For my 1969 Vette Are there any aftermarket gauges that will fit into the inst.cluster above radio with little or no modification nessassary? Looking at the Autometer Golden Oldies series w/2 1/16 diameter gauge. Not interested in digital. Seems like there are alot of problems with those. I am open to any suggestions.
Thanks in advance,

 

ANY aftermarket gauges you put in will require some degree of custom work. You'll have to remove the old gauge cut new holes, run all new wiring and is some cases new sending units. You can pick which size best suits your tastes. Just go slow, and pay attention to detail. If you don't like the way the gauges sit on the bezel, fab up a plate to cover it, and cut your holes in it. Go woodgrain or brushed aluminum. Lots of options.

 

This was a frame off project(it didn't start out that way) so the dash is completly apart. I bought a new bezel to go with the aftermarket original looking radio. What I would like to do is put different gauges in the same location as the originals. I'm up for some fab work. Has anyone done what I am trying to do in the past,and what were the results???
I would just go with original replacements,but wheres the fun in that???
By the way,how did your LED conversion go???

 

i sent u an email on the wiring. i went the autometer ultra lites, 2 1/16 size. i used the trim rings since the fit was a lil sloppy & the trim rings look good & are functional. pretty easy mod, you'll like a lot over the stock. i didn't have to do any cutting on the holes and i used the existing wiring.

 

So far very well, but until the rest of the car gets more done to it I can't finish the whole LED conversion. I have a signal issue to work out before I can finish. Either the HD flashers aren't doing their jobs or a wire is crossed somewhere. VERY odd symtoms. Anyway, as far as the gauges, I like what Rosslato did.

Ross, is that a custom panel or some kind of adapted bezel?

 

it's the stocker. i removed the seat belt warning & put my elect fan overide switch in

 

How close is your '73 bezel to his '69?

 

heres the wiring. for some reason the schematic pic doesn't show. these r not my instructions, got em from somebody else on the forum that knows there sheet.

The following instructions are for the installation of a set of Autometer Phantom Gauges in my 1978 Corvette. They should apply to most other later C3's and to some degree the earlier ones as well.
Download these instructions including the diagrams and Acrobat.pdf files for the gauges



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Parts:
Instruments: (mechanical or electrical as desired)
Oil Pressure
Water Temperature
Fuel Level
Volts
Clock or (5th gauge of your choice – I installed an Air-Fuel ratio gauge)
Speedometer
Tachometer
Other:
Speedometer cable
(in my case – O2 sensor weather pack connector and related wires)
Optional:

Braided pressure line for oil pressure – (Do Not order the rigid copper line for the oil pressure gauge, it will work but will require an isolation loop in the engine bay and will be very difficult to route under the dash)


Tools required:

A basic selection of tools is all that is required to affect the install, there are some specialized tools that make it easier however.



Dremel tool w/ variety of cutting and sanding fixtures.
Screwdriver – medium Phillips and flat head
Sockets – to remove any bolts fastening center console
Wire cutter
Wire stripper
Crimping tool
Soldering iron
Solder
Heat shrink tubing
Electrician’s tape
Insulated crimp connectors (varying styles from male/female spade – loop etc…)
Wire 18 ga. & 20 ga. – the more colors you get the easier it will be to wire the system – this can get expensive as you would be looking at at least 8 different colors of wire.
Typically get at least three or four
Black (to be used in ground connections)
Red (used in hot – powered connections)
Two or three more of your choice for other circuits.
When I do wiring I always use red and block only for the ‘hot’ and ‘ground’ connections respectively. This will match GM color coding fairly close.
Notes:
All of this assumes that you have access to at the very least a wiring diagram from a Haynes manual for your car – If you don’t let me know and I will scan that page for you.
First you must identify on the images I send to you the circuits in question. On the 1978 Corvette there is a Printed circuit to which a single connector attaches. Earlier year cars have individual connectors at each gauge.
Once identified (mark them on the image somehow) you are ready.
It is best in my opinion to have an extra center console bezel and main instrument cluster so that you do not have to make modifications to your original equipment. You may never go back to the factory but I assure you, at some point or another you will wish you saved them.


On the 78 the gauge opening in the center console are not perfectly round. There is a flat spot at the bottom of each opening and the opening tapers back from about a 2 ¼” diameter to to a 2” diameter. As such these openings had to be hogged out with a dremel tool using a rotary sanding attachment. The reason for the wood grain appliqué that was installed on my application was not only for looks but to cover the visible modifications to the plastic bezel (again on 78)

Earlier years had fully round gauge openings and should not require the wood grain kit to cover the obvious modifications, However I think the wood grain looks terrific.

The Autometer gauges are 2 1/16” in diameter and come with a rubber band around the body of the gauge (for vibration isolation) requiring a opening just a tad larger than 2 1/16”. The gauges themselves can be retained with the provided ‘U’ brackets or you can modify the metal backing from the original cluster for this purpose.

Wiring of the center console is easier than the speedo cluster as only a little soldering is required. Ground connections can jump from gauge to gauge and dash lighting grounds can be clustered with instrument grounds to make it easier. It would be a whole lot easier if I had taken pictures during my wiring than to describe it to you. The diagrams that are included are more schematic and show circuits more than the physical routing.




Center console.





The first thing you should wire is the Hot (red) and Ground (black) circuits. On my car the fuel gauge had its own ground circuit and I maintained that. You will notice that I used the factory wires that connect to the senders of the various gauges, and in some cases reused the factory senders as well. This means that you do not have to route wires to the engine bay or fuel tank, and that the factory fuses will retain their function.


