This is to follow up from another thread. Below is a pictorial of how I put together my latest dash and tach housing.

This style is not for everyone but ideas are ideas and sometimes it gives a spark to something completely different.

First was to get a junkyard dash pod, a few minutes of disassemly will get you to the basic housing. Now you have the choice of keeping the ribs and working with three areas or opening it up completely. I opted for the ribs and with my locations sorted out I clearanced the empty housing for the gauges, in this case Autometer 3 3/8" speedo and two 2 1/16" fuel level gauges (one for fuel and one for the water/methanol tank).



Now to fit them out comes the dremel again and the center section was cutout completely and the two sides just inside the trim ring.



Next was to cut the aluminum plates to fit in the dash, I had another one for fitting puposes so as not to scape the paint up.



Since the truck did not have AC I was able to use the side portion for switches and the stereo delete gave me room for more gauges. Once again aluminum plate was used and epoxied into place.



A little test fitting to check for clearances, LEDs are used for blinkers. There is no high beam light, I use 55/100 watt halogen bulbs so I know when they are on .



Finally the assembley;







So with that done I wanted something for the monster tach. I saw an episode of Muscle Car when Lou was on and he mentioned using a piece of exhaust pipe as a housing. Well try to find a tight radius 5" exhaust pipe, I finally got one;



Then a template of how it would need to be cut was taken from the truck with cardboard, the base was trimmed and the front to ensure it didn't overhang the dash pad. The shift light was taken apart to see what was in the big tube, guess what....just a bulb as everything else is in the tach housing. Some holes were cut to allow access for wiring.



Brackets were welded inside to support the tach and allow mounting. The monster tach is back heavy so the case was removed and a bolt welded on to allow support in the rear.




So how to work in the shift light, I knew the shape I wanted but after several failed attempts with metal I tried fiberglass. Sign foam was used for the core shape and then waxed and fiberglassed. The front of the shift light housing was used to allow access to the bulb;









I took the housing to a painter friend who gave it a skim of body fill to ensure smooth and then shot it in a matte black;



And finally mounted to the dash. It's secure and even though it's very "in your face" you look past it when driving but you sure know when you bang off the shift limiter, retina burn when the light cover is off



Hope that helps get someone else motivated to try something soon.

 

Like you said it is not for everyone, but pretty sweet for your application.

 

Is there a dash with round openings that will fit in my 73? I have done something similar to your setup before but I don't want round gauges in square openings.

 

I love it!! Now I want to see the engine.

Earl

 

When you attached that tach housing, I'm assuming you went in from underneath the dash pad? Did you use a backing plate?

Edit: now that I look at it, looks like you went in from under the metal section of the dash...

 

Hey thats awesome thanks I'll just have to try this now.

 

You're right, two bolts under the metal portion of the dash and a third hole for wiring.

 

So you just used epoxy to hold the alloy plate in the radio location? I was also going to mount 2 or 3 guages in that location, but wasn't sure how to attach the mounting plate.

Josh

 

Yeah, don't like the tach at all. Way too big. Like the other gauges though. I can appreciate all the work that went into it.

 

I had all kinds of ideas for mounting the gauge plate, each one more complicated then the last. I thought I would try epoxy as a KISS principle test run and to my surprise it held great.

berry1234, I understand it's a love it or hate thing. When it's being driven hard it helps out but for a daily driver I wouldn't recommend it. Kinda like putting lambo door hinges on, unless that's your thing

 

Very nice indeed!! What did you use to cut the aluminum plates with?? They look precise...

 

Just a hacksaw and then cleaned up.

 

I totally get the purpose. It's not a rotary engine where you can hang out at 8K rpms for long .

 

Isn't that the truth

 

My compliments on a job well done. OBCB