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My new Gauges!

W

warwgn

1/2 ton status
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Feb 20, 2008
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gauges.jpg


well got the all figured out how I want to mount them!! the speedo and tach are 3 3/8, the air fuel / fuel level / voltmeter are 2 1/16, the othe 4 are 2 5/8.
gonna be nice having all my gauges in the dash, and it looks like they will fit perfectly, just gotta get some aluminum and form/cut/drill/bondo/paint/mount it up and stick the real gauges in it. The wife is getting me the speedo and sending unit for x-mas, and I already got the fuel lvl, water temp, trans temp. I think I will order the oil pressure tomorrow and maybe the ammeter and volt meter by x-mas too.
 
ok so the real stuff begins, got my aluminum today and started round one of the modifications1
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SO HOW DID i GET TO THAT?
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took the bezel out the blazer and started by peeling the front lay sticker off.
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then stuck it to the aluminum, and traced it off.
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here is what is left with the old bezel for now, will see where it goes from here.
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made a little more progress tonight but it didnt go excatly as I had planned so the end result will be a little different. I will fiberglass the panel in and paint it so it will look good, it was a bitch to cut with the tools I had but I has plan B in mind just incase.
Jigged up to make the first cut to size it for the bezel.
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piolt holes to cut out vent and A/C control access.
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first bend made
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second bend made
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had to cut out all the old gauge holes from the bezel
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new panel sitting in place
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back side
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and yet another teaser!
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more to come tomorrow I hope.
 
got the holes drilled and mounted the plate to the bezel with a few countersunk screws. Now all I got to do is bondo it and start sanding and cleaning up edges and then paint.!
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and got the speedometer stuck in place just for the pics, sorry no more cardboard from here on out.
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oh and the 1/2 holes along the top are for indicator lights, the center will be a blue one for the high beams then each side for the turn signals.
 
the easy part is done now on to the hard part, getting it all looking just right and blended in. Got a lot of work ahead of me!!
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the back is done but the front has a lot of sanding still left and prolly another couple caots and sanding of more bondo.
 
still gotta order some more gauges, but may have to wait, gotta pay for the 496 install next week and just bought a plasma cutter/ tig welder so I can get serious about the bumpers and rock sliders...........after the lift gets put on:doah:

crap I got to many projects going at once:D
 
are you using any angled rings on the gauges?

I got ur back with some 2 1/16 rings, give me a hala
lmao, shameless:rolleyes:
 
ha ha, will keep that in mind but was not planning to run any. Seems prudy good to me just flat so far. I got the water and trans temp mounted on the dash now and can see them just fine.......but who knows?
 
What year is this going into?
I have a 91 K5 I want to do something similar to and am worried about aftermarket gauges and VSS or whatever it is called on the back of my stock speedo. Hoping it doesn't kill my cruise control by installing aftermarket.gauges.
 
I am curious as to why you would run both an ammeter and a voltmeter? Personally I dislike ammeters, they can cause serious charge issues with a single bad connection. Not to mention that the voltmeter is a much more accurate reading of alternator output, at least to me.

Now, if it were me, I would have 2 voltmeters, one connected to each battery. Much easier to diagnose an issue with one of the batteries.
 
lectric80 said:
I am curious as to why you would run both an ammeter and a voltmeter? Personally I dislike ammeters, they can cause serious charge issues with a single bad connection. Not to mention that the voltmeter is a much more accurate reading of alternator output, at least to me.
Click to expand...

I would agree, why would you want all of that current going through one connection all the way in your dash? And really not have any more diagnostic capability than you already have. If you are set on that many gauges I would install a vacuum gauge or oil temp before the ammeter, or something else besides an ammeter. To be honest, an ammeter will more than likely cause more trouble than it helps. The layout looks nice, I hope you have enough room for the small gauge on that lower right hole.

And it doesn't sound like too many projects to me, sounds like one big one! Keep at it, it will be worth it.
 
The keys to the ammeter are to use a remote shunt and connect it to the right things. Without the remote shunt you have to run a couple huge wires up to the dash, which is bad. You don't want the starting current going through it, or else you get low accuracy and/or too much voltage drop. Then you have to decide what you want to measure - alternator output or battery current.

Looks like an interesting project. Custom gauges in a semi-custom layout, but keeping the stock dash bezel. What kind of finish will it get?
 
Blue85 said:
Looks like an interesting project. Custom gauges in a semi-custom layout, but keeping the stock dash bezel. What kind of finish will it get?
Click to expand...

painting gunmetal grey and black to match interior, which is gonna be black and gunmetal grey on day.

lectric80 said:
I am curious as to why you would run both an ammeter and a voltmeter?
Click to expand...
Actually have thought about that over the past few weeks and decided not to run the ammeter, it just does not tell me anything real useful. leaning toward a vacum or maybe something else.


trustyrusty said:
What year is this going into?
I have a 91 K5 I want to do something similar to and am worried about aftermarket gauges and VSS or whatever it is called on the back of my stock speedo. Hoping it doesn't kill my cruise control by installing aftermarket.gauges.
Click to expand...

it will kill your cruise control, but there is an aftermarket kit by dakota digital think it's around $200?
 
I vote vacuum, I have one and it really tells you how the truck is running and how hard it is working.
 
I would go with oil temp or vacuum. The clock would be cool too. Can't wait to see this done, very very cool
 
Where did you get your aluminum from? I was thinking of doing the same thing but using the existing locations and some flashing from Home Depot.
 
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