Viable product?

[onetonbb74]

good idea ryoken. Ill definately get one for the 8 guages i have and replace my custom dash i did back in 03. One question, how does it mount? Does it replace the stock white plastic guage cluster and trim bezel with yours? How does it mount to the truck, those were the hardest things to figure out when i did mine.

 

[ryoken]

It mounts to the 4 existing holes at the bottom of the bezel and the 2 corner ones at the top..

You ditch the entire cluster assembly and bezel.. There is some metal hacking involved but it's nothing crazy, mainly the 2 upright posts where the bends would be and the hoop over the column, nothing structural...

 

[ryoken]

well, I think just an autometer speedo is like $80 ain't it?

yeah, tachs and speedo's are where the coin rack up...

the small stuff runs 30 to 50ish, in pro comp.. sport and others may vary...

 

[trixblazer]

well, I think just an autometer speedo is like $80 ain't it?

It depends on what style. I just put an Autometer Carbon speedo in my Bug and it was over $200.

Ryoken: I would be interested in a blank one or one that is cut out for the standard (4 smaller holes on the left, 2 big ones in the middle, and cut out for stereo).

 

[Uncle Fester]

Like I said before, I WANT ONE....! ! !
I want mine blank due to wanting to do some differant stuff with my guage locations....
I want to put four small (2-5/8") guages (Fuel level, Oil pressure, H2O temp, and Volt) where the small factory guages are, but then I want to put a single 5" speedometer where the two factory guages are (speedo/fuel) and then a 5" tachometer where the factory A/C vent and heater controls currently go, moving the heater controls to where the radio currently goes. I think with my slightly smaller Grant steering wheel (14"), I will be able to see the single guage (speedometer) easier than if I tried to fit two guages (speedometer/fuel) like the factory does... Thoughts on this anyone?

 

[ryoken]

Sure, that works... my heat was down at the stereo.. thats the hole size right there...

Interesting, tach off on the right.... having stared at the dimensions of this on many a long trip, I will say this...

A 5" tach would fill up the section to the right nicely, or even left for that matter... leaves any or all of the 4 corner areas of that section nicely open for an indicator light, switch, etc...

But one other thing to mention.. Tho visibilty will probably be ok with a single centered 5" speedo in the center section, structurally, it will be weaker... if you look at mine, it maintains some surface area down the middle.. whereas if you moved one to the center, you'd nearly be cutting that section in 1/2 down to the column.. it's tight, a 3 3/4 speedo would be cake.. not saying it couldn't be done, it may just need a structural stringer reinforcement right above the column...

It will also leave large areas open on either side of it... To the point that you could actually fit 2 or 4 more smaller gauges in the corner/side areas..

Honestly, tho I think my Pro Comps are the only 2 5/8's AM's that are out there, and I do like them more than any other series due to their classic drag race/ muscle car look, in realworld life, I'd say alot of the 2 1/16 series, like the Phantoms so many seem to like, or Sport Comps, etc would actually fit the side areas nicer than the 2 5/8's...

Mine are tight, very doable, but tight... Tends to maybe be a bit busy, cluttered, etc... I love it, but having a little more meat between the gauges might look nice.. break it up a bit...

 

[smalltruckbigcid]

Get this thing going......

 

[muddybuddy]

im game, im going to be running a turbo setup, so i need a bunch of gauges

somehow i missed this thread...i duno how, but i say go for it, you can make some killer dash setups! i think they would sell like crazy on ebay, send one in to a truck show, get some publicity and become a vendor on here im rooting for you!

 

[mofugly13]

Right on ryoken, looks like you've got something there. Does that ~$300 price tag include guages? If so, I'd pick one up in a heartbeat. If not, I'd still consider it. I have an almost cherry bezel in my garage waiting to go into the blazer as well as a tach cluster, but I'd ditch the idea of that for a setup like yours. I think the fact that you adressed the guage angle is a HUGE point. I am 6'4" and the stock bezel isn't quite angled enough for me, so a flat bezel is totally out of the question. I second the idea of an auto tranny indicator, directional signal indicators, and high beam indicator.

 

[MrArmyAnt]

I'm interested, just need some basic gauge setup, but lots of switches, maybe a cb mount.

 

[guz71]

id buy them in a heartbeat, dont know what id do about the parking brake and idiot light though.worth the sacrifice though....

 

[1990k5fan]

Any news on this?

 

[ryoken]

Any news on this?

nah man, I'm aways off...

I've just started getting supplies and preliminary mold work going... It's a go, just gotta find time.. 60 hr weeks aren't leaving much..

I hope to have the first ones popping out of the mold by the end of June...

