Guest needwaymorespeed Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 Ive noticed that alot og people are running aftermarket guages in there cars,are the stock guages inacurate?? Saw a couple of posts by pete that the autometer guages are off on acuracy if the aftermarkets are off on accuracy why run them?? Is it just for looks,I must agree the white faced guages do look nice! Thanks Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 Asthetics was part of it for me (to match the Pro-Comp tach), but I also wanted an accurate oil pressure gage (the Autometer mechanical gages are supposedly fine). I used a mechanical oil pressure gage. I'd use a mechanical temp gage as well the next time, as yes, I found that my old and new temp gages were off by 20 degrees in the 180-210 range, as were Mike Kelly's water and oil temp gages that he picked up the other day after I calibrated them. Since taking out the stock oil pressure gage meant I lost the Temp gage, I put one of those in also. Oops, now I needed a hole for that, so out went the AMP/fuel gage. I didn't want the AMP gage anyway (I'll use a Cigarette lighter volt meter) but now I needed a place for the aftermarket (Autometer Pro-Comp) fuel level gage. So out came the Clock. I figured I'd have one of those on the stereo face anyway. Kind of snowballed, didn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 I know what you mean. I am using the stock guages for the water and oil. The temp guage never gets past 150. the oil pressure never gets past about 1/4 mark. I am using the stock senders, too. They are getting jettisoned in favor of some VDO's VERY soon. Can't stand it. By the way, Pete, which ohm rating is the stock sender? There is like 4 different types, wondering if the Z one is anything close to ones GM, Ford, or Chrysler used. AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 No, the Datsun guages are relatively accurate. What bugs the heck out of us is the wiring in Datsuns is no less than Tom Foolery. For example, a Z will not start if the tach is not hooked up--what kind of logic went in to that? This may sound strange, but I'm probably going to use the stock guages with a white face plate from Ideal-Z. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted June 4, 2001 Share Posted June 4, 2001 The older Ford Fuel level sender is close, at 73 ohms Empty, 8-12 Full. Autometer sells one that works with that. The stock sender is something like 80 ohms full, 8 ohms empty. I had to add a few resistors to the circuit to get it to read Full and Empty with the sender in the Full and Empty position. See my site for how to do that: http://members.home.net/pparaska/gagecalibration.htm HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 I'm using the std. gauges, as they're reasonably consistent (I've cross-calibrated them) and cheaper/easier than going after-market. However, I've had trouble with the Datsun oil pressure senders dying over time; the last one spat it after about 4 years. Which is annoying, as the last sender was about $AU80 ($US40) for the factory part. Does anyone know if there's a non-Nissan oil pressure sender that operates across the same pressure & resistance range? [ June 04, 2001: Message edited by: zedskid ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie-GNZ Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 OK folks, rather than giving myself another headache trying to figure this out, I will simply ask the question. Has anyone used the standard fuel-level sender on fuel cells with the stock fuel gauge? I believe the sender on the unit I got is a GM and maybe MikeK can confirm that. Is everyone with a fuel cell using an aftermarket fuel gauge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 Scottie, the GM sender is bass-akwards as far as resistance. Empty is 10 ohms, 90 is full. The Datsun gage reads the other way, 88 is empty, 8 is full. I guess you could paint a white line on the F and make it an E, and paint a black line on the E and make it an F I tried to the the opposite - I bought Mike Kelly's gages and tried to get the GM style Autometer gage to work with the stock Datsun sender. No luck. Hell I even tried to rewire the winding taps differently and everything. I gave up and bought the Ford style gage. I think you'll need to buy a GM style gage for that cell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted June 5, 2001 Share Posted June 5, 2001 I run the aftermarket stuff for exactly the reasons Pete mentiond... I wanted better looking more accurate gauges and I wanted them to match. Stereo will have a clock so out it went along with EVERYTHING else in the way of gauges. Speedo wouldn't have worked easily with my T56 anyway and I didn't want to monkey with trying to calibrae the ugly tach - which didn't work anyway on my car! I've got a fuel cell with GM sender - aftermarket gauge. The oil pressure and water temp are both mechanical Autometers. The tach is a shift light tach meant for mounting ON the dash but sits in the hole just fine. I spent an extra $30 or so for theSummit switch that will do peakhold. I looked inide that puppy BTW - there's a bit more to it than I expected, just buy it rather than try to build it IMO. Anyway, in the end you'll have a really NICE looking setup that's reliable. You'll have given up the clock and the amp gauge though. You'll also have to do