Gauge Pod Alternatives?

[canadian]

will the non a/c surround fit on a truck without a/c? there are ducts that are behind the vents, so depending on how deep the storage thingy is it might hit. guess you need to see how deep it is.

 

[myclone]

will the non a/c surround fit on a truck without a/c? there are ducts that are behind the vents, so depending on how deep the storage thingy is it might hit. guess you need to see how deep it is.

Good point that I shoulda mentioned. I actually cut the storage compartment part off the surround on the back side which left a rectangular opening. So this means that the only thing protruding back there would be the rear of the gauges. Id be so brave to guess that the 1 1/2" gauges would fit into the duct work without any cutting so you could return it to original by just swapping the AC vented surround back in. Another point would be that if you used the angled "collars" that allow you to install the gauges pointing where you want they dont protrude very far at all into the dash on the back side. Since my old truck that I did the install on was a non AC truck I dunno that for sure though.

 

[GM TURBO]

Mike,

I thought about using the cupholders as they are pretty worthless for anything that doesn't have superglue to hold it in place. The only problem I have with that is I wouldn't want to put a vital guage there i.e. boost, fuel pressure, oil pressure. I did think about it for IC temp or trans temp.

Rockville,

I like the idea of the left hand side vent. The only problem I see with that is going with the 2 5/8" guages. It seems as though then I am cutting into the dash. I don't see how it could fit in the vent opening. I'm not a big fan of the smaller gauges.

Lumpy,

I know what you are saying. What I would probably do it get a radio trim ring out of a Blazer - AC or Non - shouldn't matter. Cut the vents out and cut a piece of plastic/aluminum out so it will come just to the top of the stereo. Should give plenty of room for the gauges. The only thing I am somewhat concerned of is blocking off the vents. Not from a comfort aspect - from a how in the heck aspect. I could just close off the passenger side one as the wife seems to close it anyway I would have to do the angled trim rings from Autometer to keep 'em visible. I wonder if I could possibly reroute the vents......

 

[rockvillespeed]

yup, 2-1/16 size only.

 

[myclone]

Lumpy,

I know what you are saying. What I would probably do it get a radio trim ring out of a Blazer - AC or Non - shouldn't matter. Cut the vents out and cut a piece of plastic/aluminum out so it will come just to the top of the stereo. Should give plenty of room for the gauges. The only thing I am somewhat concerned of is blocking off the vents. Not from a comfort aspect - from a how in the heck aspect. I could just close off the passenger side one as the wife seems to close it anyway I would have to do the angled trim rings from Autometer to keep 'em visible. I wonder if I could possibly reroute the vents......

By installing the guages and non AC panel you would actually be blocking off the vent. No harm to the AC system by doing that IMO and the gauges prolly dont care about getting some cold air blown on their back sides from that vent opening.

As far as rerouting the duct work its not as simple as finding other places for some flexible hose to come out. The duct work that comes out right where the guages would go is a huge molded plastic plenum dealy that has several outlets plumbed off it. Youd kinda hafta re-engineer and fab up some duct work just to get rid of that one outlet. IMO if it really bothers you that much then cover the outlet with something besides the guages/panel sitting in front of it and seal it with something thats removable should you want to (duct tape maybe?? ).

Ive got the dash outta the junk gmc jimmy I bought for parts so if you wanna pic of what Im talking about just say so (cost ya a beer or something).

 

[GM TURBO]

I've had parts of my dash out - I just couldn't remember if there'd be enough room to play out of the vent - obviously not. I think the non-AC might be the way to go. I'm not real concerned about the cold air blowing on them - they might even like it. I was just thinking to avoid having that air "get lost" I'd rather direct it somewhere besides back into the dash. If I were to seal it up - in theory it would just direct more air to the outer vents which would still be tolerable, Now - I need to find a non-AC donor truck.

Thanks for the tips. I wonder how many gauges I can get in that space

 

[rockvillespeed]

just take a heat gun and open up the outlets of the plenum to clear the gauge bodies, then u wont have to booger it up if u really wanna go back to stock.
i have my ultimate "head unit" in the left center vent.
the far left vent has assloads of room in it.

 

[enforcerfour]

probably not what you are looking for but i mounted some 2 5/8" gauges in the cup holders. USed some wedge pieces autometer sells to direct the faces towards the driver. Works well, but you loose your cupholders.

I have some pics i can upload if interested.

Hey could you post those pictures? I'm thinking about putting some guages in my cupholders since they are otherwise useless without the above mentioned super glue. Also do you have the autometer part numbers for the stuff you used?

 

[syclonekid43]

i was looking imto puting a few more gauges in the sy myself. i was thinking of getting a universal gauge pod and seeing if it would fit on the shelf that goes across the underside of the dash. the shelf under the asytray. anybody try this yet and have pics they can post.