-like. You can also see the crushed ball/socket header design which is now loose as there is no more tightening to be had.

picture.php


If I had the right stock, I would have made at least one of the bolts a stud so I could better keep the wire away from everything. FWIW the top and bottom center bolt holes are blind.

I smell gear oil when I'm in second pushing this thing pretty hard climbing decent grades on logging roads for a substantial time. When I pulled the shifter boot it had obviously been puking a little bit (vapor? mist?) out the shifter tower, and the vent appears to be ok, so not sure why else I'd smell gear oil only when it was being pushed hard.

I figure while not really useful info, this was a pretty foolproof way to install it to test. Took it out for a very short spin, did not notice any movement in temp, but we are talking maybe five minutes of driving, and it was all flat ground. Will have to wait until I can push it hard.

FWIW, with the proper ECM this sensor/sender will not only drive the gauge, but you can log the temperature data. Again, not real useful in this application, but when I get to engine oil I can compare all the data from the various sensors at the same moment. This same sensor/sender should allow anyone with TBI/TPI to eliminate (edit: correction, combine) the CTS and temp sender, if you wanted a cleaner install. Sender/sensor is AC 213-815, and non-AC replacements can be had for $10 (no shipping) off ebay, if you keep your eyes open, you can find the AC part for $12. I did measure 213-815 against both a stock CTS and the truck temp sender, all had the same resistance at ambient temp. Pretty cool to hold it in your hand and watch resistance change pretty much instantly.

Waiting on my parts from mouser.com to see if I was able to track down the right Delphi connector, terminals, and seals since these are not very common in the wrecking yards.
 
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These gauges do use electromagnets for movement. They are housed in a steel shell and have a steel face plate, so it's probably shielded well enough - but something to think about when looking at magnets for mounting. Is the case riveted to face plate? That's probably good enough contact to shunt the external field.
 
Yep, the face is riveted to the case. Wouldn't be too opposed to replace those with screws if I needed to, but since the face has screw holes for mounting already, didn't really see any reason I'd need to separate them.
 
I hate header collectors,I went back to using stock exhaust manifolds,headers rust away fast here too,and they never seem to fit right on square bodies,they hit the shackles or frame and need "tweaking"......the few pairs of headers I had always blew the gaskets at the collectors out in short order, and annoyed me to no end with the "ffft-fft-fttt" leaking noise that made my truck sound like chitty-chitty-bang-bang..

I took my arc welder to the collectors on the last 2 sets of headers I had and fused the two flanges together permanently, and just cut the pipes beyond the flange a few inches away and used either a band clamp or a sleeve fitting with clamps to secure the pipes leading to the mufflers..no more leaks until the headers rusted through..

I've seen gauges mounted in everything from electrical outlet boxes to pieces of conduit or tubing cut at an angle,and welded to a metal box,and various other things made of hard plastic like those small parts bins for bolts,and they all looked pretty decent all painted and finished...
 
Dude, get a 2nd cluster and cut out just the left-hand section with the 4 small gauges. Then cut your current cluster to move the HVAC controls and vent over several inches, to make a super cluster with 2 large gauges and 8 small ones. Then do a custom fiberglass dash pad to bring it all together. It'll look like a GM/Freightliner hybrid.
 
Lol, then I could look at front and rear axle, t-case, trans, engine coolant, and engine oil temps all at once! That should cover me pretty well.
 
I'm an idjit, helps if I actually READ the title... :doah: here I am posting buyable AM brackets, and you're talking factory gauges... :haha:
 
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