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Mounting Autometer 5" tachometer like stock.


bjhines

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A while ago, I found some pics on the interweb that showed a nice, clean, factory-like installation of the Autometer Pro Comp Tachometer in an S-30 dashboard. If anyone knows who did this first please post a link to give them credit.

 

 

I gave it a shot and honestly, I was prepared to buy a new tach if I screwed this one up. I didn't screw it up. This turned out to be an easy, kitchen table kind of mod. Don't fear cutting into your brand new tachometer. It took me longer to remove the damn warning sticker and the glue residue than it did to install the damn tahcometer.

 

Here is the completed install.

 

Tachinstalled.jpg

 

Tachinstalledangle.jpg

 

Tachinstalledside.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might think this would take all kinds of careful dissassembly and involve magnifying glasses and a micrometer. No way...

It only takes some side cutting pliers, a flat blade screwdriver and a pair of good kitchen scissors.

 

The silver ring around the Autometer tach is thin aluminum that has been crimped around a lip on the plastic tach housing. It holds the glass in place and is really easy to bend. You need to bend it. Be careful not to flex the plastic tach housing too much. You might warp the thin, aluminum gauge-face.

Use a small flatheaded screwdriver to gently pry the crimped trim ring. Once you get a little lip up you can use the small, side-cutting pliers to work your way around prying it out to loosen the trim ring from the plastic tach housing. Toss the ring and the glass in the trash.

Tachtrimring.jpg

 

 

 

Next you must remove the lip around the plastic tach housing. Break out the kitchen scissors. Trim straight and true here. You need to make the outside of the plastic tach housing flush and "lip-less". It is best NOT TO GRIND or sand here. The little bits will show up later, keep them to a minimum.

Tachprepped3.jpg

 

Tachprepped2.jpg

 

Tachprepped1.jpg

 

 

 

 

The next step is the highly involved preparation of the original Datsun 240Z tachometer housing. This is a killer.

 

Step one: Remove the 4 small phillips head screws that hold the original tachometer housing in the gauge-pod. Toss the metal tach housing in the trash. Keep the gauge pod and its plastic interior parts.

 

Step two: Clean the bug-parts out of the old gauge-pod and wash the clear plastic lense. Dont rub the old flat black paint, just dust it off with a clean paint brush.

 

Step three: Insert the lipless-wonder gauge you made earlier. It is a tight fit but it is PERFECT. It will slip in all the way to the original clearanced position. JUST LIKE the original gauge fit. Use some good duct tape to hold it in place. It won't move without tape. The fit is quite tight. I used Gorilla-Tape to be sure.

 

Done.

 

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Now that I have seen how jcb3 and others have done theirs, Ihave chosen to install indicator lights in mine as well.

 

The housing and gauge internals can be removed by taking out 2 small screws on the back.

removingscrews.jpg

 

Gaugehousing.jpg

 

 

 

 

I carefully drilled holes and mounted a pair of turn signal indicator LEDs in housings. I also mounted a super-bright RED shift indicator LED.

I used heat shrink to cover the backs of the LEDs so they do not pick up light from the gauge backlighting.

Gaugeinterior.jpg

 

 

 

Here is the modified face.

Indicatorsoff.jpg

 

 

 

Here are shots of the LEDs lighted to show relative brightness. The RED LED shift indicator is a 3000mcd super-bright that really shines. It is pretty damn bright.

Indocatorsallon.jpg

 

 

Here are just the turn indicators. They are bright enough to see in the day without being distracting at night.

Indicatorsturnonly.jpg

 

 

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I tried out the Ultra violet LED idea. I could only get them locally mounted on a large heat sinked chip. I got one and poked it in the housing to see how it lit the gauge.

 

The pointer is definitely flourescent. It glows brilliantly under UV light. NONE of the other markings are flourescent. That will do the trick to get the needle to really stand out.

 

I have run into a snag in mounting though. It seems that UV is utterly absorbed by the plastic gauge housing. It is not reflected onto the gauge face the way the visible spectrum is. I am going to have to mount the UV LED in front of the gauge face for it to work.

 

The other problem is that the high power UV LED I have is WAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! too bright. The damn needle completely blots out all of the backlighting on the numerals. Jeeeze... I am scared to look at the LED chip now that I see just how much UV that thing puts out. That thing will give you a sunburn for sure!!!! I am pretty sure they were designed for UV set plasics like teeth fillings and prototyping work. That thing is dangerous.

 

I ordered some low power 5mm UV leds for the job. They will get here late this week.

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Just thought I'd throw this in here, as it somewhat relates. If you're interested in painting the rest of your needles on the other gauges to match the Autometer stuff, if you haven't already changed them out too, you can find a PERFECT match for it at some hobby shops. I posted the info in THIS thread but it seemed to have gotten looked over.

 

Here's a pic where you can see what the stock gauges (in a ZX) would look like if you painted the needles to match. (Sorry about the flash)

 

DSC000331.JPG

 

Warren

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Well I just finished the Autometer Speedometer swap out into the original mounts.

IMG_1901.JPG

The only issue I had was the reset/trip button was too short.

I removed (pull/wiggle) the rubber cap off. Then I took an old crappy small philips screw driver and cut it down to size. Lined it up with the plastic lens and drilled a hole through the plastic. Used some heat shrink and extened it. Here are some pictures that will hopefully help someone out in the future. PS. I also do not guarantee that this is the best way, it's just the way I did it and it worked for me.

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  • 2 months later...

this thread rocks!

 

Can somebody please explain how they are "making" shift lights?

I'm about to start picking up some guages for my car and I really would like to have a shift light, but don't want an ugly, bulky one like you get with the 5" tachs. I'm seeing all of these clean installs, but don't have a clue on how to make the shift light part.

Also, is the RPM trigger adjustable?

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  • 1 year later...

How do you go about wiring the shift light? I think the Autometer Pro Comp Tachometer doesnt come with a shift light option, so im just curious what you have to do to wire up an option like that?

 

Any place/link for wiring diagrams?

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  • 3 months later...

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