Just swapped the triple meter OEM gauges
 

I went back and forth about how to do this mod... I just could not see adding a gauge pod when I have three perfectly good spots on the dash.

As previously discussed, I don't see anyway you could remove the triple meter without pulling the entire dash. Although I'm certain I could do it, I saw no reason to spend the time to remove all of those pieces to save a $200 gauge that I'll never go through the pain of re-installing. Plus the possibility of introducing a new creak or rattle in the dash because it has now been compromised. Instead I removed the gauge not in one piece but many... I have no use for it so I methodically removed pieces of it one by one eventually reducing it to a plastic pile of rubble in the trash can.

Please excuse the crappy cellphone pics... I did not have a good camera with me at the shop this weekend but i snapped as many photos as I could throughout the process. I will take higher pics of gauges soon.

Removed removed the hoods, cover as well as the plastic covers, faces and needles - all of these will come off with ease.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...3us/photo4.jpg

After about 45 minutes of carefully removing piece by piece...
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...3us/photo6.jpg

I was planning to get the Defi gauges after seeing how they looked but had a hard time sourcing them in time to start the project. Turned out better because I decided to go with the ProSport 60mm premium gauges instead which still black out similar to Defi but they also offer wideband O2. I picked up Boost, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure and Wideband AFR ... the boost, oil temp and Widband will go on the dash. The oil pressure will be mounted out of the way but will have an audible alarm and LED indicator on the dash for low pressure indication (separate project on that later)
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...3us/photo1.jpg

The size worked out perfect, not too deep and I was able to mill down the OE rings to fit back over for a more stock look. Not entirely stock looking since these have the peak hold/recall button on the face but still very OE finish when all was said and done.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...3us/photo3.jpg

a good bit of dremel work to shave out all of the clips and obstructions to get the gauge to fit properly it fit together perfectly (this is without silver ring at this point)
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo25.jpg

Complete test assemble of first gauge (not glued together yet though)
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo26.jpg

Mounting was the next obstacle, I wanted something that would be solid and have zero wiggle room. So cut down a small strip of aluminum for each and with a 3" screw, washer, lock-washer combo arrived at thishttp://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo10.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo11.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...3us/photo9.jpg

test fit / tighten to make sure it worked before creating the others
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo12.jpg

all three installed
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo15.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo17.jpg

you can source power right from the harness that is feeding the stock gauges. There is ground, constant power and switched ignition power all right there... you can even re-use the other end of the plug that is left over from the stock gauges which met their early demise.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo19.jpg

final after install - color matches the stock interior nearly perfect, the iPhone image over saturates the amber glow but it really turned out well.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo16.jpg

I took out navi the week before to unplug the the harness that leads to the gauge so that I could be certain that the car did not care that the gauges were no longer present. I would not have been happy to live with any sort of dash board error due to their absence... happy to report that the car does not care about the OEM gauges any more than I did - no errors.

I ran all of the sensor wires through the drivers side firewall and will be making those connection under the hood neatly tucked away under the fluid cover.

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here is a quick peak at the exterior
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo27.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...us/photo29.jpg


sorry I could not post and actual DIY but this should spark some creative ideas and give hope where there previously was none... I will be happy to share any other details you wish

I'm watinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

hmmmm.... no implications from the ECU for the missing gauges???

amazing!

wow great job... I have a feeling many will be following in your footsteps...

I am confused on how the mount you fabricated holds them in place.. under the hat theres a screw than tightens the aluminum into place to hold them... because the screw in the picture looks like the gauge hat is mangled or cut... is that the case? Or is the gauge hat (or top piece you see from the interior) a seperate piece from the one the screw goes into ?

Very clean, almost stock looking. Nice job.

Well done +1 for you!

the hole that i drilled and where you see the screw head is the cover that is UNDER the hat. The hat is not damaged and looks completely stock when all is reassembled.

Killer first post. The gauges look great and are useful. You have a clock on the navi :)

Not having the guage needles wave at me when I turn the car on is a dealbreaker :tup:

Looks great. I'm loving that Stillen bumper, btw!

I really like the prosport gauges.

Those wheels and front look :yum:

thank you for the positive feedback guys... I plan to do high res photos of all my mods and post in the appropriate threads but I wanted to share this info about the gauges sooner than later. I'm doing headlight mod now and will begin S/C install this weekend. So far everything is coming together just as planned (knock on wood)

To be honest I was a bit worried about the look at the beginning, but the outcome was great. Well done

The oil temperature is the only usefull gauge we have. What do your replacement gauges show?

I picked up Boost, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure and Wideband AFR ... the boost, oil temp and Widband will go on the dash. The oil pressure will be mounted out of the way but will have an audible alarm and LED indicator on the dash for low pressure indication (separate project on that later)


lazy......

I've not had a chance to run the sensors but will be doing that this weekend. Once car is tuned and back on the road I can report oil temp / pressure / AFR

Very nice.

^^ indeed. nice work. :tup:

Very nice!

looks very well done. good work!

Looks fantastic. I'd love to replace that clock with something like oil pressure.

Thank you - I should point out for clarification that all three gauges are one piece and share the same circuit board. It not possible to sever one without aversely affecting the others. It's and all or nothing mod.

There is no way to save even the clock when doing this mod? For those of us without nav it would be nice to keep the clock while getting something useful in the other two pods.

If what he said is the case, than no...

Correct - the factory Oil Temp, Volt, and Clock all are one device under the dash. A possible solution would be to remove all three and then select a brand that offers a gauge style clock that would match the other two you wish to install. I'm pretty sure AutoMeter does this, not sure who else.

Looks perfect. Well done!

A job well done :tup:

But I am surprised that you don't have a "check engine" light present from removing the feedback loop to the ECM from the triple gauges?

I know I did when I installed my DEfi gauges and had to do a work around to get rid of the "check engine" light on the dash. But then I don't have navi either.

huh? I guess spelling is not your strong suit.

Thank you - I unplugged the harness to the triple meter a week in advance and daily-drove it to make sure there was no issues (CEL or other) ...I dont believe there is bi-directional communication between the gauges and ECU
... it would be interesting to know what CEL code your car was throwing prior to the workaround.

Nicely done :tup:

But where are you monitoring AFR from? A third aftermarket O2? There's two banks and two OEM widebands, but you have only one input?

a third party AFR bung/o2 is in the drivers side down pipe before the CAT. I realize it is only monitoring one bank... this is the way I have done it will all previous FI vehicles and it has yet to steer me wrong. Although I could add a second o2 to the right side bank and build a circut that alternates signal to one gauge on dash or put in a switch.

My wife had a 1990 Mercury Sable that had speed sensitive power steering that was acting up so I disconnected the speed sensor as a cheap fix for the problem (it worked too) but about 4 weeks later the climate control went nuts and would only return to normal if the speed sensor was reconnected-you never know what evil lurks in your CPU.

That looks awesome. Thanks for sending us the link

You know I really love the look and practicality of this mod. Possible CEL issues concern me, now that this mod has been in place a while I hope we can get a report on any possible side effects from removing the stock cluster.

Epic gauge work! :tup:

nice work :tup:

Awesome solution. I am also intrested to see if there is any long term effects from this.

Thanks Guys -
No Check Engine lights or Errors associated with removing OEM gauges. I had them disconnected for a week prior to removal and they have since been out for a month with no issues.

That is great work sir!! Do you know of any gauges that have programming for
check sweep at start up? I would miss that!