So i ordered the DeWalt BiMetal 3 3/8" and 2 1/16" hole saws and got myself a sweet drill press.
Made it happen. Now I just have to figure out what color I'm going to powdercoat it and lay my carbon fiber over it.

New Vintage 1969 Series gauges for the 442.

2012442newgaugepanel.jpg

I can't believe I paid $90 for this stupid 3 gauge plastic chrome replacement panel, (total ripoff)

and now I'm going to chop it all up to accomodate the new flat panel holding the 6 gauges.
What's sad is I had a wore out one that I tossed I could have refurbished in black.

What's even worse is the fact the faux wood crap I also bought for $130 and that's gettin tossed too.
Serious rip for this stuff.....I should sell the new faux wood trim pieces.

 

nothing beats original or custom-those gauges look sweet

Ted

 

For $130, it seems like someone could put out real birdseye maple veneer for the dash. It's not like anyone ever looked at the sticker and thought it was real wood.

 

You don't have to chop that plastic one at all.With a little more craft,you can mount that new panel all by itself,or you can take the one that you just cut,and trace that onto a larger sheet,and make a 90* bend at the top,just like the original,and leave two tabs at the bottom,to bend behind it.I've done this a few times.

 

Very nice, I haven't removed my gauges yet, but is there anything behind the panel that can interfere with extra gauges?

 

Yes,there are supports or braces,which are metal,but depending on the placement,or how deep the reccess,you might not hit them.You can notch them or trim them,but I would not cut them out completely.

 

That does look good though Aces , I wanted to do something along that lines down the road ... I don't like my original set up real much ( especially with the " blank " one where there was suppose to be a clock !

 

As much as I like all of the custom arrangements to replace the big 3 guages,I just can't bring myself to change those in my 72.I have the clock,and it actually still works,and the speedo is original & jives with the mileage.I have my big tach in front of the left guage,since most of that function is in another aftermarket guage.I am in the process of making a custom dash,using an original plastic section,with crafty work,and a solid,uncut piece of woodgrain,then six 2 1/6" guages.No radio or heat controls.Hard to explain,and a long process to do,but will look cool when done.

I have also seen some take the stock 3-guages set-up,and leave that as-is,but squeeze in some small guages on the same panel,giving them the big 3 and 4 small ones.Although they did look a little crammed,they used a guage that matched pretty good.

 

I personally did it because I've seen a 1970 442 with the 6 gauge setup like this with turned steel custom bezel.
I fell in love with it, but I didn't care for the turned steel part. I like Gary's setup with the carbon fiber.

Personally I've NEVER been a fan of perimeter lit classic gauges.
I've always disliked how dim they were , so I restored mine with fresh white gloss paint inside.
Then even with LED's I'm just not happy with them.....I like them brighter.

These new one's are LED thru the gauge lighting and much much brighter.
I was going to fork out for Autometer UltraLite II's but they were nearly 2x the cost....like my Autometer Cobalts.
So I saved a bundle and still got LED gauges with full sweep electric.

Next I'm going to gut the car's 40 year old wiring harness and put in a whole new harness.
I like fresh starts.....

 

I definitely don't want to mess with my dash either , but I wouldn't mind something where the blank guage is , as long as it blended in with the other two ... having a blank one never looked right to me .

X2 Aces on the 40yr old wire replacement , and have fun replacing it .

 

I have been looking for a dash panel to replace the standard 3 gauge one for my 71 Cutlass. Were did you get the dash panel to make your 6 gauge display.

 

I did not like the blank plastic filler in my car either.So origionally I bought a correct clock off ebay or evil bay as some call it.I tried it when I got it but it did not work.The cost to ship back was not worth it so.I went to the junk yard found a clock in a car that worked and custom built mine.The clock works great and look much better than the plastic filler.The only thing I don't like is even with the lights it is not lit very well.You can't read the time almost at all at nite.

Wiring hmm had fun with that myself a year or two ago.What a mess that was.I made my own custom wiring harness from 7 wire trailer wire loom.Works great and we had it left over from a previous project.Was brand new on the spool and solved my problem.You guys would have been shocked with the redneck wire mess in my car.Lets just say I am glad I went over the wiring and repaired and replaced.

 

I love the gauges, I also like engine turned effect whether on laminate or metal, have you seen this company
http://www.alsacorp.com/products/she...ngine.turn.htm

I believe they have the carbon fibre look panels, if not there are a ton of companies making CF panels
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...iber_main.html

I was thinking to replace my gauges, But I actually want to replace the woodgrain with engine turned material ala GTO/Trans am just to be a little different.

I was looking at these but would use the 4 in 1 gauge, the speedo and get a 3 3/8 tach...


or these

 

Are you doing the whole dash in metal/black? If you can manage to get the fake wood off in one piece I'd be interested. My dash is cut out for a DIN chassis radio as well.

 

My panel isn't installed yet, but lights and control buttons have been installed.

003-2.jpg

Lee

 

@lee..... diggin it!!! very very nice...

 

I did the dash on my 72 with LED indicators but would have gone with one of these if I had found them.
http://www.newvintageusa.com/panels.html

http://www.snakebite.com.au/logodash...ach-p-494.html

 

I like the guages in this link , are they real expensive ?