70vert

I've got the NPD brass float sender after I had issues with the MU plastic float sender. Thanks again for all the notes - they should prove useful at install time. Very dumb question, but with your temp gauge/gas gauge issue, you're sure you didn't just reverse the two? If your temp gauge goes up and down when you shake the car but steadily goes down as you drive it . . . might be reversed? If the gas gauge goes up after the car warms up then that's a sure sign. ;)

I've got the NPD brass float sender after I had issues with the MU plastic float sender. Thanks again for all the notes - they should prove useful at install time. Very dumb question, but with your temp gauge/gas gauge issue, you're sure you didn't just reverse the two? If your temp gauge goes up and down when you shake the car but steadily goes down as you drive it . . . might be reversed? If the gas gauge goes up after the car warms up then that's a sure sign. ;)

(cutting and pasting your post to send to the shop owner). It's good to hear the AAW wiring harness works well with that. I think I'll go with the '69 series backlit gauges - those look the best, and around the $1,000 range isn't bad compared to a JME cluster. Midrange price for great quality and original looks? I'll take it. I don't know if they've had any experience with the AAW harnesses but he'll get back to me after the weekend - he seemed somewhat inclined to go the AAW route as well. Getting excited - this little setback was just the kick in the pants I needed to find this thread and move forward on gauges. Thanks 70mstang and 69stang.com!

(cutting and pasting your post to send to the shop owner). It's good to hear the AAW wiring harness works well with that. I think I'll go with the '69 series backlit gauges - those look the best, and around the $1,000 range isn't bad compared to a JME cluster. Midrange price for great quality and original looks? I'll take it. I don't know if they've had any experience with the AAW harnesses but he'll get back to me after the weekend - he seemed somewhat inclined to go the AAW route as well. Getting excited - this little setback was just the kick in the pants I needed to find this thread and move forward on gauges. Thanks 70mstang and 69stang.com!

Ok, I had a puff of smoke from under the dash last week, the car died, and I had to be towed out of a tunnel last week. Caldecott Tunnel if you're familiar with the Bay Area. Long story short, my printed circuit is now fried and I am on the hunt for a new dash cluster rather than buying a new printed circuit. JME costs a lot and takes a while, Classic Instruments isn't producing these yet, and this looks like a great option. My car is at a local Mustang shop that it was towed to and I don't have a ton of time to research and wait for new parts. The set of gauges above look perfect. I guess a few questions spring to mind: 1. How long did you have to wait? 2. Would this simplify the wiring and completely replace the stock harness? http://blogs.mustangmonthly.com/6742499/miscellaneous/american-autowires-1970-mustang-classic-update-harness/index.html

Ok, I had a puff of smoke from under the dash last week, the car died, and I had to be towed out of a tunnel last week. Caldecott Tunnel if you're familiar with the Bay Area. Long story short, my printed circuit is now fried and I am on the hunt for a new dash cluster rather than buying a new printed circuit. JME costs a lot and takes a while, Classic Instruments isn't producing these yet, and this looks like a great option. My car is at a local Mustang shop that it was towed to and I don't have a ton of time to research and wait for new parts. The set of gauges above look perfect. I guess a few questions spring to mind: 1. How long did you have to wait? 2. Would this simplify the wiring and completely replace the stock harness? http://blogs.mustangmonthly.com/6742499/miscellaneous/american-autowires-1970-mustang-classic-update-harness/index.html

Hey all, Just an update. I haven't gone the JME route yet - I'm sitting tight with just the OE gauges and the exhaust drone to tell me my RPM. :roll eyes: I did go to a Good Guys show here a couple weeks ago and talked to Classic Instruments again. Apparently they are actively working on (meaning: building) the 1969 bezel and gauge combo and the '70 is in the initial stages. I just contacted them by email with the following: "Dear Classic Instruments, Writing for myself and on behalf of some other '69 and '70 Mustang owners on various forums - 69stang.com, forums.vintage-mustang.com, and stangnet.com . There are users on each forum who are familiar with your quality and are waiting to see when/if these will be in production. I talked to one of your reps at the Good Guys show in Pleasanton and he mentioned that the '69 clusters are physically being produced right now and the '70s are in the initial stages. Any more info you can give? I have been holding off on gauges to see what you guys come up with, and I know there are a bunch of other guys in the same boat." I'll let you know what they come back with, but if anyone else is still interested, it might be worthwhile to drop them a line. I've been driving the car, but not as much as I'd like to - I seem to have a stuck needle (debris) issue with the Holley 4150 every few weeks. Easy to fix, but an annoyance.

