Budget for 3 gauges under head unit

[savage1987]

I have a stainless plate to mount 3 gauges under the deck there in the VN, it'll have a better motor than the V6 some day so I am after some ideas on which gauges to use and what sort of pricing I'm looking at for purchase and install if I can't do em in the shed

ATM I'm thinking maybe vacuum, oil pressure and ..........???????

Throw some ideas at me guys
Sam

[Morton]

A proper coolant temp gauge is always nice. I used to have one in my VP - very handy to know if you're going to be driving it hard. It's also nice to have a voltmeter in there aswell, running off the alternator.

I personally used specometer (I think) gauges, which set me back around $25 each from memory. Their smaller gauges have a decent font, and look nice enough.

[Ozzie]

maybe a voltage metre?

[savage1987]

Yeah I couldn't give a damn about a coolant temp gauge to be honest.. I'll just get the factory one reco'd if anything.. Just seems pretty stupid to have 2 of them.

Voltage is an idea but I'm not sure if I can actually justify hooking up such a pointless gauge

[Morton]

Perhaps you could rig up some sort of pressure gauge to your PCV valve, so that you get a reading everytime you cop some piston blow-by

[Wagon_Wheel]

Air/Fuel ratio, water temp, oil perssure, oil temp, vac, volts, amps etc etc

[immortality]

i ahve oil pressure and oil temp, volts, trans temp and EGT for now

[stocky]

i would go vacuum, oil pressure/temp, water temp.
AFR can be good too, but i wouldnt get one in the shape of a gauge. seems stupid to have an LED bargraph in a round gauge, so i set mine up by putting the bargraph where the ABS/IRS badge normally goes - http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...1072007072.jpg
AFR kits like that can be picked up from jaycar.
as morton said, get speco gauges. they look good and are cheap. they dont have all the wanker stylings of some other gauges. just simple white face with black font, just like an autometer gauge, without the huge price tag.

[TVR-190]

look on ebay for "type r 2'' gauge" bout 20 bucks each and look half decent

[savage1987]

Perhaps you could rig up some sort of pressure gauge to your PCV valve, so that you get a reading everytime you cop some piston blow-by

hahaha!! It seems someone knows about my 500,000km V6!!

Air/Fuel ratio, water temp, oil perssure, oil temp, vac, volts, amps etc etc

AFR handy, water temp pointless, oil press handy, oil temp maybe, vacuum handy, volts amps pointless

i ahve oil pressure and oil temp, volts, trans temp and EGT for now

trans temp is one I hadn't thought of BUT I don't think I need it. EGT is a bit keen seeing as I'll probably end up NA anyway

i would go vacuum, oil pressure/temp, water temp.
AFR can be good too, but i wouldnt get one in the shape of a gauge. seems stupid to have an LED bargraph in a round gauge, so i set mine up by putting the bargraph where the ABS/IRS badge normally goes - http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...1072007072.jpg
AFR kits like that can be picked up from jaycar.
as morton said, get speco gauges. they look good and are cheap. they dont have all the wanker stylings of some other gauges. just simple white face with black font, just like an autometer gauge, without the huge price tag.

AFR is a bitch to get set up properly isn't it? Specometer seems like a winner, I'll use them.

look on ebay for "type r 2'' gauge" bout 20 bucks each and look half decent

They look pretty damn good BUT I am a bit against having something as gay as 'Type R' in my face all the time lol. They are fkn horny looking gauges though, most attractive feature being that they are just black when the car is off. Bonus points for coolness, and for this reason I MAY be able to overlook the 'type R' gayness haha

I'll decide on gauges first, brand second.

[savage1987]

Maybe I should get one of these:


....but I don't have a turbo so it'd just be pointless

[stocky]

yeah AFR gauges arent really useful unless you have a proper wideband o2 sensor

[TheA55hole]

If I was you mate, Every commodore driver needs
Water Temp Run from it's own Sensor
Oil Pressure gauge from a T tap in on the OPS
Volt Gauge, So you know what the hell your doing

Cheers
TheStig

[savage1987]

Why would I want a voltage gauge though, I really struggle to see the benefits there
Oil Pressure is a definite.
Water temp I don't see the point in having another gauge, I have never had an issue with overheating because I keep my coolant system well maintained and the factory gauge seems just fine here
Vac is one I want because they can tell you a lot of stuff once you learn how to read them

I guess what this has come down to is someone make a case for a gauge that isn't oil pressure or vacuum and I'll see what I think

[stocky]

yeah dont get a volt gauge. carry a multimeter instead if its really needed. would oil temp be useful at all?

