Shakadula Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Can someone make a suggestion on OIL, water temp and amp guages. I only have lights in my GS and want to add gauges. Is mechanical better than electrical? Brand? I have seen them from $30 to $130. Looking for a cluster of 3.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskooln Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I bought a set of 3 2.5" SunPro mechanical guages in a chrome 3-hole cluster for my 66 Skylark (bench car), and although they aren't factory... they do look period correct. I have them mounted below the dash, centered under the ashtray. My local autoparts store had them. They match my knee-nocker knock-off tach perfectly too. I think I spent somewhere between $50-60 for them, well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakadula Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 Is mechanical or electrical better? I know you stated you have mechanical but does it matter? I should add that I plan to mount them under the ashtray but also be able to flip them up under the dash on some kind of a spring mount that I fabricate so they can't be seen .And thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 If you want to mount them on some kind of a device so they can't be seen than go with the eletrical ones the line you would have to run for the oil gauge would eventuly break being made out of a cheap cheesy clear hard plastic or the stiff copper metal lines. The constant bending of the line will snap and if you had the car running at the time you would have one mess of a puddle of oil in your car. I even had one of those plastic lines for an oil gauge in a GMC Jimmy S-15 of mine that was permenently mounted to the car break on me and lost alot of oil on a long drive damaging the motor which finaly died on me just only about three months ago. So if I where you I would definitly go with the electrical for peice of mind. If the electrical gauges go sour it would not have any effect at all on your car and are easier to replace than mechanical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskooln Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I like your spring-loaded idea... sounds like it could be pretty trick. I actually prefer the mechanical... but skysthelimit made a good point about electric ones. I was thinking digital vs. analog guages as electric vs. mechanical; and you prob couldn't do your idea without flexibility... so I suppose actual wire lines would help with your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Personally I prefer the mechanical gauge as they aren't voltage dependant and I never use the plastic little line that comes with the gauge, I use a 1/4" pushlock style low pressure hydraulic hose, but the gauge must have 1/8" pipe style inlet rather than some proprietary fitting for the gauge tubing. It responds much more quickly than the small line, and the flex problem can be overcome if the line is routed in from the side where it will rotate rather than bend, kind of like wire routing into a door. The biggest problem is the mechanical temperature gauge does use a small sealed copper line and there is no good way to avoid flexing that line, and it will fail eventually, although it won't hurt the engine. Just my 0.02 <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakadula Posted June 19, 2003 Author Share Posted June 19, 2003 Sounds like most prefer mechanical gauges but I suppose electrical is better than what I have now and since I don't want them to be seen, I'll go that route. Thanks to all that responded and I'll let you know if I am able to spring load the gauges successfully. It can't be that tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Art Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 I bought a Cyberdyne oil pressure and water temp digital gauge. The oil gauge failed within days of being installed and now the water temp gauge is having on and off failures. I don't trust them. They're expensive to boot. I fit a Sun Pro water temp guage into the dash board of my car just above the head light switch. I did it by removing the plastic panel and using a hole saw of the correct diameter to cut the hole. Looks almost as if it came that way from the factory. I have oil pressure gauge mounted near the ash tray. That way if it starts to leak at the gauge end, I'll see it. The other end is in a tee fitting with with idiot light sensor. That way if pressure does drop, the light will come on as well. I have the idiot light for the water temp also hooked up. So far so good. I like the idea about the heavier duty oil line, I may "borrow" it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Go ahead and borrow away <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. The larger line will actually allow you to watch the oil pump pulsate a little, usually at hot idle, and it will respond immediately. I understand about the about the Cyberdyne gauges. I have a friend that has them and has replaced the oil pressure sender three times, plus if he turns the headlights on, the water temp. and oil pressure will sometimes change their reading by a slight amount. Not a big deal, and it may be cured by wiring the power into a different circuit, but I never liked the idea of the gauge being dependant on two different "things" to get a reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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