Dash Bezels and Gauge Clusters

[69MONSTER 10]

who has installed gauge clusters like the jme or the one from year one can i see some pict

thanks 69 monster

[Cantedvalve 128]

Hello fellow Hoosier!

 

I have the year one panel for my 1970. My only complaint is that it really isnt a 69-70 piece, as the the gauge panel on those years had differences, particularly around the steering column. I havent figures out what I am going to do about it. I have the lower trim piece for a 69 column, but it doesnt quite fit... yet.

 

Fits well. Nice and sturdy. No provisions for turn signals or other dash lights (brake warning, brights). That gap in the upper middle of the panel was NOT on mine... which is fine. A little pricey for plastic, but when your only alternative is selling your children to wait 6 months for a piece from JME, it makes a very acceptable alternative. Dont get me wrong, they make some REALLY nice stuff... it's just REALLY expensive.

Edited February 21, 2009 by Cantedvalve

[superduty69 11]

 

I used the JME dash, i have not installed the dash pad yet but you get the idea. It comes completely wired to a quick connect plug. Very nice piece, BUT it is rater expensive.

Edited February 21, 2009 by superduty69
NO pic

[superduty69 11]

Here is the pic

[dchandler60 10]

Heres a pic of mine,, what I did was go to the junkyard and find a car with a good sized modern plug from under the hood.. Be sure to have about 1.5 to 2 foot of wire on each side of the donor plug, or in my case i used 2 plugs.. Take your time and wire all gauges up to your new "plug" ((take the time to route the wires real nice and in order)) and then you wire the other side up to your original harness under dash. when you get ready to install or remove you just simply unplug. The bezel will be painted this is the raw plastic from year one.

Edited February 22, 2009 by dchandler60

[gunnerdog 10]

I went with the year one and love it. Its one of my favorite mods. I will try to get a pic for you.

[Mattmustangman1969 10]

I have the JME Gauges, and well I ordered them right when they first came out with the prototype so I waited about 2+ years.... And i wasn't disappointed. they are really expensive, and in my opinon good quality... the wiring that they do is up to par, and the kit as a whole is a 10 out of 10.... my kit is pro-comp gauges mechanical oil and water (so liquid filled) with wood grain.

[JC69Stang 0]

I did my own. check the Cardomain site for pics.

[USMC69Mustang 10]

JC69Stang,

I checked out your page. Awesome job on your car. Your dash looks very professional. What size gauges did you use? Are they mechanical or electrical? I am looking to do the same thing. I am saving up for the JME dash, but if you have a comparable and cheaper way, I am all about that.

 

Wade

[JC69Stang 0]

OK, I think this was one of the finest mods ever done to my car, and it was pretty straight forward. Thanks for the comments.

 

Here is the parts list roughly:

 

I bought the right Gas gauge, have a new tank and sending unit, and it still reads wrong, it is roughly 1/2 tank off. But I can live with that since the original didn't work at all. (A resistor might fix this)

 

Parts: (in Summit)

Volt Meter and Water Temp are 2 1/16" in the A Pillar Pods.

Fuel Gauge 2 5/8" - ATM-5815 - $ 37.95

Oil Gauge 2 5/8" - ATM-5827 - $54.95

Mech Speedo 5" (Wish I had gone with the Electric one though...)

Tach 5" ATM-5898 - $123.95

 

Home depot:

1/2"x1/8"x 4' aluminium bar $ 4.95

screws 1/8"x 2" $ 2.00

 

I hope this helps, please ask if there is anything else.

 

Also, I just bought the LED's for the turn signals and Brights indicator from Radio Shack, they work great except I put them too high, once installed back into the dash they hide a little bit. Not a big deal either just FYI

[Reverb 10]

Has anyone tried a flat piece of aluminum and mounted gauges to it? Always wondered what it would look like.

[USMC69Mustang 10]

JC,

Thanks for the response it helped out with my decision. I think I am going to go with the Year One dash bezel and Phantom gauges from Summit. This was the cheapest option for under 1K. I will have to figure out what LEDs to use since there is a place provided for them.

[JC69Stang 0]

JC,

Thanks for the response it helped out with my decision. I think I am going to go with the Year One dash bezel and Phantom gauges from Summit. This was the cheapest option for under 1K. I will have to figure out what LEDs to use since there is a place provided for them.

 

 

Post pics when it is done! The Year One piece was not available when i did mine.

 

Look forward to seeing yours done.

