240Z Speedhut Gauge Install

[KatoKid]

Bought these gauges a long time ago as I used the oil pressure, water temp and tach on my engine test stand but only just recently got my re-covered dash back from the Dashboard Doctor so time to get rockin on the installation.

 

Ive looked at other installs, some I liked, some I didn't, so took the best ideas and a few of my own.

 

Using Speedhut 2 5/8" for the smaller gauges and the 4" for the speedo and tach.

 

Smaller gauges first:

50mm PVC plumbing pipe fits the back of the gauges perfectly, you may want to use a bit of silicone or glue once they are properly aligned but not really required. Measure the depth from the back of the bezel to the mount point (was 115mm for me), cut to length and also cut on an angle to open up the back of the gauge for access. I used the right angle brackets off the original gauges for the mounting points and these provided good adjustment and alignment that looked close to the originals.

 

Good thing is that the gauges can come out the front of the dash very easily if required.

 

[KatoKid]

Speedo:

Speedhut , gauges have buttons on the speedo face to provide calibration adjustment so you need to remove the original clear gauge lens, they just fall apart when you undo the assembly.

 

Dismantle the original speedo housing and drill out the spot welds that hold the green backlights and the other components of the steel housing so you end up with a bare housing. The 6 o'clock position of the housing also needs to be further cut out to ensure room for the new wiring. The large diameter nut of the Speedhut  bezel holder does an excellent job of centering the gauge in the steel housing and the housing is nearly the perfect depth to contain the new gauge, all I had to do to make the depth correct was to grind the inside half off the heads of the studs that are used to mount the housing to the dash as these stood slightly proud and interfered with the back of the new gauge (refer the picture of the inside of the tach housing they are the same). Once this was done the steel housing could be re attached to the original black plastic reveal with the new gauge positioned firmly inside and the assembly then installs using all the original mounts.

 

[KatoKid]

Tach.

As with the speedo the tacho's have buttons on the tacho face to provide adjustment for the shift point lights and recall so you need to remove the original clear gauge lens.

 

The tach housing is about 16mm deeper than the speedo housing but you still need to drill out the spot welds that hold the green backlights and the other components of the steel housing so you end up with a bare housing. Likewise, the 6 o'clock position of the housing also needs to be further cut out to ensure room for the wiring. I ended up using a small piece of pine timber planed to the correct thickness to back space the tacho so it was positioned firmly against the back of the black plastic gauge reveal.

Again, the large diameter nut of the Speedhut  bezel holder does an excellent job of centering the gauge in the steel housing and it all goes back together with the original mounts.

 

[KatoKid]

It was a bit of a struggle to get the speedo and tacho back in the dash as the recovering process reduces the ID of the openings ....bit of persuasion got them in the there and looking good.

[juz0]

good job mate! looks very clean and the gauges suit the dash I reckon

[Mr Camouflage]

Looks good. Restomod style.

 

Fun tip: A trick race car drivers use is to rotate the gauges so that the normal reading of the ancillary gauges are all pointed to 12 o'clock.  That way they can tell at a glance when something isn't right. Might look a bit odd on a road car though.