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For a 1972 Olds, what size are the OEM gauge pods? Is it 3 3/8" ?
Speedhut sells a 3 3/8" Quad gauge that has the Fuel Level, Water Temp, Oil Pressure & Voltage in a single pod. It's a nice and clean install and style. Anyone have this gauge?
I installed them behind the factory bezel. I made mounting brackets out of sheet metal. I used the original gauge as a template....mounting "ears" and all. cut the 4" hole. Placed the gauge through the hole in the sheet metal, the used Speedhut's mounting ring to hold it in place. Using the original as a guide, I drilled holes in the same position to screw into the dash. The OEM bezel fits over the top of everything. Yes 4" is the correct size. When you take your bezel off you will see how large the original gauges are.
For a 1972 Olds, what size are the OEM gauge pods? Is it 3 3/8" ?
Speedhut sells a 3 3/8" Quad gauge that has the Fuel Level, Water Temp, Oil Pressure & Voltage in a single pod. It's a nice and clean install and style. Anyone have this gauge?
the builder of my ‘68 442 did the same gauges as David 26. He put in the GPS speedo which is a smart move.
Last edited by Frisbee_k9; Dec 30, 2019 at 02:32 PM.
Reason: Added text
I have Speedhut 3 3/8" gauge set in mine. They have been working great for 5 years. I did have the oil pressure sending unit go bad on me and they shipped another out same day. Great company to deal with, very customizable gauges and they look and work great. I do regret not getting 4" ones though.
I have Speedhut 3 3/8" gauge set in mine. They have been working great for 5 years. I did have the oil pressure sending unit go bad on me and they shipped another out same day. Great company to deal with, very customizable gauges and they look and work great. I do regret not getting 4" ones though.
I will go with the 4 inch for better viewing size.
When the oil pressure sending unit went bad, did it scare you? I assume the oil pressure should zero, which one would assume is an engine failure, not a gauge failure.
When the sending unit went bad the gauge would spike to 100psi whenever the engine was running. I wasnt concerned about it because my engine is only a couple years old and has always carried good pressure.
I took speedhut also, but I mounted them direct in the bezel, I found it hard to align behind. If you do it this way, dont take 4“ because you have to enlarge all holes which is not so funny.
If you mount it behind the bezel, as Dave did and as the original is, 4“ is ok. For this you have reproduce the original mounting situation. If you choose the easy way and mount it through the bezel like I did, I would suggest to take a smaller diameter, 4“ will not match the holes in the bezel.
I installed them behind the factory bezel. I made mounting brackets out of sheet metal. I used the original gauge as a template....mounting "ears" and all. cut the 4" hole. Placed the gauge through the hole in the sheet metal, the used Speedhut's mounting ring to hold it in place. Using the original as a guide, I drilled holes in the same position to screw into the dash. The OEM bezel fits over the top of everything. Yes 4" is the correct size. When you take your bezel off you will see how large the original gauges are.
Do you have any pics of the sheet metal bracket that you created to mount the gauges?
Pettrix:
The 4" SpeedHut gauges will fit behind the stock bezel the way the stock gauges did. If you plan to surface mount them like Levellord did, you should used the smaller 3-3/8" gauges. Some guys have gutted the factory gauges and used the outer shells to mount the SpeedHut gauges in the stock fashion. I chose to make a custom mounting plate with 3 holes for the SpeedHut gauges, the mounting plate will screw into the dash just like the stock gauges did. Here are some pics of my set-up:
I made this mounting plate from 16 gauge sheetmetal bought from Home Depot.
I clamped the sheetmetal between 2 pieces of 1/4" masonite to keep it from bending while cutting.
I used some rotary burrs like the ones used for porting cylinder heads to fine-tune the hole size and the shape of the plate until it fit into the dash.
The plate has notches and holes to fit the alignment tabs in the dash plastic.
I may need to grind a little off the bottom edge to clear the light housings above the wiper and heater controls.
The finished product (except missing the wood grain overlay).
Pettrix:
The 4" SpeedHut gauges will fit behind the stock bezel the way the stock gauges did. If you plan to surface mount them like Levellord did, you should used the smaller 3-3/8" gauges. Some guys have gutted the factory gauges and used the outer shells to mount the SpeedHut gauges in the stock fashion. I chose to make a custom mounting plate with 3 holes for the SpeedHut gauges, the mounting plate will screw into the dash just like the stock gauges did. Here are some pics of my set-up:
I made this mounting plate from 16 gauge sheetmetal bought from Home Depot.
I clamped the sheetmetal between 2 pieces of 1/4" masonite to keep it from bending while cutting.
I used some rotary burrs like the ones used for porting cylinder heads to fine-tune the hole size and the shape of the plate until it fit into the dash.
The plate has notches and holes to fit the alignment tabs in the dash plastic.
I may need to grind a little off the bottom edge to clear the light housings above the wiper and heater controls.
The finished product (except missing the wood grain overlay).
Pettrix:
I worked on this project for a few days in the evenings after work: probably 10-12 hours. I first made a cardboard template out of a Cheerios cereal box to refine the fit, testing in the dash. I then overlaid the bezel in the dash with the cardboard template behind and traced the 3 holes, located the centers of those holes and using a compass I drew 3 circles slightly bigger than the SpeedHut gauge housings. I even mocked everything up, installing the gauges into the cardboard template to be certain everything would line up properly. Once I was satisfied of the template, I traced the template to the sheetmetal and began cutting and grinding, test fitting as I went along. Definitely a lot of work but I wanted the SpeedHut gauges to fit like the factory parts. I'm using an electronic speed sender in the 200-4r tranny and the SpeedHut gauges even have an electronic speedo output wire that I plan to feed to a Rostra cruise control system to make road trips more comfortable.
