Auxilliary Gauge - Unusual Location

[fjmarch]

Has anyone had any success with or knowledge of someone who has installed an auxilliary gauge (oil pressure?, ammeter?) left of the main instrument pod.   I'm talking about in that little pocket above the air flow direction controls?   I know I've seen this on a 2002 somewhere but I can't find it anywhere. 

[TobyB]

You certainly CAN.

 

I had an A/F monitor there on the track rat, and I think the race car has a clock or something taped in there now.

 

This would be a perfect case study for a 3d print of a cool binnacle.

 

t

 

[fjmarch]

Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking.  Either 3D printed of maybe fiberglass.  I didn't want to start a project if there was something available already.

[tech71]

1 hour ago, fjmarch said:

(oil pressure?, ammeter?)

Forget ammeter, put an oil pressure or voltmeter there

[fjmarch]

tech71 - Yeah, I currently have an oil pressure gauge hanging under the dash that I'd like to integrate.  You are correct, ammeter is not really good choice. 

[Mike Self]

It's particularly easy if you have an early roundie that has the emergency flasher switch (a red pull knob) mounted there.  Relocate it to a spot under the dash--there's enough wiring slack to permit this) and mount your single gauge there.  

 

I did that years ago on my '69, mounting an oil pressure gauge there, housed in a piece of plumbing pipe (really).  I did a column on mounting auxiliary gauges (I have a 3 pod mount on my '73 replacing the Fasten Seat Belt sign--see the picture); PM me if you'd like a copy.

 

mike

[AustrianVespaGuy]

13 hours ago, fjmarch said:

Has anyone had any success with or knowledge of someone who has installed an auxilliary gauge (oil pressure?, ammeter?) left of the main instrument pod.

Yes, me!  I mounted it to the vertical side of the cluster housing, and it did mean drilling a small hole through the bottom of dash pad to run the wires:

 

I put it there because I'd already built a nice little combination AFR + Ammeter into my seatbelt pod, and wanted to use up the pretty 'useless' LH space rather than cut into the more useful RH storage tray area.  I'm quite happy with it and stand by my decision!

 

[slowbert]

8 hours ago, Mike Self said:

It's particularly easy if you have an early roundie that has the emergency flasher switch (a red pull knob) mounted there.  Relocate it to a spot under the dash--there's enough wiring slack to permit this) and mount your single gauge there.  

 

I did that years ago on my '69, mounting an oil pressure gauge there, housed in a piece of plumbing pipe (really).  I did a column on mounting auxiliary gauges (I have a 3 pod mount on my '73 replacing the Fasten Seat Belt sign--see the picture); PM me if you'd like a copy.

 

mike

Would you mind sharing your post in this thread?

[fjmarch]

AustrianVespaGuy - Yes, that's what I was thinking for the oil pressure gauge on the left.  I was hoping to avoid drilling a hole in the dash.  Optimistically, I was planning to create a custom "binnacle" that fits snuggly into that left dash pocket and maybe double side tape of velcro it in place.  Then fish the wire through that rectangular opening between the little pocket and the door?  Gonna start working in earnest this week.   I am more fascinated by your AFR/ammeter "gauges" in  the Fasten Seat Belt pod.  Can you elaborate on how that was done?  Thx.

 

Mike - I will PM you to get a copy of your article on mounting gauges at the FSB pod.  Thx.

[Mark92131]

I put my AFR Gauge on the left.  Used a shallow standard 2.25" gauge pod I found on Amazon.  I had already drilled a hole planning to install my Emergency Flasher Switch in this position, but changed directions.  Happy with the results.

 

Here is the Pod I used, the mounting pad is sectioned so you can trim the footprint to fit the pocket on the left side, then used the double sided tape to secure it.

 

SREUOIL Universal 52mm 2" Single Gauge Pod Dash Swivel Mount Holder

Mark92131

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Mark92131
Added Link

[fjmarch]

Mark92131 - That looks good.

Quote

 

 

[TobyB]

With a 3- piece dash, there's room to snake wires behind the binnacle,

which is how I did it. 

 

t

 

[Mike Self]

Here's a quote from my column where I described mounting an oil pressure gauge to the left of the interments binnacle on my '69, utilizing the existing hole where the factory mounted the emergency flasher pull switch (which I relocated under the dash).

 

 

"Visit your local hardware or home improvement store and find the plumbing department.  You’re looking for a PVC plumbing pipe fitting:  a two inch diameter “street ell.”  It’s L-shaped and looks like the observation end of a cartoon periscope, making a 90 degree bend.  While you’re there, buy two, 1/8”  countersunk head machine screws, ¾” long, with nuts and lock washers.  Before you leave, visit the electrical department and buy a one inch long piece of hollow, threaded rod and two appropriately threaded nuts and lock washers.  This hollow rod is used in making lamps and comes in different lengths.  If your hardware store doesn’t have these parts, try a lighting shop.  Bring your prizes home and start assembling.

First take that street ell in hand and grind or file down all the exterior moulding marks and other imperfections ‘till it’s nice and smooth.  Then open out the interior diameter of one end until your gauge is a press fit, with the gauge bezel snug against the outer lip of the ell.  Next, make a U-shaped sheet metal bracket that will fit inside the ell’s other end.  Use a piece of sheet metal that’s wide enough to accommodate a 3/8” diameter hole in the middle, and 1/8” holes on each end.  Then drill corresponding 1/8” countersunk holes in the ell so they will align with the bracket’s two holes.  Spray paint the street ell with semi-gloss black paint so it’ll blend in with the dash and instrument binnacle.

Start assembling the gauge and housing.  Push the hollow threaded rod through the bracket’s center hole, and thread a nut on the upper side.  Insure enough rod protrudes on the bottom side so it can pass through and be bolted to the dashboard.  Thread the wires through the hollow rod and press the gauge into its location on the upper end of its mount.  Next attach the bracket to the ell with those 1/8” machine screws and nuts.  Touch up the screw heads with black paint.  With the gauge and housing assembled, fish the wires through the existing hole in the dash, press the hollow mounting rod through the hole, thread the nut up the wires and tighten it.  Bet no one will know your gauge is mounted in a piece of plumbing pipe!"

 

mike

[AustrianVespaGuy]

20 hours ago, fjmarch said:

I was hoping to avoid drilling a hole in the dash.

You *probably* could, but the contours of that little pocket make the mounting tricky, so you'd need to match the curves pretty closely in order to get velcro/tape to actually hold well enough.  I think it'd be possible, and maybe worth it if your dash is perfect,  but if I were to do it again I'd probably still just bite the bullet and drill small holes where needed; most dashes have cracks that are worse than those little holes after all!

20 hours ago, fjmarch said:

I am more fascinated by your AFR/ammeter "gauges" in  the Fasten Seat Belt pod.

Thanks, I'm proud of that one, though it was trickier than I expected to fit everything into that little pod; was less room in there than I originally thought!  Basically though, there's this great LM3914 chip that is a dual-purpose voltage comparator and LED driver all in one, meant to drive LED bargraphs.  So one just uses battery voltage as the input and is scaled to light the LEDs in the 11~15v range, and the other one uses the AFR input and is scaled to light its LEDs over the 0~5v output from the wideband.  See schematic in Figures 9&10 here:

LED ‘Graph’ Circuits | Nuts & Volts Magazine

WWW.NUTSVOLTS.COM

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Nuts & Volts Magazine is written for the hands-on electronics hobbyist, design engineer, technician, and experimenter.

 

[jgerock]

AEM gauge with mounting cup in my 73tii