gauge questions...????

[ninety15.0]

Hey guys, well I think its time to get rid of the crappy stock guages, but i have a few questions. I know i want water temp and oil pressure, and i will definately be going with autometers. Should i go with mechanical or electric? My gut feeling is that mechanical will be the most reliable and isnt dependant on the finicky fox body wiring. What do i need for sending units? The stock pieces are electrical so the oil press senging unit will not work, correct? I will probalby need to tap into the radiator, but where? I dont think the gauges come with the sending units do they? My last question has to do with those boost/vac guages. I plan on a blower in the next year or so, but i like the idea of having a vac gauge for an NA car, and i might aswell take care of it now while im in there. Will that combo boost/vac guage work if i tap into an extra manifold vac port? If you have any personal experience with this type of set up or some pictures, i would really appreciate it!! Also where should i put them....im either thinkin the tripple gauge cage or the a pillar?!?!? thanx guys

 

[GT_Rich]

answers...

I can answer all of your questions except the vac/boost gauge.

I just installed AutoMeter Sport Comp electric water temp, oil press, and tachometer this week. Aftermarket electric gauges are NOT dependent on stock wiring or sending units. AM gauges come with new sending units, as well as adapters to go into the stock locations where the old sending units were. Then you run new wires from the sending units back to the new gauges. It's all straight forward and simple, just tedious and time consuming if you want it to look right. Incase your AM gauges don't come with adapters, you need a 1/4 to 1/8 NPT reducer for oil pressure and a 3/8 to 1/8NPT reducer for water temp (AM gauges are all 1/8 male NPT, so you have to adapt from there). Some people use a tee on the oil pressure and keep the stock sending unit and gauge working. Some also tap the thermostat housing and use that for either the AM sending unit or the stock sending unit. On my install, I removed the stock sending units all together and have "dead" gauges in the stock location. My oil pressure sending unit was shot anyways, so there wasn't much point in keeping it hooked up.

The electric gauges are still full sweep and still seem very accurate and responsive (I can see my oil pressure fluctuate at a rate consistent my tach.). Therefore, I would suggest sticking with electric gauges. Here's a pic of my install (as you can see, I chose the a-pillar for mounting b/c it keeps important gauges in your line of sight at all times).

 

[1SLO306]

i have mechanical gauges, reads awesome!!!!

 

[89Notch]

I would say go with mechanical. The water temp goes into the same place that the stock one does except it basically sticks a thermometer in there. The only thing I would recommend is for the oil gauge if you go mechanical don't use the tubing it gives you buy copper tubing and you won't have any problems. It is all pretty simple, it comes with everything you need and instructions.

 

[ninety15.0]

Thank you all for the advice, i really appreciate it. GT_rich that setup looks nice, i think i will go with the pillar guage setup...i think my vents are a little to valuable to close off. I noticed that you could order the mech Oil Press. gauge with the 6' of copper tubing instead of the nylon, so i was planning on doing that, thanx for the reassurance. Is that copper tubing easy to bend into place? Does anyone have experience with that vac/boost gauge, can i use it properly as a vac gauge on an NA car? thanks for the help guys!

 

[Jaswir]

which is easyer to install mechanical or electric?

 

[ninety15.0]

probly electrical

 

[HISSIN50]

can i use it properly as a vac gauge on an NA car? thanks for the help guys!

You can use a boost/vac gauge on a N/A car. Just install a Tee (or use an unusued port) at the vac tree.

I agree that electric are generally easier to install (with less risk of leakage down the line). But if you dont mind mixin and matching, elec temp gauges are worth the effort (there's no coolant in the line).