Aftermarket Gauge Questions

[saiyaneye]

Okay, I am trying to do shit to my car while I can't drive it because of my license revocation. So now I want to put some aftermarket gauges in my car. I have already picked out what ones I would like to put in, but I just don't know what exactly I would need to get them to work properly. I am a dummy :p

Speedometer
Tachometer
Fuel
Also this clock for the middle :p

What adapters/sending units do i need? Basically what else do I need to get with these gauges and where would I hook up a tach? Also so, would I just rip out the whole instrument panel? Or gut the instrument panel all but the shift indicator and what lights I want to keep?

[1987cp]

Mechanical speedo - you'll just need a speedo cable with the 5/8" threaded end.

Tach - +12, ground, and a wire to the negative side of your ignition coil.

Fuel gauge - get #1816, the 73-10 Ohm model, and hook it to your stock sender.

Lights, just wire into the stock dash lights. The light for the heater controls is one convenient place to tap off from.

I'm currently considering making a panel to sit inside a stock LTD gauge area, basically it looks like just a 1/8" metal plate that screws in place of the stock cluster should do the trick, and then reinstall the plastic cover over it. You may want to include turn signal and high beam indicators and maybe adapt the stock shift indicator.


What happened with your driver's license?

[saiyaneye]

I prob could of avoided all of this, but i started to run away from the cops and threw three oz of weed out of the car that wasn't found , (i didn't know my LTD could hit a buck) I drank a fifth of whiskey and blew a .21 and possession of marijuana two roaches and a whole rack of other charges, can't drive until Jan 31, 2010. All in the wonderful state of Kentucky. The thing is I was driving just fine, I got pulled over for driving 10 over.

So would you gut the instrument cluster of everything but warning lights and stuff? What are the dimensions for mounting these gauges. What is the max size gauge i can put in there?

[Enigma]

for future reference... you already drive a grandpa car. It is so anti-radar by design. (saved my ass many a time) When having/driving illegal, DRIVE LIKE A GRANDPA. Obey all traffic laws and NEVER speed. Getting there one minute later beats getting your license taken away.
As for the gauges, you already have a speedometer and fuel gauge. You'd be better off getting oil pressure, water temp, and trans temp gauges, IMHO. It would save you ALOT of headaches. Take the time to do performance and reliability upgrades.

[1987cp]

I wouldn't gut the cluster, I'd remove it entirely and build a new one if you want to go that route. Though Enigma has an excellent point about the more important gauges; if and when I try my hand at the custom-cluster-in-stock-LTD-dash thing, I'm going to do my best to fit everything in there instead of having to mount the extra gauges elsewhere. The set of Autometer gauges I own includes 3-3/8" tach/speedo and 2-1/16" fuel, oil, volts, and water, though the tach at least can be had in 2-1/16" in several models.

Here's hoping that in the future you quit the weed and take it easy on the booze, thus removing nearly all temptation to run from the police! Especially since my last ticket, I make extra sure to drive VERY carefully just because a white station wagon seems to be a huge cop magnet, and I've been reprimanded but not ticketed twice in this area for cracked windshields. The black Vic, by comparison, seems to go entirely unnoticed wherever it goes, but then, I haven't gotten caught speeding or screeching in it, either.

[85crownHPP]

You dont need any adapters to make the tach work, that and the gauges should come with everything you need.
Also you definitely dont need to gut anything... you can tap power/ground/lights very easily without taking apart much more than the ashtray.