Jump to content
HybridZ

Filled in the big hole where the heater/ac vents were


280zex

Recommended Posts

This is not the final setup, more like a work in progress. I used Lexan and painted the back side of it. This gives a shiny apperance :wink: Unfortunately the guages point slightly downwards, so I need to try something different. I might try to cut the lexan to fit the shape of the dash, and recess it...

 

post-1621-0-69153300-1370489708_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is not the final setup, more like a work in progress. I used Lexan and painted the back side of it. This gives a shiny apperance :wink: Unfortunately the guages point slightly downwards, so I need to try something different. I might try to cut the lexan to fit the shape of the dash, and recess it...

 

attachicon.gifdash.JPG

 

Nice keep us posted on your progress.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking good . I'd go with the recess look and using plastic panel with the same texture as the dash . Would look better if the gauges are the same brand ( ref to lower right gauge , what is it ? ) .

yes this is the idea. I want to cut the plastic to match the INSIDE shape of the dash, then mount that so it is pointed at an angle to face the driver more.

 

The gauge in question is an Autometer DPIC. Its a g-meter data logger. It was located on the steering column and matches the speedo and tach gauges.   Now that I am replacing some gauges and moving things around it looks kind of hinky right now ;-(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't tell from the pic, but if your boost gauge is the same size as the fuel level gauge, I'd recommend swapping them.  The stock gauge locations are much better used for things you might want to look at when you are actually going fast.  You really don't want to take your eyes that far off the road to check to see if you are overboosting, for instance.  Fuel level is much less important in this respect, and can go down out of the line of sight.

 

You might even consider moving the three gauges around to put the most important one in the heat of battle nearest you - maybe boost, oil pressure, water temp from left to right, for instance...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't tell from the pic, but if your boost gauge is the same size as the fuel level gauge, I'd recommend swapping them.  The stock gauge locations are much better used for things you might want to look at when you are actually going fast.  You really don't want to take your eyes that far off the road to check to see if you are overboosting, for instance.  Fuel level is much less important in this respect, and can go down out of the line of sight.

 

You might even consider moving the three gauges around to put the most important one in the heat of battle nearest you - maybe boost, oil pressure, water temp from left to right, for instance...

Yes thats the plan, to move the boost gauge to where the fuel level gauge is now. So it will be oil pressure, water temp, then vac/boost gauges in the stock dash holes. The fuel level, O2 and g-meter gauges will be setup in the center dash. I have to re-build the center section of the dash to a better configuration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Along with Timz's suggestion:

that looks good however check the angle that the gauges point, slightly downwards. Not so good for a quick glance while driving. My idea is to fit the center section so that the right side is counter sunk into the hole while the left side is not. This "should" allow me to point them gauges right at me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that looks good however check the angle that the gauges point, slightly downwards. Not so good for a quick glance while driving.

 

You have not tried it and are going by conjecture.  I was worried about the same thing but once installed they are no harder to look at than the three in the top cluster.  I have the gauges turned upside down so that I can see the operating ranges.  I can casually glance down with no more effort than looking at the top three gauges.  Besides, the gauges are fuel (bottom left), water temperature (top) and voltage (bottom right).  These three parameters are only rarely looked at while driving.  The three gauges in the top cluster are AFR, manifold pressure and oil pressure.

 

The original intent of my post was to support what Timz was saying about prioritizing the gauge position.

Edited by ktm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

sorry ktm but I'm not going by conjecture, as you can see by the first pic I posted, the guages point downwards. So do yours, thats why you had to turn them upside down.

 

I need to work on my fab skills so I can produce a nice "factory" looking center insert for my guages. This way I dont have to roll around with upside down guages........... unless you plan on, at some future point, to be upside down while driving your Z. Then I applaud your forward thinking......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...