Finally decided to get off my ass and buy the gauges. I was planning to shove them into the radio hole but when I got them I realized that they're too big. I had reservations about the idea from the start because the radio is really low and on the track my eyes will never go below the vents, unless it's to get the fire extinguisher.
I really didn't want to pay the ridiculous prices for existing gauge pods and I don't really like any that are available. Decided to make my own.
I haven't worked with wood in a long time and I really miss it (used to be very active in RC aircraft). Made this out of balsawood/fiberglass and plywood.
The main face is a plywood plate, with thick weave fiberglass on the back. The mounting ring is the same plywood, with blind nuts on the back for mounting.
Finished the hood and the front of the faceplate with light fiberglass. Looks great and makes it very strong and durable.
Didn't spend too much time on smoothing it out for painting but I like the imperfection look, matches the dash quite well, if I added some edging tape in the corner to blend it it'd really look like it's just part of the dash.
I was really dreading this part. Took me a week to work up the balls to cut a hole in one of the only crack-free dashboards in Ontario. I was also anxious to see if I'd manage to route the wire over the vent ducts. There's a tiny passage up the radio hole where I can reach the top of the dash between the vent ducts and the instrument cluster. I thought there's no fuckin way I'd be able to fish the wires through. But it was amazingly easy. I got really lucky on the first wire which is the 14 gauge ground, and all the following wires used it as a track to follow. This turned out to be the easiest part:
This proved to be almost as hard as I thought it would be - in that I thought it would be impossible, but it wasn't impossible... that lower spade was the most aggravating bit of pin the tail on the donkey ever. It actually made me contemplate disassembling the intake elbow and removing the alternator. But then I got it on a little bit, and then got some long needle nose pliers and pushed it on the rest of the way.
Final wiring setup ready. I ran the big white dedicated ground for the gauges to the lift bale, where the injector ground is. The gauge lights use the radio ground. The power comes from the former radio power lead. For the water temp gauge, I found the wire going to the cluster water temp gauge since the resistance range seems to be right (the OEM sender is a VDO, and so are my gauges, plus I've tested the sender and the temps I saw match the range on the gauge):
Finished. Haven't run it long enough to see the oil temp working but I'm not worried about that one. The only one I wanted to see working right was the water temp, and it started going up at the same time the cluster temp gauge started going up, and moved in tandem. Revving the engine makes the pressure gauge spike as expected, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that I'll never lose another engine due to a dying but not dead (not enough to trigger the OEM pressure warning) oil pump.
I really didn't want to pay the ridiculous prices for existing gauge pods and I don't really like any that are available. Decided to make my own.
I haven't worked with wood in a long time and I really miss it (used to be very active in RC aircraft). Made this out of balsawood/fiberglass and plywood.
The main face is a plywood plate, with thick weave fiberglass on the back. The mounting ring is the same plywood, with blind nuts on the back for mounting.
Finished the hood and the front of the faceplate with light fiberglass. Looks great and makes it very strong and durable.
Didn't spend too much time on smoothing it out for painting but I like the imperfection look, matches the dash quite well, if I added some edging tape in the corner to blend it it'd really look like it's just part of the dash.
I was really dreading this part. Took me a week to work up the balls to cut a hole in one of the only crack-free dashboards in Ontario. I was also anxious to see if I'd manage to route the wire over the vent ducts. There's a tiny passage up the radio hole where I can reach the top of the dash between the vent ducts and the instrument cluster. I thought there's no fuckin way I'd be able to fish the wires through. But it was amazingly easy. I got really lucky on the first wire which is the 14 gauge ground, and all the following wires used it as a track to follow. This turned out to be the easiest part:
This proved to be almost as hard as I thought it would be - in that I thought it would be impossible, but it wasn't impossible... that lower spade was the most aggravating bit of pin the tail on the donkey ever. It actually made me contemplate disassembling the intake elbow and removing the alternator. But then I got it on a little bit, and then got some long needle nose pliers and pushed it on the rest of the way.
Final wiring setup ready. I ran the big white dedicated ground for the gauges to the lift bale, where the injector ground is. The gauge lights use the radio ground. The power comes from the former radio power lead. For the water temp gauge, I found the wire going to the cluster water temp gauge since the resistance range seems to be right (the OEM sender is a VDO, and so are my gauges, plus I've tested the sender and the temps I saw match the range on the gauge):
Finished. Haven't run it long enough to see the oil temp working but I'm not worried about that one. The only one I wanted to see working right was the water temp, and it started going up at the same time the cluster temp gauge started going up, and moved in tandem. Revving the engine makes the pressure gauge spike as expected, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that I'll never lose another engine due to a dying but not dead (not enough to trigger the OEM pressure warning) oil pump.
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