My Custom one-off factory Gauges (UPDATED! Added Elec. Skematic)

[73k5blazer]

Well after collecting gauge pieces for 3 years, I finnally built up the gauge panel to use in my K5 Project.
The special gauges are the 0-100 Oil Pressure (most are 0-60), the Dual inlet AIR gauge indicator (for regulated and tank pressures of the On-Board-Air system, of course!)(there's 2 pointers in that gauge, one orange one white), and the 5000rpm Tach w/integrated Fuel. Also is the 90-91 speedo with trip and elec sensor box hanging off the back (In case I need it for EFI).
In case you wonder, the goofy gauges not normally seen in light-duty trucks came from an '86 C65, and 87 C65, and the tach/fuel was NOS from eBay. The tach/fuel that came in the c65's were 4000rpm ones. The rest came from a '91.
Tore down all three gauge panels, throughorly cleaned everything I was going to use, used the brighter IP lights, an tested each gauge before installation.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to zero out the odometer without rigging my drill to it for 6 months.

 

[neverendingproject]

Ive zeored mine out before when I put in a new engine. If you feel like tearing your speedo down, I could tell ya, I just dont feel like typing it all out because you have to tear down your speedo, I mean tear down!

 

[mciahpv]

Damn dude, that's pretty trick. I can appreciate how much work went into that -- messing with those gauges is meticulous work. Enjoy it!!

 

[KTEX]

I like your tach/fuel combo,i always wondered why gm didnt put a tach there instead of a giant fuel tank gauge-looks good.

 

[BobK]

Now that's the kind of thing I like to see!
It's not allready made the way you want it,so you just make it.

Nice work!

 

[cbbr]

That looks great. What did you use to plumb the air gauge.

 

[73k5blazer]

That looks great. What did you use to plumb the air gauge.

I haven't done that yet. The gauge has compression fittings on it, and I had cut the lines and not removed the fittings, I wish I left more line when I removed it, I'd would have been able to get the spec off the wording written on the line. But I'm planning of just using Stainless Steel flex line, like this:
http://store.summitracing.com/defau...ilter=1&part=EAR-620003ERL&N=115&autoview=sku

 

[73k5blazer]

I like your tach/fuel combo,i always wondered why gm didnt put a tach there instead of a giant fuel tank gauge-looks good.

There was a factory tach option in the light-duty line, albeit it's not very common to see, but in the light duty trucks, when you got the tach, the fuel guage was placed where my air gauge is, kinda of wasting that space. The tach/fuel combo units were only found in medium duty trucks.

 

[RootBreaker]

There was a factory tach option in the light-duty line, albeit it's not very common to see, but in the light duty trucks, when you got the tach, the fuel guage was placed where my air gauge is, kinda of wasting that space. The tach/fuel combo units were only found in medium duty trucks.

ive got the factory tach and small fuel gauge.. that was my upgrade.... i also talked to someone that said they had the fuel/tach together...any info on what year trucks and models it came in? trying to look for one myself now.... ThanksJeff

 

[dyeager535]

So the 0-100 oil gauge is from a heavier truck?

I had not seen a 0-100 before, but knew that the 0-80 gauges from the diesel C/K/R/V's worked.

Cool

 

[73k5blazer]

So the 0-100 oil gauge is from a heavier truck?

I had not seen a 0-100 before, but knew that the 0-80 gauges from the diesel C/K/R/V's worked.

Cool

Yep, from an '87 C65. It also had a 100-220 temp gauge. Never seen that one before either, all the light duty ones were 100-260. I used the light duty one.

 

[75Conertible]

looks great
the tack/fuel gauge idea is something I might "steal" from you if you dont mind

 

[Jimbo*]

Odometers aren't very hard to roll back. Find yourself an old timer used car dealer, and he can either do it for you, or can tell you who to go see to get it done. If you can't find any help, let me know and I'll roll one for you and trade out with you.
Jimbo

 

[RootBreaker]

ive got the factory tach and small fuel gauge.. that was my upgrade.... i also talked to someone that said they had the fuel/tach together...any info on what year trucks and models it came in? trying to look for one myself now.... ThanksJeff

sometimes I just dont understand myself...
thank got for stupidiness..... I read the post... and then asked a question to this forum that was already answered .......

 

[botboy]

I like your tach/fuel combo,i always wondered why gm didnt put a tach there instead of a giant fuel tank gauge-looks good.

Ever worked on a Chevy celebrity? GM Engineers in that time period really enjoyed inflicting pain on people like you and I.

 

[ARAMP1]

Here's a Tach/Fuel Gauge on E-bay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/73-87-CHEVY-GMC-4x4-TRUCK-NOS-GM-TACHOMETER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ40017QQitemZ8020233378QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[RootBreaker]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/73-87-CHEVY-GMC-4x4-TRUCK-NOS-GM-TACHOMETER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ40017QQitemZ8020233378QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

that is the 60psi - which I would burry.. at idle I bury my 60psi....clock.. ehhhh....amps and others with no numbers.... nahhhhother than the fact that they want $300!!!!! not bad if it was cheaper and use the fuel gauge...

 

[Blue85]

Looks good. I like the Tach/fuel, because it frees up another slot.

When I did mine, I used the guts from a SunPro (or something) tach and mounted them behind the stock fuel gauge. Then I made scales for the tach and a small fuel gauge and moved the fuel gauge guts to the empty slot. The tach is supposed to be an 8k rpm unit, but I just set it to 6-cylinder mode and drew my scale from 0-6k rpm with everything above 5k "in the red". It all looks stock, except for the fact that such a thing was never offered.

 

[Blue85]

Something else you might consider before buttoning it up:

You know how these clusters like to blink the backlights on and off? I soldered stranded wire between all of the bulb sockets that backlight the cluster. All of the 12V are connected this way and all of the gnd are connected this way. So all of the contacts from sockets to the flex circuit are in parallel. There is a little slack in the wire so the sockets can be pulled out of the back if needed to replace the bulbs. I did this years ago and none of the backlights has ever gone out since then.

I would also consider carefully soldering all of the sockets to the flex circuit, too. You can change the bulbs from the front by tearing into it. Plus, you not only cover the backlights, but also high beam, oil pressure, etc.

 

[snoman87]

Very nice job ... I just upgraded my 86' cluster with trip odometer speedo and seperate tach/fuel gauges ... now I am looking for this Tach/Fuel Gauge combo to fee up a spot for a boost guage.

Here is a tip for making the cluster brighter ... when you have it all apart, paint the inside with a chome spray paint. You can also paint the light blue back side of the plasitic guage cover (it's the one that goes between the guages and the clear plastic cover), if you do this the color will change a little, goes slightly orange due to the buld color. I am eventually going to white LED to get the white color back I will try to post a pic tomorrow

Here is what mine looked like last night