[66mustfb]

This shot shows the front side of the molded (ABS?) plastic "pod" with a couple of the gauges installed into their holders. It's a good snug fit but I think I'll put a dab of adhesive at the rear of the gauge/pod interface

The original bezel is stripped of all the hardware, only thing reused is the 8 screws that held the metal gauge assembly to the plastic bezel.

My biggest concern when ordering this gauge holder was how deep the gauges would set in the panel -It's not an issue with me now. This method of updating the instrument panel is not as nice as the "billet" panels but the cost difference makes me smile. The bezel I'm experimenting on with this is a jy throw away.

I ordered the wrong speedo and the new one is on backorder so can't show it completed. This information may be old hat to a lot of ppl but I just happened to stumble on it after admiring the 6 hole billet jobs.

AL

 

[rbohm]

looks good to me

 

[frdnut]

Nice work!...I just installed some autometers in my 68 this summer but I had to modify the rear part of the instrument panel myself..Where did you get that plastic pod piece?..Is it available for other years?

 

[66mustfb]

frdnut,

Thanks.

I bought the pod from CJ Pony Parts. The pod makes it very easy to install after market gauges but they were set too deep in the panel for me. I used a table mounted router and kept trimming the back side of the original panel gauge bezel and changed it from what you see in the lower panel to the depth in the upper.

I've seen several nice panels for 67 and 68...don't remember where though.

 

[c3jy]

looks nice. thats what i'm wanting for my 67

 

[66mustfb]

frdnut,

Did you take any pictures of your instrument panel changes? Was thinking we could get a small "how to" thread going for the 65 through 68 panel conversions.

In my opinion the most important tool to make these new meters work well in the old panels is a table mounted router or lacking that a drill press with a router bit chucked up.

My gages (2-1/16 inch) required cutting the original housing almost flush with the back of the panel in order to drop them in from the front like this (which I don't care for):

 

[frdnut]

I did a writeup on a different site..Here is the link.. http://www.fordmuscle.com/forums/te...talling-aftermarket-gauges-67-68-mustang.html

 

[Markus]

Hello,

very nice and clean work with the 66 gauge pods. The white instrument faces are looking good.
I had a little work to fit my autometer (5 and 2 5/8 inch) in my new 67 deluxe cluster. I used the gauge support from mustangs unlimited.
I practise with an old cluster. I trim it with a soldering iron.
Also i must remove the rings which hold the glases .:crying:
The wiring was a pain. But now the work is finish. New deluxe dash, pillar pods and ultra lite autometer with a electronic speedometer.

Gauges needed:
speedometer 5 inch, ATM-4489-M (metric for germany)
tach 5 inch, ATM-4498
oil press 2 5/8 inch, ATM-4427
oil temp 2 5/8 inch, ATM-4447
water temp 2 5/8 inch, ATM-4437
fuel 2 1/16 inch, ATM-4315 (for pillar pod)
volt 2 1/16 inch, ATM-4391 (for pillar pod)
electronic speedometer adapter, ATM-5292 (for my tremec TKO)

Here is a little picture story.......:worthless

gauge cluster

Markus

 

[billzstangin66]

JME makes a beautiful instrument pannel, its what I'm holding out for...
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/10/JME/

I'm also going to go with Autometer Ultra-Lite II's, they are almost a silver face durring the day and black face at night

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugeop.aspx?sid=61

 

[66mustfb]

Markus,

Very nice modification, very well done!. Looks like you were able to use the soldering iron to provide clearance for the gauges, whereas I have to create a flat surface closer to the front of the instrument panel for the gauge bezel to rest on. A router works for this but you must remove very little material with each pass.


I think your warranty with Auto Meter is kaput.

billzstangin66,

Yes, JME is one of the few who does make a nice panel and for the material, the CNC machine and work involved the price seems reasonable...

 

[frdnut]

The JMEs are beautiful but a little pricey at $1100 bucks..Especially when you can buy the gauges for half that much.....Markus why did you have to do all the trimming?..I assume its because you used the 2 5/8ths instead of the 2 1/16ths?

 

[Markus]

Hello,

i thought about the JME cluster but the price
The components i used cost about $600.- (with a electronic speedometer). And i must custom fit the wiring for my EFI injected engine. So a JME was in any case useless.
The warranty for the gauges is in any case lost :rofl:

@frdnut
The most trimming was in fact of the bulky 2 5/8 instruments. I think the 2 1/16 will fit better but do they looks so good?

Markus

 

[MidNiteBlu 5.0]

Hello,

i thought about the JME cluster but the price
The components i used cost about $600.- (with a electronic speedometer). And i must custom fit the wiring for my EFI injected engine. So a JME was in any case useless.
The warranty for the gauges is in any case lost :rofl:

@frdnut
The most trimming was in fact of the bulky 2 5/8 instruments. I think the 2 1/16 will fit better but do they looks so good?

Markus

id be willing to bet when you price out the guages, wiring, and the billet aluminum bezel plus your time it is not much more expensive in fact probably cheaper Plus you still get the gauges warranty!

Im not sure how the JME gauge cluster is worthless because you are running EFI, plenty of JME clusters have gone in cars with EFI conversions

 

[MidNiteBlu 5.0]

The JMEs are beautiful but a little pricey at $1100 bucks..Especially when you can buy the gauges for half that much.....Markus why did you have to do all the trimming?..I assume its because you used the 2 5/8ths instead of the 2 1/16ths?

the 65/66's clusters start at $950. The 67/68's are a bit more expensive as they require quite a bit of machining of the rear of the bezel in order to fit the gauges in a correct, straight manner. I dont understand your point about buying the gauges at half the cost, thats where a big chunk of the $1100 comes from in the first place. The wiring and rear machining take a good amount of time and the way copper prices are going nowadays that also drives up the cost.

 

[JamesW-efi]

I did the same plastic holder mod using Autometer Gauges, and used the smaller Speedometer. I used a piece of plastic piping to make up the size difference.

 

[66mustfb]

amesW-efi,

The larger speedo worked really well, it dropped in from the front and fit against the tapered bezel with no work, nice -surprised me! Big price jump from the smaller to larger tho, like another fraction of an inch really drives their cost to manufacture up, lol. I bought the smaller and sent it back.

You have a good solution and it looks nice.

Maybe this spring I'll get the engine back in it and see how all these mods work.

 

[Markus]

id be willing to bet when you price out the guages, wiring, and the billet aluminum bezel plus your time it is not much more expensive in fact probably cheaper Plus you still get the gauges warranty!

Im not sure how the JME gauge cluster is worthless because you are running EFI, plenty of JME clusters have gone in cars with EFI conversions

Hello,

the warranty for the jme or my single bought instruments is in any case useless for me in germany.:barf:
If i will have a defect i must buy a new piece. The shipping, tax and insurance drama is not simple. I must then pay the shipping and so on.:curses:
Furthermore i built myself the custom look gauge holder and wiring harness.

@JamesW-efi
the white gauge faces are looking awesome

Markus