Ground- With short sections of wire (about 3”) with a hoop connector at each end, jump from ground post to ground post on each gauge. At each gauge is a single illumination lamp w/ 2 wires (black & white) connect the black wire from the lamp to the ground post of the gauge it illuminates The last wire will be soldered to another black wire that you have used to connect the grounds of all the indicator lamps. (note – the indicator lamps wiring indicated above may be different than yours because I used the Autometer Tri-alert box and was therefore able to add a high temp alarm and make my low fuel light functional) – verify the grounds from these lamps from your wiring schematic. The last connection is to the ground on the harness.


12V Switched – Typically all electrical gauges will connect to the 12V switched source – this comes from the ignition switch and should be one of the wires coming to your existing cluster and will not require you to patch into the fuse box. This also means that your gauges will be using the factory gauge fuse as well. Again you can jumper between the posts on the gauges until the last wire which must connect to the gen light indicator and then connect to the harness.


Volt Gauge – If you have completed the above your Volt gauge is now wired.


Temp gauge – all that remains on this gauge is to connect the signal wire from the sender. Install the new sender in the block (typically drivers side head between #1 & 3 spark plug) and connect the factory wire to it. By examining your wiring schematic from your car – identify which color wire is the temp gauge sender – splice in a piece of new wire and connect to gauge – this gauge is done.


Fuel level gauge – all that remains is to connect the sender wire from the factory sender – be sure you order the correct gauge that fits your year car (autometer makes it quite clear which ones will work – I believe you will want a 0-90 ohm gauge) Like the temp gauge – identify the sender line and connect it to the gauge – this gauge is done. Don’t forget this gauge has its own ground so connect it in the same way you did the sender – to the line identified in your wiring schematic.


Oil pressure – I used a mechanical gauge for the accuracy, but if you go with electrical than like the others above all you need to do is install the new sender – connect the factory wire – identify the wire in the harness and connect it to the gauge.


5th gauge – If you install a clock – then a single hot wire will go to it. Otherwise refer to the install instructions for whatever gauge you install here.


Gauge illumination – Each gauge has a single illumination bulb – you have already connected the ground – you must now take the white wires from the bulb holders at each gauge and connect them to each other – then identify the illumination circuit line and connect them to the line in the harness that corresponds.

Warning lights – these will each have their own signal line – you have already connected them to ground – identify each lights signal line and connect them in turn to the harness.


Note : it is a whole hell of a lot easier to do all of the cluster wiring on the bench and then go to install it in the car where you connect the individual wires to their corresponding mate in the factory harness.



Speedo/Tach



The wiring here is much the same as the center console – again wire your 12 V switched and ground circuits first. In this case there are no posts to jump between so you need to cluster them together and connect them somehow to each other then connect them to the wire in the harness that corresponds to the hot and the ground.


Gauge illumination- Same as before, cluster all the white wires (2/gauge) together and then identify the wire in the harness to connect it to.


Left / Right indicators – Each has its own signal wire – you have already grounded the indicator – identify the matching signal line in the harness and connect.


Hi-beam indicator – Again – find the signal wire – the indicator is already grounded – connect the signal wire.


Parking brake indicator – You have already connected the hot wire to the indicator – all you need to connect is the switched ground which connects to the switch located at the parking brake handle, find the wire that goes to this indicator lamp in the harness and connect it.

Tachometer – You have already connected the ground and the 12 V switched to this gauge in step one – all you need to do is identify the signal line from the distributor in the wiring harness and connect it to the signal wire on the tach (green).



Speedo – Nothing to wire up on this gauge except lighting which is done.

All of this was thrown together rather quickly so please study the wiring diagrams you have for your car, the diagrams I have included, and the instruction sheets for the gauges before you begin. Like I mentioned before. It is a lot easier to accomplish all of this wiring on the bench and then just connect the harness wires to the new cluster wiring upon install. Another step that will save you some grief is testing. You can use a 9 volt battery to test all the lamps and indicators. For example – gauge illumination can be tested by connecting the black ground wire with the white leads off the bulb holders – do this before you install the cluster but after all the wiring is done on the clusters. This will ensure that all the circuits are functioning before you install.


If you have a digital multimeter it can be very useful in determining what wires are what and to identifying problems in your existing wiring.


I hope this helps.

 

69 to 71 are the samme and 72 to 76 are the same. they all look quite similar though.

 

Yeah, if I wanted to go aftermarket on my '77 I'd have to make a new gauge plate for sure.

Poster - Are you tackling the speedo and tach too? Those will be a little harder to do.

 

Thank you very much Ross. I haven't decided on the speedo/tach yet. These gauges can get to be expensive!!!

 

Or a link to my web page where the images and downloadable instructions can be found.

 

thats it, fauxrs2 is da man

 

Good job fitting those gauges in that '78 dash. Looks great man.

 

THX

 

Faux - Have you thought about getting an aftermarket steering wheel? I can think of a couple Momo wheels that woudl really set off that interior.

 

Nice job!

 

I've not put much thought into it no - I had a Grant wheel for awhile and it was okay...but it was nice getting an OEM wheel for nothing from another forum member...

If you got picts of these wheels....lemme see em....

 

Sure...here's a few wheels:

 

They need to make a 4-spoke with the 6-hole 3" mount pattern used by our stock T/T hubs.