My car is overheating and im gonna see how hot it really gets. Im trying to install a temp gauge in my 83 but i dont know where to start routing it in through the firewall. Where did you guys put yours in? Its a sunpro mechanical gauge btw
Me too. As Kevin said, just tie it up really well. I put vac line around my capillary tube so when I tied it up, there would not be chafing on the cap tubing (I dont think this is necessary).
A stepped drill bit (Unibit) can be used to make a hole if needed (that mech sender is huge, which is why I used the steering boot).
That is a little personal, dont ya think? The gauge was not that cool.
I put the aftermarket sender in the stock location behind the dizzy and relo'd the stock sender and wire to the rear port on the lower driver's-side intake.
Just be sure you have enough capillary tube length to reach the sender location you desire, from where ever you mount the gauge. A 6' cap. tube line can be real close to not making it from some locations.
Ran mine along from the stock sending unit's location (intake manifold, driver's side, front) near the fuel rail, through the speedo cable's hole, up under the stock gauge cluster, and over to its happy little home in the middle o' the dash. Making that last bend at the dash without kinking the tubing was a bit tricky, but no problems. The reason the temp unit doesn't match the others is because I swapped in an Equus; the Autometer temp gauge has this springy coil crap around the temp line, and it buzzes/rattles like mad with the engine RPM's, and I didn't want to have to zip-tie it down every 3 inches.
Btw, be sure to use some Teflon tape on the brass fittings. Makes getting 'em out later a lot easier, and prevents leaks.
(NOTE: The black cover thing over the tri-gauge setup is actually the bracket for the factory radio amplifier that I zip-tied into place. Hey, it was free, and the color matched, soooooo... )