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What Gauges Would You Say Are Crucial

  • Thread starter Thread starter paczowski123
  • Start date Start date Dec 12, 2012
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paczowski123

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Nov 28, 2012
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Dec 12, 2012
#1
  • Dec 12, 2012
  • #1
Im getting ready to purchase my aftermarket gauges and a pod. But im torn as to what my third gauge would be. I WAS going to get Water Temp, Oil Press, And Volt. However now im torn to whether an oil temp gauge would be a better option than the volt gauge as a volt gauge seems kind of like i can hold off until i add a second vent pod or what not. For my Initial three Gauge setup what would yall think would be the best options? Any Pictures of your setup would be nice too if you feel so inclined.
 

srtthis

the guy doing it does every local racers rear end
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#2
  • Dec 12, 2012
  • #2
depends on what the combo is...
i had boost oil pressure and trans temp in my lightning.
 
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paczowski123

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#3
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No boost, mildly built 5.0/5speed.
 

89stang1

Stroked and Juiced
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#4
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for a na car im using a tach, oil pressure and water temp in my 3 gauge dash pod
 
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paczowski123

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#5
  • Dec 12, 2012
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Whoops, forgot to mention i have a 5" tach.
 
S

smarek

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#6
  • Dec 12, 2012
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paczowski123 said:
Whoops, forgot to mention i have a 5" tach.
Click to expand...
I've got A/F, fuel pressure and boost/vacuum in mine but I've got a blower so I watch A/F and fuel pressure all the time. A/F gets spendy (around $500) and you need to have a bung welded into your exhaust for the wide band O2 sensor.
 

David Pepiton

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Dec 17, 2011
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Dec 12, 2012
#7
  • Dec 12, 2012
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for a NA setup? how well do the stock gauges work? are you looking for mechanical or electric? in my opinion for you setup I would run digital coolant temp, digital oil pressure and a wideband afr gauge. looking at a sweep gauge and a actual number are very different. when I get my 3 gauge A pillar I'm going with those 3 and if I ever boost Ill put the boost gauge and afr on my dash and a trans temp on the pillar.

you could always go with something like this:

http://www.mc-machine.com/images/'87-'89 Dash plates, customer/target1.html
 
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paczowski123

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Dec 12, 2012
#8
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The reason in replacing it I don't trust the stockers even to drive the car at the moment. They don't make me feel To comfortable. I'm doing electric as I don't want hot fluids or oil coming into the driver area. My friends mechanical oil press sprung a leak and ruined his interior.so ill never go that route. And digital is a little above my price range I'm doing more of a budget build.
 
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smarek

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#9
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Oops, pillar pod gauges are oil pressure, boost/vacuum and fuel pressure, A/F is a standalone autometer on top of dash just left of steering wheel for easy viewing. For a NA set-up I'd still keep the boost/vacuum. The vacuum has given me some early indications of how the engine is running, if it drops below 10" when cruising the freeway the engine is starting to work harder than normal so I know something is going south. Except for the A/F mine are all electric sweep and are fine for me. Digital A/F is a must in my book (the time between too lean and boom is pretty short in my experience) , mine is booth sweep and digital and the sweep is too fast to read but I can pretty much catch the digital read out.
 
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paczowski123

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Dec 12, 2012
#10
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  • #10
Ill look into that, the vacuum may be something I add later but I appreciate the recommendation!
 
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paczowski123

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#11
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If I were to choose between oil temp and volt which would y'all recommend?
 

Dino Dino Bambino

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Dec 12, 2012
#12
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  • #12
paczowski123 said:
Im getting ready to purchase my aftermarket gauges and a pod. But im torn as to what my third gauge would be. I WAS going to get Water Temp, Oil Press, And Volt. However now im torn to whether an oil temp gauge would be a better option than the volt gauge as a volt gauge seems kind of like i can hold off until i add a second vent pod or what not. For my Initial three Gauge setup what would yall think would be the best options? Any Pictures of your setup would be nice too if you feel so inclined.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest oil pressure ('cause stocker is a dummy gauge), oil temperature, and wideband AFR.
 

Exile

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Apr 3, 2012
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Dallas, Tx
Dec 12, 2012
#13
  • Dec 12, 2012
  • #13
paczowski123 said:
If I were to choose between oil temp and volt which would y'all recommend?
Click to expand...
Oil, and Water temp gauges are a must. For the 3rd gauge I would do volts myself...
 

MFE92

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Aug 25, 2010
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Dec 12, 2012
#14
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  • #14
Depends on how you're using the car. Oil temp only matters if it's too cold or too hot. Too cold is easy to get around, just don't beat on it until your coolant comes up to temp. You're not going to have to worry about oil temp being too high unless you're beating on the car with full-throttle bursts non-stop for several minutes straight, e.g. road course. So unless your usage includes that kind of thing, don't worry about it.
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
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#15
  • Dec 13, 2012
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For a non-track NA car, I like your original idea.
 

Bill Gordon

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Sep 20, 2012
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Broomfield, CO
Dec 18, 2012
#16
  • Dec 18, 2012
  • #16
I would do the volt gauge, for a DD oil temp is not needed.
I just installed the dash pod with 5" tach, volts and vac/boost (blower install coming up) and vent pod with oil psi and water temp (all Autometer Phantom electric, except boost). It's amazing how inaccurate stock gauges are!
 

rd

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Dec 18, 2012
#17
  • Dec 18, 2012
  • #17
Oil, water, and volts would be my choices. My 82 track toy has all the stock gages, they work, I verifed with other gages over the years. I have a shift lite. Wideband would be nice.

For a drag car, you are not going to need gages except for the staging lanes, (temp), and return road.
 
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