I would add that a great price would make them sell like hotcakes from Classic Instruments, BUT if they do an amazing job on them and live up to their motto - "Our goal is simple ... Perfection." I might be willing to pay top dollar for a really nice piece of work that would throw caution to the wind. Depending on this year's tax return that is, lol.

Stephen, email Classic Instruments at info@classicinstruments.com if you're in the market. The more people contact them and the more specifics they have, the better the chance that these will be produced and we'll have a great option . . . .

Here's another option - "New Vintage USA" - got it from a Pro-Touring.com email. Apparently they have different "series" of gauges and they can fit them into your existing dash: http://newvintageusa.com/ I could swear I saw a pic of their gauges in a Mustang cluster on this site but I can't find it. It seems like a send-your-gauge-cluster-we-install-the-gauges type of deal, but cheaper than JME.

Hey all, I contacted Classic Instruments after talking to one of their reps at a Good Guys show. I mentioned that I was looking at buying a JME cluster but wanted to know if Classic Instruments has anything in the works for our cars. They've done a '67-'68 cluster, and I would love to see a '69-70 cluster. The rep said that they had something in the works and it would come out in the summer, and that I should contact them. The first part wasn't necessarily true, but I and a guy from VMF (Alan MacDougall, I think he's on here too?) are in contact with him, sending him links to forum posts and trying to gauge demand. (pun intended) :biggrin: If you're not happy with the Year One DIY offering, don't want the JME wait time, (although I am still considering one if Classic Instruments has no plans) and are a potential customer, email adam at classic instruments dot com . (you can figure out the email address from that, didn't want the spambots to get him) They are considering products for the 2011 model year at this time. If nothing else - you know about 99% of us are looking for a tach dash if we don't have one already!

I think that's the Autolite 2100. It's what I had on my original '70 302. Not sure why you're asking, but the basic answer is "slim to none". ;) With that carb and the restrictive exhaust ports, and stock exhaust manifold, you've got that 302 in a chokehold and constipated to boot. It's a great carb for mpg and reliability, but for performance it's not much use. Why do you ask?

Hey, we all get reamed on pricing regularly compared to the Chebby guys anyway. But at least I won't be wearing a strap-on (tach) lol - my steering column can do just fine on its own.

I mean, look at this. THIS is '60s-early '70s style.

Okay, these Stewart Warner "green line" gauges from Summit got me thinking: http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=green%20line&dds=1 but the gauge size tops out at about 3 3/8 for the speedo and tach, and the JME and Year One (and Year One doesn't have woodgrain) have openings for 5" gauges. (like stock, I assume?) I imagine you could fiberglass in the opening if you were in love with these Stewart Warner gauges, so I posted them up here if anyone's interested in that "green glow on black face" look, and I think these units look great. Probably won't be on my ride, but they are classy gauges. I'm still down for the JME dash down the road.

@stangme428 - I know, right?? If we can have games like Need for Speed, etc., that have great graphics for their gauges why can't those same gauges be used for real automotive applications? You would just have to turn a real input from a tach, electric speedo sender, oil pressure sender, fuel sender, etc., into a virtual software input that one of these programs understand. You could have: 1. Custom graphics backgrounds for whatever sort of gauges you wanted, and you could even change these on the fly. OEM, hot rod gauges, modern digital instrumentation, whatever you want. Just like changing your desktop background on a computer. 2. I had thought of custom round LCD screens, but you might have a great point there. It might be far, far easier to give a computer a 4x3 ratio monitor and put a round gauge smack in the middle or wherever you want it. Otherwise, you might have to do entirely new round displays. I strongly believe this is in the future of hot rodding and restomodding, but how many years out is it? 3. That 4x3 ratio monitor would have to be pretty small in size to fit two of them side to side for speedo, tach, etc. The bezels would get in each others' way. Maybe two 16x9 ratio monitors side to side with multiple gauges on each would do it? 4. This is way too much project for me to even think about right now, but it would just require a software developer and a car guy to get together to figure out the positioning and how to convert the electric sensor signals into something software can understand. Maybe it all goes to a central Mac Mini via USB? There is room for a Mac Mini in the center of our dash if you have no A/C vents. @rchappelear - yeah, that's one negative. I suppose you could modify the bezel by just chamfering the edge, rounding out the chamfer, if there's enough material behind it, and putting whatever trim over that you like. But it is an expensive solution if you have to do further modification. I think I'll just have to live with the sharp edge for the short term. It looks like the LED greenish glow from the outside will be reasonably close to OEM, though brighter, so I can live with that.

