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Old 01-16-2008, 07:57 PM
   mod of stock gauge cluster in V8's??
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Did I see somewhere that in the console of a V8 conversion the guage cluster had been modified to sit much closer to the front surface of the console, in other words, the black plastic gauge tunnels had been shortened or eliminated? I could swear I saw a photo of that on some thread but now I can't find it.

If this is correct, why and how was that done? I'm not a big fan of the tunnels and have been thinking about doing a mod to bring the gauges up out of their stock recessed position. I guess glare could be an issue. If I'm gonna do it, now's the time becasue as you can see my console is totally disassembled for other work.

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Old 01-17-2008, 12:41 PM
  
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Originally Posted by solmio View Post
Did I see somewhere that in the console of a V8 conversion the guage cluster had been modified to sit much closer to the front surface of the console, in other words, the black plastic gauge tunnels had been shortened or eliminated? I could swear I saw a photo of that on some thread but now I can't find it.

If this is correct, why and how was that done? I'm not a big fan of the tunnels and have been thinking about doing a mod to bring the gauges up out of their stock recessed position. I guess glare could be an issue. If I'm gonna do it, now's the time becasue as you can see my console is totally disassembled for other work.


Intimidator's V8 has a custom gauge cluster like you describe. But I believe the gauges where replaced totally
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Old 01-17-2008, 05:12 PM
  
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I believe this is what you are reffering too,
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Old 01-17-2008, 05:20 PM
  
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Holy crap...that looks pretty dang good...I think the reason they are set back in so far (to an extent) is for sun glaring....when top is down...I think!!!
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Old 01-17-2008, 07:51 PM
  
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Jeez yamatd3, that is exactly it! How did you do that? I see the gauge faces are custom, but is it stock hardware behind (except of course for the water gauge bottom center)? If so, how did you swap the tach and speedo? Any issues with glare? DO TELL!!!

Below is the look I'm going for, followed by stock for reference. I have the new gauge faceplate on order from Black Cat Customs. Alex said he can emulate the MGB gauges almost perfectly. Will take him a few weeks though.



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Old 01-17-2008, 09:34 PM
  
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I am currently doing an LS2 conversion to my Solstice. This pic is the gauge package Dave from Performance Autowerks offers with his conversion. I sent him my stock stuff and he converted it. The gauges in my pic are Autometer brand.
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Old 01-17-2008, 09:51 PM
  
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I am currently doing an LS2 conversion to my Solstice. This pic is the gauge package Dave from Performance Autowerks offers with his conversion. I sent him my stock stuff and he converted it. The gauges in my pic are Autometer brand.

OK thanks. Any chance we could get a shot of the back side of the cluster?
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Old 01-17-2008, 10:14 PM
  
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Has anyone else noticed that the glass in the tunnels is tilted the wrong way? It is 'top in/bottom out' and for taller drivers it reflects the top of the windscreen glass. I think the whole design of the instrument cluster is dreadful. The numbers on the kilometre speedometer are so small that we older guys have to wear reading glasses to see it. How can you keep track of engine temperature if you have to click through the DIC to see some cockamamie digital readout instead of a proper needle gauge. Same goes for the turbo boost. Don't the designers ever sit in one of these cars? (End of rant.)
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Old 01-17-2008, 10:39 PM
  
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Has anyone else noticed that the glass in the tunnels is tilted the wrong way? It is 'top in/bottom out' and for taller drivers it reflects the top of the windscreen glass. I think the whole design of the instrument cluster is dreadful. The numbers on the kilometre speedometer are so small that we older guys have to wear reading glasses to see it. How can you keep track of engine temperature if you have to click through the DIC to see some cockamamie digital readout instead of a proper needle gauge. Same goes for the turbo boost. Don't the designers ever sit in one of these cars? (End of rant.)

100%. I think I heard somewhere that the guage cluster is from some small GM truck. To keep costs in line for that introductory $20k price they had to use what they had laying around.

Again, I agree with your rant, but let's face it...by the time you got behind the wheel for the first time you were already smitten. You'd have bought that thing even if it had...





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Old 01-18-2008, 12:26 AM
  
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Has anyone else noticed that the glass in the tunnels is tilted the wrong way? It is 'top in/bottom out' and for taller drivers it reflects the top of the windscreen glass. I think the whole design of the instrument cluster is dreadful.



Looked great in the brochure, but that it about it. Glare, too deep, most commonly used portions of speedo and tacho are obscured by the steering wheel, and can't read the fuel gauge. Still, looks great in a brochure!
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Old 01-18-2008, 10:50 AM
  
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100%. I think I heard somewhere that the guage cluster is from some small GM truck. To keep costs in line for that introductory $20k price they had to use what they had laying around.

Again, I agree with your rant, but let's face it...by the time you got behind the wheel for the first time you were already smitten. You'd have bought that thing even if it had...





The stock cluster is from the Cobalt.
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Old 01-18-2008, 09:51 PM
  
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OK thanks. Any chance we could get a shot of the back side of the cluster?
I probably won't as the gauges are already installed in my car.
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Old 01-19-2008, 10:05 AM
  
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I probably won't as the gauges are already installed in my car.

Ah, didn't realize that. But your photo helped a lot and gave me some ideas. Going to be a long cold winter here so I'll have lots of time to play around with it.
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