 

[thatK30guy]

I'd say go for it. I'd buy one. Matter of fact, I'm listing what specifics I want on mine:

Liquid-filled Pro-Comps,
smaller speedo & tach, don't want the huge 5" Monsters

Aircraft switches, you know, with the red shut-off covers

I think thats about it. Don't forget Seabass44 on here and PBB makes electric gizmo's like switches, rockers, etc. He don't make anything like the dash gauges, etc.

 

[1990k5fan]

I call first in line . All I want are factory look guages with a tach instead of a fuel guage. And then the fuel guage located in the empty hole in the left side of the dash.

 

[ryoken]

I'd say go for it. I'd buy one. Matter of fact, I'm listing what specifics I want on mine:

Liquid-filled Pro-Comps,
smaller speedo & tach, don't want the huge 5" Monsters

Aircraft switches, you know, with the red shut-off covers

I think thats about it. Don't forget Seabass44 on here and PBB makes electric gizmo's like switches, rockers, etc. He don't make anything like the dash gauges, etc.

I've had great luck with my liquid filleds... My Oil and Fuel Pressure are liquid... No leaks, where I had heard someone say his leaked...

It's such a hard decision on what to run when there's so many avenues... The aircraft styles are cool, I'm gonna run 3 down in the console, where the 3 green tipped are..

The Contura's in the dash have worked out sick... My inspection guy was blown away last week...

Seabass makes some nice product... I wish I had that engraving capability... I can get pretty much anything switch/hardware orientated on his site.. It's his cut/engraved switchplates that I envy...

 

[mrdrinksalil]

I've got dibs one of the first productions too! I'm gonna need one with no gauges, but the holes cut out to fit the ones I allready have. Any closer to having a price for just the dash and no gauges, with the holes cut, just a primer finish?

IMO- I think most are going to want dashes without gauges so they can customize things the way they want it. If this thing takes off, you're deff. not going to have time to customize every flippin dash. Panels with gauges being sold to other buyers than the offroad community might want all the gauges installed. Sell those ones in a different market for the big money. The money is deff in the volume. The time it would take you to outfit all the panels with gauges wont be worth it. I'd get the time it takes to mold them and prep them for paint down to the minimum, custom cut the holes (eventually have templates for the popular layouts made to speed things up) and sell them like that. The time to source gauges and install them would double or triple your labor time. Dont forget to advertise like crazy. Get the product on every chevy truck forum and webpage you can think of!

 

[ryoken]

Just thought I'd drop an update in here...

I'm sorry to say that I came to the conclusion yesterday, this isn't gonna happen till the fall or winter...

I lost all perspective on how all consuming busy I run till mid-summer.. With camping looming in a couple months, the rig just needs soooo many hrs right now.. I'm probably looking at 200 hrs in the July 5 floor project I have set up...

I want them to be right, and just don't feel it's fair to rush them to production at this point... I'm planning to dedicate sept, oct and nov, to developing these.. I'll update this thread when the mold is viable...

So hopefully these will make perfect gifts for wifey to give a good hubby for Xmas... My sincerest apologies to anyone who was looking forward to a summer dash project with help from me...

Man, I need to hit the lottery and retire, this work stuff takes all the fun away from personal projects...

 

[original balzer]

I would like 2 blank ones, to customize myself, no holes no gauges. Keep us posted.

balzer

 

[TC4x4]

ok, after much consideration, I'm looking to put my dash into production...

This isn't so much a "would you personally buy one" type of poll, but more of a "do you think there's a market for it" type poll...

I'm concerned that only selling 10 would be a waste of time, effort and cash... Whereas if I could sell 50 to 100 over the course of a couple years, it would be worth it.

I don't mind setting up a website and promoting it to other C, K, Blazer and Burb owners, infact I think that might be fun... As far as I know, it will fit any of those from 73 to 91.. Pretty large assortment of applications imo.. Maybe eventually doing other makes and models of vehicles down the road...

Initially, I would offer it in a base model, no gauge holes drilled and delivered in primer... Finishing in any color would be available at the onset for a nominal fee.. Semi black, Gloss, silvers or any other color could be done upon request, as could predrilling for different gauge series and layouts too...

Eventually I would like to have complete ready to drop in options available in different configs, color, gauge selection, switching, layout and prewired. Just wire the leads to the appropriate wires and go... Maybe have a configuration type function on the website for people to setup what they want with pricing and possibly pictures to show them what it will look like..

At this time tho, the stocking of a wide array of gauges would put that on the backburner.. Tho if allowed proper lead time I could work it out with customers wanting that service now....

I do know of Covan's offering, but am thinking a custom, made for that truck, angled dash would be something people might really like...

For any who have been living under a rock and have not seen it, this is the dash in question..

Hey its me again, did you make that guage frame yourself? I would buy one if you sold them by the way.