[Cruzzar 22]

Reverb, I had thought about alum. but making it attach into the original area was a challenge. I am right in the middle of making my own dash insert. I have got the 5" autometer Ultra-Lite tach and electric spedo and the 2 5/8" volt, fuel, temp. and oil press. guages.

What I have done so far is to make a fiberglass impression of just the outside lip of the original Mustang ('70) dash. My goal is to make a fiberglass guage panel that will be able to be unscrewed from the original plastic Mustang panel. I will use just the outside skeleton of the original plastic dash which will mount into the car just like it does stock using the same original screws. The fiberglass panel will then screw into the plastic panel with seperate screws which allows it to be removed without pulling the entire padded dash out.

The following pics show first the layup of glass band around the outside lip of the plastic dash. I use duct tape as a mold release. I have cut out the small guage clusters to give me some room to do my layups. I then have cut a thin piece of foam that goes across the bottom of the guage cluster and have fiberglassed it to the previous layup. This stiffener will support the bottom of the actual flat dash panel which will be glassed onto it and the fiberglass band that I first made. Once the flat panel is installed I will cut out the remaining plastic speedo and tach clusters to provide room for the new guages. For the tubes that the guages are recessed into, I turned some redwood plugs at at friends house today that I will duct tape and glass over on the tapered end, remove the glass after it sets up and mount these onto the back of the fiberglass dash panel. I have yet to make the flat panel. I will get an update when I make more progress.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2009 by Cruzzar

[bnickel 10,004]

Reverb, I had thought about alum. but making it attach into the original area was a challenge. I am right in the middle of making my own dash insert. I have got the 5" autometer Ultra-Lite tach and electric spedo and the 2 5/8" volt, fuel, temp. and oil press. guages.

What I have done so far is to make a fiberglass impression of just the outside lip of the original Mustang ('70) dash. My goal is to make a fiberglass guage panel that will be able to be unscrewed from the original plastic Mustang panel. I will use just the outside skeleton of the original plastic dash which will mount into the car just like it does stock using the same original screws. The fiberglass panel will then screw into the plastic panel with seperate screws which allows it to be removed without pulling the entire padded dash out.

The following pics show first the layup of glass band around the outside lip of the plastic dash. I use duct tape as a mold release. I have cut out the small guage clusters to give me some room to do my layups. I then have cut a thin piece of foam that goes across the bottom of the guage cluster and have fiberglassed it to the previous layup. This stiffener will support the bottom of the actual flat dash panel which will be glassed onto it and the fiberglass band that I first made. Once the flat panel is installed I will cut out the remaining plastic speedo and tach clusters to provide room for the new guages. For the tubes that the guages are recessed into, I turned some redwood plugs at at friends house today that I will duct tape and glass over on the tapered end, remove the glass after it sets up and mount these onto the back of the fiberglass dash panel. I have yet to make the flat panel. I will get an update when I make more progress.

 

 

 

 

 

are you also going to do something cool on the passenger side piece? maybe a glassed in GPS, TV, stereo equipment or different type of clock would be cool over there.

[Cruzzar 22]

My '70 FB was originally a 6 cly. with no nothing, so it has the plain deep curved plastic insert (no clock, insert, map light, nothing). It would very easy to fabricate something but my theme for this car is redo it in a way that looks somewhat factory. Modern but not futuristic. I don't particulary like the deep curved look of the passenger side compared to the driver's side dash panel so your idea might warrant a second thought.

[Fly Boy 10]

I am installing the Year One with AutoMeter Phantoms. I am a bit of an advantage as far as options as I am doing a complete rebuild and am rewiring at the same time right now. I don't have to worry about harnesses and plug ins as there are none!!

 

Couple of notes. I found it to be the best alternative to doing it myself with the exisiting as others have done. My reason for going this route was that the bulk of the dollars in the project are in the gauges and the 6 hole was more viable for the set up of the car as I am building it. I also couldn't justify the time to mod a instrument set versus the 10 minutes it took to mount the Autometers in this set up. Expensive plastic but worth it I would say.

 

On the Year Ones I am mounting mine in the coming weeks. Any comments on how hard it was to mount to existing screw plates? Initial fit looked decent, but we'll see as I go forward.

 

BTW I am missing my insert on the pax side that had the clock home in it. Does anyone have a scrap one that I could use to fabricate a stainless piece from? I am going with all stainless accents and am going to do a custom insert here.

 

Also I have all of the old gauges and cluster from the original to trade or sell. I have replacement bezels I bought and the white kit for them. I changed my mind when I saw the Year One 6 holer. Email me at PJAviation@comcast.net if interested or have a pax insert template piece.