I know I have read threads on this subject before, but I have been seaching the Forum and come up empty. I have a '68 and I want to install an aftermarket tach, probobly AutoMeter. I would like to learn from other people's experiances. What have you done with your turn signal indicator?? I can live without the brake warning light. How did you fit it, light it, ect.?? Thanks for any help.

 

 

ttt, I will be doing this also soon.

 

There is a template to make a sheet metal shim to install the autometer tach and speedo. I'm at work right now but when I get home I'll see if I can find it for you.

 

I recently finished all of this. I have pics.

 

The blinkers,hi-beam, and emergency brake lights were obviously not available in the new gauges so I found replacements by "Painless" Wiring" in a Summit catalog. I then carefully drilled the dash in the apprpriate spots. I used male/female plug ends so if the dash needs to come out the gauges won't be hardwired. I clustered the gauge lights in 2 seperate male/female plugs and ran a big ground to the birdcage. I also dremeled out the seatbelt light buttons and installed carbon-fiber flip-up switches for my electric fans.
I tried a template for the gauges off CF but it printed out to big to just trace. So I used the original gauge surround to trace out a pattern for the outer ring and then used the carboard ring that came w/ the gauge to trace the center. I found some 1/4 smoked plexi-glass at a large outdoor sign shop to cut the spacer rings around the speedo/tach. I ended up spray painting the back of the plexi-glass to make sure no light would show thru. The bezel gauges fit perfectly with no mods. Autometer makes them in a 2 1/16(I think) size for Corvettes.

 

http://www.et-motorsports.cc/

Look under the tech section for speedometer template. It will make the install a lot easier. Autometer speedo will use the 1968 speedo cable. If your vette is a later one use the 1968 cable as well. The template works on the c3's with the older style recessed speedo an tach. I do not know what year they changed all of that so the later models will have to figure that out for themselves. You can buy adhesive backed label paper in one solid 8 1/2 by 11 sheet and print the template out on it. Then stick it to your sheet metal and cut it out. drill the holes for the mounting bolts and you can even drill holes for small led light for high beam and turn signals in the template between the gauge and the dash housing. I also want to tell you the template is a pdf file so you need to have adobe acrobat reader installed on your computer. If you have anymore questions just ask.

 

Thanks, Tigers 123 I searched the C3 tech section for "speedometer template" and come up empty. My biggest concern is the signal light When you say "drill small holes for small led for high beam and turn signals" do you mean in the AutoMeter tach ?? What type of led did you use ?? What size tach ? Pef 427, your install looks great, but I prefer not to touch the vinal on the dash.

 

I have done the autometer phantom swap with all gauges,I will see if i can find the pics.
You can go to A pluming supply (Home Depot Lowes..)There is A cap that is used to cap off the toilet whole while construction is going on,this cap has a lip on the bottom which fits perfectly inside the housing the facory speedo and tach mounts in,then all you have to do is cut the whole out for the new ones and it will pretty much fall in place and it retains the correct positioning for the new ones.At least it did in my 74.

 

I forgot to mention about the signal indicators.I took the seat belt and headlamp indicators out of the center panels and used the indicator lenses out of a used cluster from A used unit out of an import car (you can disassemble the used cluster and take the lenses out and trim them down) and I made a plastic housing to go in the center cluster where the headlamp and seatbelt used to be.The great thing about this way is you can hot glue the new housing in place and if you decide to change it later all of the mods can be removed.

 

As Tigers123 said, there will a small gap between your Autometer gauge and the original ring. You could place the indicater lights on either side of the speedo and the tach.

 

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugede...id=2910&sid=15
I just installed this in front of the original tach - very easy to mount with a large chrome hose clamp...

 

I too wanted a shift light but could not bring myself to mount that to the stearing column. The Autometer I used has it built in the face along with the highest shift points recorded. It is a lot of work taking the dash out without breaking the old brittle parts.
-Patrick

 

12 volt led's from oreilly's or autozone. You can put the led's in the ring spacer you are going to make that holds the tach or speedo. You could also put them down below in the console by using a polished brass plate you could get at a trophy shop and lining up the led's in a row. I have thought about doing that with mine. I have all the parts, I'm just waiting for cooler weather to put them in. The led's I bought are green for the left and righ turnsignal amber for the brake light and blue for high beam. They are small and and have their own housing. They are not very big but probably will do the job just fine.

 

The search function here needs some serious directions with it. Go into "advanced search" and run an archives search. That template was posted a while back, it's almost certainly been locked and stored.

 

I just finished doing this installation, only last week.

I used the Autometer 5" electronic tach and speedometer- since my ignition is a Mallory Hyfire VI, I saw no reason to go back to the sometimes-temperamental cable-drive tach. And my trans is a TKO-600, so I used the Autometer signal transducer, which plugs into the side of the transmission, and allows me to program the speedo as I need.

For my spacers, I used 1/4" lexan, a scrap piece that I bought from a local plastics shop for $2.50. Trimmed with a saber-saw, and painted semigloss black. Since the plastic housings were cracked, I used epoxy to glue in the spacers, to give the whole assembly greater strength.

When I finally installed it (with the red light filters), my wife said it looked "alive..."

I really like the looks, compared to the old gauges.

 

Breathial,
Let's see those red light filters. We need pics! I also used the electric speedo with my T-56 and elect. tach hooked to the MSD setup. I wished the 200MPH speedo came in an electronic version from Autometer. Had to use the 160MPH.

 

Good choice with the lexan. Almost as strong as steel and a lot easier to cut out.

 

there was no point in posting pics of the stock gauges, so here's the Autometer Pro-Comp gauges installed.


And the blur is due to having to turn OFF the garage lights, turn on the dash lights, and try to hold everything somewhat steady... But this gives you an idea of the overall look...



Now, as I was posting these pics, my wife looked at them, and said, "you know, the instruments look great... But the steering wheel...? It looks UGLY!"

 

I see you moved your gauges into the modern configuration - speedo right, tach left. I've thought about doing that when I put in Autometers.