Dash Design... aftermarket...gauge selection

[4AM]

The original Z31 dash was very attractive and advanced for its time, probably one of the top five reasons people are drawn to the auto. I'm sorry to say mine was non-operational (among other things). I've always prefered mechanical gauges, so that's what I went with.

Now laying out the dash without too many changes I've tried to put the existing gauge holes to use. The former compass and boost holes now hold the Temperature and Oil gauges (both are 2 5/8, slightly larger than the rest), I feel that the temp and oil are most important, so I installed more noticable ones. The rest are 2'' gauges.

After removing climate controls and stereo, ( climate controls will be made simpler and placed in glove box for the days you just need a defroster/defogger); stereo forget about it, its a distraction. Get rid of the ash tray too, nice place for a boost controller, and you can't smoke and race!? Now you have plenty of room for Air/Fuel, Volts, Fuel and toggles for supplying power to things like your fuel pump, radar detector, supercharger, etc. I always draw mine out on paper, then lay it out on shop floor. planout your wiring and unless you like doin alot of tooling, cross check to see if the gauge you've picked out, sensor is a proper fit. DO THIS FIRST! Sometimes you just have to do some modifying if your trying to make it all match... something I'm guilty of.I personally went with Equus 8000 Performance line for my gauges. But if you want it simple and exact applications, go with Autometer. Autometer has alot more that will work with your VG, I'll be moving onto the RB series soon, so my layout is based on it. The Speedometer and boost gauges will be mounted into a carbon fiber flat piece screwed in with orignal gauge cluster dash shroud. Will post pics of some wiring problems and overall finished setup when complete.Also in alot of instances, especially power and grounds, you can plug right into the Nissan harness, no running power wires to fuse box, Or a bolt head to attach a ground. Some gauges do require a inline fuse and a start up switch, like Fuel/Air. And always read the manufactures instructions as well, even if you've installed this type of gauge before it may have new installation instructions. don't want to burn up your new gauges. Now start her up and enjoy the rise and drop of your new symphony of gauges... and watch for misreadings. Most Tachs need to be zeroed at installation.

[evildky]

uif you want analog guages why not start by swappin in a stock analog cluster and dash guages?

and if your are wiring an aftermarket to a fused poser source in the existing wiring then you don't need an inine fuse as the circuit is already protected

and wiring a stock temp sender to an RB is easier than wiring an autometer as their senders are a completely different thread size, to use the autometer you'll have to drilla nd tap a new sender location in each motor you use it with

[Perrenial Badass]

I'm a bit confused... at first I thought you had redone your gauges. But then there were no pictures. And then it started sounding like a how to...

[4AM]

I'm a bit confused... at first I thought you had redone your gauges. But then there were no pictures. And then it started sounding like a how to...

Sorry, this is by no means an "How To", I'm just bouncing ideas. I had about half my gauges in, the others just arrived earlier this week. So I'm playing with location, putting the ones I consider more important in front of me or closer...

[4AM]

uif you want analog guages why not start by swappin in a stock analog cluster and dash guages?

and if your are wiring an aftermarket to a fused poser source in the existing wiring then you don't need an inine fuse as the circuit is already protected

and wiring a stock temp sender to an RB is easier than wiring an autometer as their senders are a completely different thread size, to use the autometer you'll have to drilla nd tap a new sender location in each motor you use it with

I already have all my gauges, but Speedo, which isn't conserning me. After I bought a Tach, (nothing on my dash worked when I bought it), I decided I wanted all the gauges to match; and since then I've known I'll be replacing parts of the harness to work with my final engine choice. I'm building the car kinda universal around the VG30.