Cascade Crew

BluFbdy · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:54 pm Post subject: Autometer gauges?

SO does anyone happen to know how to wire up a set of autometer gauges? my cluster is shot, well WAS shot, and i already have a 3 gauge setup for temp volts and oil pressure, and a new fuel gauge so the original cluster is pretty much useless

Im working on an L98/T56 swap so im gonna be running an electric speedometer and a tach hooked straight to the coil if i can manage it, i wanna just have my speedo and tach on the cluster spot, im just weary of how im gonna rig this up to fit and the wiring im gonna need to chop up to do this

anybody wanna chime in on this? i put this up on TGO a while back with no luck, and my buddies in AZ arent too keen on the idea of doin this lol

RSFreak · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:16 pm Post subject:

Hopefully Aaron will chime in, he is a big Autometer fan and had them in his IROC. Wink

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:27 am Post subject:

thatd be nice, im kinda going for a custom setup but the further i get the more it reminds me of a second gen firebird lol i have the tripple pod mounted underneath my center vents above my deck, and i just put my fuel gauge up on my dash, i bought a pod for it to bolt to the dash to hide the wiring from summit...except they shiped it to me in carbon fiber print...i think im gonna take a can of spray paint to it, im not a fan of fake CF, if it was real thatd be a different story, but i dont rock a civic i cant pull off fake hahaha

Dewey316 · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:17 am Post subject:

twilightoptics did a pretty good writeup when he installed his setup.

http://cascadecrew.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3290

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:21 am Post subject:

thats awesome, i was looking more for a simple setup just a piece of steel like his with the speedo tach and blinkers, shift light and ses light, i dont think ill go as in depth with the wiring as he did but that is definitely a start i appreciate it!!!

aaron_sK · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:06 am Post subject:

Aha... Autometers = the s#!t. Very Happy

Oddly enough, my T56 swap was also what pushed me over the edge.

Couple of things to think about: You will need very specific hole saw sizes (2 1/16" and 3 3/8"). If you are an eighth to big the gauges will try to pull through, and you can mess up the bezels.

Do not run LEDs for your blinkers and other lights, get normal ones like Paul did. The LEDs can be annoyingly bright.

You will want to invest in connectors of some kind to remove the unit from the dash. Do not hardwire anything in.

When I bought my gauges the dude threw in a Painless connector specifically for Autometer swaps. Like most Painless wiring harnesses it was total crap #$%^&*

and needed some work just to get it running.

You can reuse almost all the stock Chevy wiring. Just swap the sending units out, plug the stock wires into said sending units, and then cut the stock wires in the dash and splice them into your new harness.

You will also want to invest in a Dakota Digital SGI box if you are keeping the stock TPI ECM on that L98. The Autometer speedo can be calibrated to run directly off of the T56 VSS, but the ECM needs to see a specific PPM number.

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:10 am Post subject:

excellent info,thanks for the replies

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:12 am Post subject:

Does the ECM use the vss signal for anything besides the speed limiter? I'd setup to burn a chip or get an adapter and have one of us turn the code off beofre I bought spendy Dakota stuff.

T56 pushed me to. Be prepared for the electric gauges t can add up to a grand in a hurry.

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:36 pm Post subject:

im just stickin with a phantom setup, speedo and tach the rest are cheap equus gauges but theyre all mech connections except the fuel tank, im up for anything involving cheap, but workable lol if someone wants to help me out with the setup thatd be cool, ive already spent a ton of money on he motor and transmission lol my wifes starting to bug me about money even though i was the one makin the money at Ft jackson lol but its expected the age old car and wife struggle...so hard lol

aaron_sK · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:40 pm Post subject:

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:09 pm Post subject:

yeah the more she pisses me off the more i appreciate my car, it never complains lol and currently the car is in AZ, the L98 is gonna be droped i on the first when i get back, one of the members on TGO is building it for me, i traded him for a new set of edelbrock runners lol once i get it all in and work out the kinks ill be making the trip up the I5

iansane · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:14 pm Post subject:

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:16 pm Post subject:

this is true lol mine needs a heart transplant lol its only 3 years in the making go army lol

RSFreak · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:37 am Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:54 am Post subject:

RSFreak · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:37 am Post subject:

What happened to that girl you were seeing at PLU (the one that prompted the Tacoma Mini Gathering)?

iansane · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:39 am Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:11 pm Post subject:

RSFreak · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:30 pm Post subject: