Murphy Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Well boys, I finally have finished my upgrade to gauges from idiot lights. As many of you know......I always put my own twist on things so I thought I would share. I need to back up an year or so, so this all makes sense. I had done a 4 speed conversion from auto/column shift car over a year ago and at that time I pulled the clock and install a Shiftworks tach in its place. So when I purchased the gauge upgrade kit from Sonnie several months ago, I talked him into leaving out the factory tach and received a fair discount. Now I didn't want the ammeter either, I wanted a volt meter, so I contacted Gary (The Tachman) as he does wonderful work in restoring/modifying gauges. He converted the ammeter to a voltmeter and I also had him convert the new small fuel gauge to an oil pressure gauge. You see, I wanted to keep the large fuel gauge in place from the factory setup. I also acquired a used speedometer (floorshift version) cause I need to get rid of the gear selector in my current speedometer. (remember I had a column shift automatic) Gary refurbished only the dial of the speedometer and then I simple removed the gear selector mechanism and replace the dial face only. Still with me? Now the fun begins, modifying the new PCB to accommodate my rearrangement of gauges. I need to thank Dennis and others for the write up on the gauge conversion cause it was extremely helpful. Sonnie's instructions were accurate but a bit criptic and difficult to read. Since I am not using a ammeter or the factory tach, I only needed to modify the main gaugepod connector pinouts and not even touch the firewall connector. Big relief. After tracing out each pinout and with the notes from Gary, it was actually quite easy. Yes, I had to pull out the soldering iron but I've been using one for 20 yrs so no biggie. I'll display the photos below for you viewing pleasure. One more item, I replaced my gauge lens also as it had lots of swirly scratches and no better time to do it. Lastly, I needed to replace my oil pressure switch. Again, Gary the Tachman came thru. He had the part number and pictures of that upgrade. It is a pressure switch from a 69 Chevelle as that was the only year GM used an electric switch in a car. This switch was common in the pickup line clear up to the late 70's so it was easy to find. I had to do a little plumbing to get the sending unit above intake as it is fairly large, as you can see in the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCfan Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Nothing like having it just the way you want it, eh Murray?! Very clever conversion! You must have equal amounts of patience and persistence! However, twenty years from now, the next owner of your Monte will be trying to convince all other club members that every '71 Monte was built that way or that his was a custom factory order because it looks like it came from the factory that way. Nice job!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted July 3, 2016 Author Share Posted July 3, 2016 Thanks Dennis, hadn't thought about that. Maybe I should stick a note up in the dash somewhere? Quick question for everyone, how accurate are these gauges? (volts, temp, oil pressure) everything seems a bit high? Voltage in at the back of the volt gauge is 13.3 at idle but gauge shows near 15.......Temp gauge shows 200 but the engine is cold and a 180 thermostat is installed, oil pressure shows 60 but does fluctuate when rpms increase. The gauges go to zero when turned off so they appear to operate correctly?? Maybe I'm too accustom to modern vehicles that seem very accurate.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo's70MCs Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Murray, nice work it looks great. I like the idea and the cleaner look to the cluster overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 A few more pics.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Modern isn't all that great IMO. (My 2014 or 2016 Buick LaCrosse dash) I haven't hit 170 MPH yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I have tach man's oil pressure gauge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 Jared, how accurate do you think it reads? What does your gauge read at idle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Well I might have to send it back because it's barely reading now, my grandpa's car reads over 40 at idle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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