I want to mount a water temp and oil pressure gauge in my c body 300. The interior is all stock. Has anyone mounted aftermarket gauges under their dash that look pretty tasteful and don't block the handy center ashtray. Not goin for the mount them anywhere chevy look lol. Thanks
1967 Chrysler 300 Gauge Location
- Thread starter Cortez
- Start date
FYI - I mounted voltage and temp gauges where my ashtrays were, so when I close up the ashtray drawer you don't see the them at all.
Hey can you post a feww pics when you have a chance?
I was going to but in all of the hundreds of photos I have I don't have any of that. Unbelievable! My car is put away for the winter, but I may run by to check on it this week. If I do I'll take some pics and share them.
thanks man, trying to get some ideas, I was thinking of possibly trying to make some sort of center console
fury fan
Senior Member
Mountign a 3-gauge pod under the dash is pretty much the standard go-to option.
If you do some googling there are some companies that make universal-fit 'custom' consoles, but from what I've seen they are not necessarily geared toward holding gauges.
There are things like this on amazon - I bought this particular one recently, I'm trying to figure out how to install it where the ashtray drawer is on a 65-66 Chrysler.
Amazon product ASIN B00WUTGO9K
I've made stuff like this occasionally over the last 20 years.
If you make something yourself, it is easy to make something that looks better than a simple square vinyl-wrap box, but difficult to make it look like it truly belongs in the car.
Here's a vinyl-wrap I did, it has some angles in it (the gaugeplate is a trapezoid) but it still looked like an add-on to the car.
Here's one from around 2005 - the aluminum trim helps it blend to the interior a little better, and the curves were a new technique.
I used some 1/8" plastic for the curved top surface, and alum trim (standard 1/8" flat aluminum) to hold it down.
IMO adding curves and/or some aluminum trim with countersunk SS screws helps depart from the homemade look, but TBH it's still hard to make somethign that doesn't look homemade in some regard.
You've got to pad them a bit to give some cushion to the vinyl to protect it from nicks/gouges - but pad it too much and it looks goofy.
Vinyl can be a problem bunching up in inside corners - looks homemade. You can see it on the tan one, and IIRC it was a bear to get it to lay that well. (curves on the ID help eliminate bunching)
Switches like these can add a nice touch, if you need them:
Amazon product ASIN B0998W7K4HAmazon product ASIN B079HLLDYD
But at the end of the day - sometimes 2 screws and the 3-gauge kit on the bottom lip of the dash is the simplest/fastest way to go.
All depends on your imagination, skill and available time.
If you do some googling there are some companies that make universal-fit 'custom' consoles, but from what I've seen they are not necessarily geared toward holding gauges.
There are things like this on amazon - I bought this particular one recently, I'm trying to figure out how to install it where the ashtray drawer is on a 65-66 Chrysler.
Amazon product ASIN B00WUTGO9K
I've made stuff like this occasionally over the last 20 years.
If you make something yourself, it is easy to make something that looks better than a simple square vinyl-wrap box, but difficult to make it look like it truly belongs in the car.
Here's a vinyl-wrap I did, it has some angles in it (the gaugeplate is a trapezoid) but it still looked like an add-on to the car.
Here's one from around 2005 - the aluminum trim helps it blend to the interior a little better, and the curves were a new technique.
I used some 1/8" plastic for the curved top surface, and alum trim (standard 1/8" flat aluminum) to hold it down.
IMO adding curves and/or some aluminum trim with countersunk SS screws helps depart from the homemade look, but TBH it's still hard to make somethign that doesn't look homemade in some regard.
You've got to pad them a bit to give some cushion to the vinyl to protect it from nicks/gouges - but pad it too much and it looks goofy.
Vinyl can be a problem bunching up in inside corners - looks homemade. You can see it on the tan one, and IIRC it was a bear to get it to lay that well. (curves on the ID help eliminate bunching)
Switches like these can add a nice touch, if you need them:
Amazon product ASIN B0998W7K4HAmazon product ASIN B079HLLDYD
But at the end of the day - sometimes 2 screws and the 3-gauge kit on the bottom lip of the dash is the simplest/fastest way to go.
All depends on your imagination, skill and available time.
I really like the idea of the first one it will leave some floor space and i will simply add my double DIN head unit beneath my gauges and try to make it look as good as yours. I might as well put the speakers there too and not have to touch my door panels. Thank You bro you opened my mind to many possibilities.
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
Here is what I did with my '66 convertible. These are AutoMeter gauges, and they came with hookups for lights:
fury fan
Senior Member
I wish I had some way to get decent measurements from dash-to-floor on that car. I could make you a base box with bezels, trim, etc, for a decent price. (would also need accurate tunnel width right below the dash - and that's the tricky measurement) I like them to fit the tunnel with no gaps and that would be a crap-shoot.
I got a CNC router a few years ago and it makes nice handiwork of cutting out for gauges, radios and speakers, etc - no more holesaw/scrollsaw pain for me!
I stopped by the garage where I store my car and took some pics of the gauges I added. I have the battery unhooked so they are not lit up. The temp gauge is on the left, it was a bit too wide for the opening so I mounted it behind where I can see it. The voltage gauge is on the right, and is mounted in a piece of plexiglass that I cut in the same shape as the top of the ashtray that went there and painted grey. This idea may not work for you, but for me it's great. I close up the drawer when I'm at meets and the dash looks stock.
I like this idea, I did some mock placements and if I make a little spacer i can mount beneath the ashtray and stiff have full use of it. This way the center console I add can house the stereo stuff and be totally removable.
fury fan
Senior Member
A heads-up to anyone that wants to learn from my experience -
I recently installed LEDs in my Autometer gauges. When I started the car back up, it only had 20-25 lbs oil pressure at cold idle (it normally has ~50 when cold).
I quickly went thru the mental list of what might cause that, but didn't have faith in any of the causes for this particular car/engine - nothing was disturbed except the gauges had been out.
Long story short - the new LED was about 1/4" longer than the incandescent bulb I removed.
When I pushed it in, it disturbed the guts of the gauge which seemed to be a coil of small-dia copper tubing (mechanical type).
I could reach in with a small pick while the engine was running, pull rearward on that coil, and increase the needle reading.
So I bought a new gauge. I thought I could probably 'calibrate' against the new gauge, but in the grand scheme the time to rig up a Y-fitting, then remove it, vs the 10 years of use I'd already gotten from the gauge, I decided to move on.
When this happened I thought 'I've got to tell the C-body world about this somehow'.
So this was how/when.
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