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That looks similar to the factory gauge pod for the heavy trucks. My 84 f800 Marmon Herrington truck has that. It has pressure gauge and a choke cable there. I haven't banged my knee on it but you do need to be aware of it.
Does that pod need to attach below the steering column or could it fit, say, above the tranny hump under the dash? Not sure I like that idea, but just wondering.
David - Interesting. I'd seen the switches or whatever instead of the pocket, but had never seen the pressure gauge. Looks pretty awkward to me, but I'm glad to know what Ford did. Thanks!
Alan - Thanks. So, a diesel bezel would have a flat plate covering the pocket, making it easy to lay a piece on top of it with the holes for the gauges. But, probably easier to make my plate than find the bezel.
I think you are right. Placing another piece of plastic over the one on the diesel bezel would put it out close to the edge of the raised lip. But my plan places it basically the same depth as the headlight/wiper switch panel.
I just need some time to get back to that effort. I've been working on the alternator, and just ran into a roadblock, as well as powder coating many things. But maybe I can knock out another attempt at the insert tomorrow. Thanks for the support.
Some didn't have gauges like this one, but they all mount below the column
What is that piece called?
I might be interested in adding one to my F150 automatic truck to have a place to mount some switches. If not I thought about tracking down a Foglamp dash switch used on these trucks to activate and deactivate the circuit I will have for my rollbar lights and pushbar lights if I add lights to the pushbar.
Enough of hi-jacking the topic, to get on topic, this is a interesting thread to follow though.
Here are gauges slipped (pressed) into the faceplate and the faceplate pressed into the pocket.
And a closeup:
Obviously it has to be painted, but so will whatever bezel I use and I'll glue the faceplate in the bezel and then paint all the black in one go. And now for a confession. I'd drawn the thing to have 1.625" holes, but I was using the boring head in the mill and got them to 1.610 and that was plenty for the gauge so I quit and pulled the faceplate off of the table. Then I discovered I was using the voltmeter as the test, and I'm not going to be using it as I've had the Ford ammeter converted to a voltmeter. And, wouldn't you know it, the temp and pressure gauges were almost 1.625". It is a royal pain to put work back on the mill and get it centered, so I did it by hand. Man, this acrylic is tough stuff!
It is a royal pain to put work back on the mill and get it centered, so I did it by hand. Man, this acrylic is tough stuff!