heh, you got me excited there for a minute. (see thread above)

actually, Pak, what I should have said is "It looks absolutely perfect on a '69 convertible, but something about it just doesn't mesh with a '70. :biggrin::thumbup:

yeah, I've thought about that, and no offense to the guys who have done a great job with their hood-mounted tach installs (I've seen a few good-looking ones) but it's just not for me on this build. There are things I don't like about the JME - the sharp transition and lack of a bevel between the woodgrain and the recess for the gauges, and the lack of a true OEM appearance on the Autometer gauges - they're OK, but you don't get that classic feel so much. Maybe with the green glow you get a bit of it.:001_unsure: That's why I was hoping for a green-glow photo, but maybe I'll be the guy to put that up later here. :biggrin: I also kind of like that I'm not tied to a fragile printed circuit board anymore, and I'm joining the ranks of some of the hot rod guys where there's a lot of known plug-and-play solutions. But I'm giving up some of that OEM look, but I think it's as close to OEM as I'm going to get without fabbing up my own fiberglass solution with better transitions and bezels, which I'm really not ready to do at this stage . . . compromises, compromises . . .

Hey all, I've been debating for years, since I'm trying to keep a stock-appearing interior, aftermarket dash clusters, strap-on-steering-column-tachs, and complaining to myself about the price of OEM tach dash clusters and waiting for the right product to come around. I've finally compromised and am pretty certain that a JME woodgrain-with-black-face-cluster is in my future. I've got a few questions: Some background: I have a TKO600, so an electric speedo should be a snap. I originally had a Deluxe interior with the light walnut or light teak woodgrain. I'm at the final stages of an engine rebuild, so have to choose an electric oil pressure sender, and I've never had a tach, so it would be very, very nice to finally have one. :biggrin: http://www.jmeenterprises.com/69dash.shtml 1. Does anybody have pics of this installed, with the woodgrain and black face gauges a la OEM deluxe interior? Did it come with green LED illumination or did you have to upgrade? 2. If anyone has done the green LED upgrade on ANY black-face Autometer gauge or the JME in particular, how did it look? Stock-like, too bright, just fine? (any JME owner with black-face gauges, or maybe any Autometer user too) 3. If anyone ordered from Mustang Depot, are they still taking a long time to ship? (any JME dash owner) 4. How easy is it to install with an electric speedo and electric sensor on the trans? (any JME dash owner) The engine will probably go into the car with no tach and no oil pressure sensor right now just to get it on the road, but I'm pretty sure this is in my future, just checking a few things. Now what we REALLY need is totally digital transflective LED-backlit screens where everything is computer-controlled and the display isn't a dial at all but a customizable computer program for various gauge "looks". But that's my dream. Thanks in advance! 70vert

I've been thinking about Spectre's kits in general, but this could be an interesting contribution to the hood clearance discussion - this kit with inline filters in the snorkels requires only 2.4" clearance from hood to carb. This might be a good option for those with clearance issues: http://www.spectreperformance.com/#CATALOG.7739

I've been thinking about Spectre's kits in general, but this could be an interesting contribution to the hood clearance discussion - this kit with inline filters in the snorkels requires only 2.4" clearance from hood to carb. This might be a good option for those with clearance issues: http://www.spectreperformance.com/#CATALOG.7739

Would you mind if I weigh my all-AL pushrod 351w stroker and post the weight on here? :wink: You could have a powerful, light engine in a much smaller footprint and keep your shock towers. :biggrin:

Would you mind if I weigh my all-AL pushrod 351w stroker and post the weight on here? :wink: You could have a powerful, light engine in a much smaller footprint and keep your shock towers. :biggrin:

@Buckeye: that's a great guide and should help everyone on this thread. I'm going to see what exactly needs to be done and how much clearance there is when the engine's actually in the car and might use that as a guide to getting the air cleaner assembly flatter under the hood instead of pointed up in the front. @buening: not ready yet for a hood scoop, but if I did one I would lean towards the shorter-but-still-429-style Cougar Eliminator style scoop - pointed in front with the hood bulge disappearing under it. I have to study more convertibles if I have to do the scoop to see what I really like. A hood scoop can really change the look of the car and then you have to think stripe kits, graphics, etc. A little more than I wanted to wrap my head around right now.