[immortality]

voltage gauge ins't necessary but it's cheap and easy to see how the electrical system is operating. if the voltage drops some sensors will give false readings and make engine run bad. EGT is good, although it doesn't tell you the actual AFR, when things suddenly get very hot you know you have a lean condition and trouble is at hand. also very good for monitoring things when you hit the giggle gas. i think for a auto a trans temp gauge is a must. auto trans live & die by the temps the fluid get upto. vac gauges are very good for diagnosing different conditions if you know how to read em as you mentioned, a vac/boost gauge is next on my list( in the garage already just awaiting installment allong with some other bits and pieces ) a good alternative to a voltage gauge is getting one of those bettery terminals that incorperates a voltage gauge, wire it up to the bonnet switch so that when you lift the bonnet you automatically see battery voltage

[savage1987]

I still don't care enough about voltage to want a gauge. Exhaust gas temp is not something I will ever care about, I'm not talking about a million billion dollar stroker motor with custom stuff everywhere so I won't need to worry about weird states of tune etc..

Trans temp could be a winner BUT I'm running the ATF through 3 separate fluid coolers already so I'm not worried about it overheating. Still, I do like the idea of being able to watch my trans fluid temp so my 3 gauges could possibly be:

Oil pressure
Vacuum
Trans temperature

The car's POSSIBLY going to cop a new motor in the form of an LS1 6 speed at a later stage (next couple of years) so there's never going to be anything hugely custom in there that I'll need to worry about.

Lastly, all these gauges relatively simple to install? I plan on DIY

Sam

[stocky]

yeah pretty easy. you just need to find an accessories wire, light wire, ground. all of them can be spliced into your cigarette lighter or stereo wiring. then you just need to run a wire to the sensors. vacuum gauge just needs the light wires, as you will run a plastic hose out into your engine bay to a plastic T piece onto one of your existing vacuum lines

[immortality]

yep, i've tap'd into the siggy lighter wiring as the power source for the gauges and the light wire for the gauge lighting. i have put a fuse into the wiring for the gauge power supply just to be safe also. for the VAC line don't splice into the vac hose for the MAP sensor. best leave that one alone. forthose people that don't have A/C fitted to there cars there is a blank gromet fitted where the a/c drain tube normally goes. great place to runs some cables from under the dash area, along the trans tunnel into the engine bay

[savage1987]

Thanks guys, some good info there

Now I just need to decide what type I'd rather have.. speco meter or those type r ones

I think I want the Type R ones, as my fiancee deftly pointed out the speco gauges are too white and bright, they'd contrast too much with the dark grey vn interior

Alright, for the trans temp gauge do I just get an oil temp one? Or are there specific gauges for that? I'm a little uncertain how to plumb that one in as well

Sam

[immortality]

for the trans temp you have a couple of options,
1. drop the pan and weld fitting in there for temp sender.(best option but a pain to do)

2. get some brass fittings, T piece and 2 hose tails (1/4" BSP) and plumb into the cooling line coming from the trans before the cooler. then the temp sender (1/8" BSP, use 1/4"-1/8" BSP reducing bush) screws into the T piece. (after fitting sender make sure it doesn't come to far into the T piece and block the flow path, easiest option)

3. fit a remote oil filter for trans and fit temp sender in there. (see pic in my ride thread for remote oil filter as it's exactly the same for the remote trans filter)

[TVR-190]

my type r gauge arrived today, ill go grab some pics for you.

Off:

On:


sorry about the pics, very sunny outside so bad glare.

edit now with face plate:

[savage1987]

Looks good troy, easy to read during the day?? My only worry with the Type Rs is that they'll be tricky to read if the LEDs aren't bright enough.. are you happy with it? If you are I'm sure I will be

I was going to refer you to this thread on squaredarches but it seems you've already found it

[Anthraxnz]

i got an Autogauge volt meter from Repco just a small one, i prefer them to the Speco ones but if you got the cash get AutoMeter apparently their the best but be looking around $150NZD anyway.

i've always wondered about putting gauges in that space under the head unit but then where would i put my sunglasses? lol

[axemurderer101]

i went all out and bought 3 autometer gauges for my vs (not all at the same time) one day i will try to fibreglass em in, volt and oil press cost 160 and a/f was 130.