something for turn signals, high beam, and brake lights. I'm using LEDs for these and if you're interested I can post lessons learned - there ae a few gotchas! I don't think this can easily be made to work with the stock fuel level though as Pete indicated it's a litle whacky. (sigh) P.S. Oh, in my case the clock was toast, tach didn't read past 3K, half the lights were dead, and the ammeter was quirky too. I think the water gauge was okay but I only used it to look for "abnormal" rather than an actual temp. Obviously my car doesn't look stock so keeping the stock gauges wasn't a big deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 6, 2001 Share Posted June 6, 2001 I went aftermarket too for the same reasons, but with Pete's info about Autometer gauge inaccuracy (mine are electrical)...but at least they look a lot better. I have a '76 gas tank and am using the fuel/voltmeter gauge from that car. Lite is not brite though! Not a problem. If you have the bux and can stomach it, go with the import aftermarket gauges from Trust, HKS, Apex, etc. They are much more reliable and accurate. "Uhhhh, $200 for oil temp gauge? I'll take the Autometers" Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 Yeah, but for $200 you can have one with EL lighting that will change colors if the temp gets too high and is probably peakhold some of those things are pretty awesome IMO and if th etachs didn't look liek such junk and htey actually HAD speedos for them I'd have probablt considered them more seriously. Oh well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 In my case, the dashboard no longer fits, since a part of the roll cage currently sits where the dash used to be. With the mounts for the stock gauges gone, reusing the stock gauges was a lot less attractive. My brief experience taught me that mechanical gauges are generally preferrable to electrical ones; I bought a mechanical oil pressure/water temperature unit from Pep Boys for $30, and it works great. I could have used the stock tach, but that never worked right - the tach needle kept getting stuck. So I bought a $45 unit (with shift light) from Summit. I still use the stock speedometer unit. Another problem with the stock gauges is that if you install a small-than-stock steering wheel, the rim of the wheel can block the line of sight to the speedo or the tach. That is a very annoying problem on my stock '78 280Z. When the speed is in the 50-80 mph range, I can't see how fast I'm going, without leaning down and to the right. In my V8 Z, I bolted the gauges in a cluster around the steering column. This improves visibility and simplifies the wiring harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest needwaymorespeed Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 blk mgc do you have any pics on youre led for the turn sinal indicators? yes please post on the few gotchas. What did everyone else do for the turn sifnal indicators?? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 I used the Autometer In-Dash tach. I put the stock 240Z bezel and lens on the front of it. In the sides of the bezel, in front of the stock lens, I drilled a hole and mounted a small green 12V incandescent indicator from Radio Shack. I'd use a 12V LED instead. Wired these to the wires for the OE bulb sockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 I mounted my indicators in the bottom right of the AC panel (where the radio goes). Since they're bright LEDs they don't have to be right in front of me, I can see them clearly out of the corner of my eye and I can hear the flasher clicking. Moved the high beam indicator there too. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 My WEB site has a few pics of it. Basiclly I took off th ecolumn cover, drilled 4 holes in it, an mounted 4 LEDs. One red, two green, one bright BLUE. All form RadioShack. A quick searhc on LED will probabl get yo uthose posts where I had to beat my head against the wall figuring out resistor values (thanks guys!). Here's the Gotcha'... The high beam and brake LEDs have TWO wires not one. The best way to wire them, as opposed to my way, is to have both of those wires going to those LEDs. In my case I joined a common ground for ALL of my LEDs before realizing this - bad idea. Now I must run a set of relays to light the hig beam and brake lites so don't do this Other than that figuring out which bulb was left, which was right for turn signals was an issue - I figure I've got a 50/50 chance and can swap connectors easily Lot's of room in the steering cover, it's visible, and I've got a spare if I decide to change it. I simply ran leads from the LEDs, insulated it all with duct tape (shh, it works), and didn't even have to use hot glue to hold the LEDs in place. I considered drilling the dash since I've got a cap and it's cracked but decided against it. The A/C panel is fine and Pete's idea of using th ebezel is too but mine is scratched and ugly so I'm not going to use it and will have the gauges just stuck in there. Hope that helps! Fire away with questions if you need to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 I built a small pod that mounts on the column between the speedo and tach. Check my site and go to page 5. It's not a great pic of it but you can see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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