Spent some time yesterday investigating gauges. Just wondering if anyone has installed Dakota Digital VHX gauges and what your opinions of them are. Look up aftermarket gauges for a 68 Cutlass and that's what pops up endlessly.

I like the VHX package but am not sure I love it. Problem is with Olds is it's three 4.5" openings in the dash that have what look like 3 3/8" instruments in them. That means a bezel that sets them back a bit too much and limits visibility and I can barely see that tik-tok-tach. I intend to change the steering wheel to help with that but it won't really fix anything. I can't help but wonder if for a good chunk of $$ and effort if the DD will be better lit but equally buried. As a side note DD requires the use of their oil pressure, coolant temp and speed sensors. Easily swapped but there are functional single wire OEM gauges in use and maybe a different gauge wouldn't be a bad idea to look at ?

Looking into Auto Meter to see if I can put a larger instrument in those sockets and maybe just use the sensors that are already there. I'd be curious to hear about mounting options if anyone's done that or has any pics.
Thanks

 

I used Autometer analog pyrometer, coolant temperature sensor and vacuum gauge in my 86 Ford F250. Here's a thread with a pic.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...gh-to-tan.html

 

Somewhere on this forum I found a reference to Speedhut and I think I found a solution so I owe thanks to some guy ... somewhere ... with an Olds ... can't find the thread now .....

Right now these look pretty good and this is me just sort of thinking out loud I'll probably have to swap out the old flasher unit with an electronic one as the new units are all LED - I'm not expecting them to be dimmable with the original headlight switch. To do what the OEM GEN lamp does I'll also have to add an inline resistor or incandescent bulb to use on the one wire alternator's excite lead. The car has a TKO600 in it and right now is using the factory mechanical speedo. Tremec also provided a two wire VSS and it's just sitting there doing nothing.

I have to go poke around a bit to see about mounting a 4" gauge on those openings, doesn't look too hard.

4" Programmable Speedometer | 160 MPH Black Dial w/Turn Signals and High Beams R4-S12
4" Cobra Tachometer | 8K RPM L4-TC3-COB
4" Quad Gauge - Oil Temp, Volts, Oil psi, Fuel Level R4-QG4

 

There are several companies that sell aftermarket gauges. Pick the one that appeals to you, then call them up to see what sending units you need and what wiring changes you have to do. Then make make your decision. Good Luck..

 

Speedhut makes nice stuff, I had them make a tach for my 70, very happy with results.

 

I'd be interested in that Tach if you want to offset the cost of your new gauges.

 

Debating 4" versus 4.5". In this case 114mm vs 105mm to account for the trim ring.

Right now I think the smaller of the two, it'll be set back a bit but not as much as OEM and it's still a bigger gauge. I'll have to go maybe pull one of the existing gauges to see what I have to work with in terms of mounting, I might have to modify those bezels.

 

I did the 3 3/8 tach from speedhut, great gauge but that size it tiny. I put it in the dummy clock space, I just cut the housing out and stuck the gauge in there and mounted it. Im not that old yet so I can see it but I might swap to a 4.5" before I go ordering the other 2 gauges next year... 3 3/8 is just to small doesnt look oem at all.

 

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...gauges-123453/

post 4 that guy has the same dash as you with 4" gauges

 

I went with the Dakota Digital VHX when I did my restoration and love the cluster gages.