OH NO!!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!??!





That Voltmeter/Fuel gauge has cause nothing less than a severe case of eye burn for me ever since I got the car.

More to come in the next few days.

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-Chris

My AC core, drier, and associated plumbing are up for grabs as well. The system has been (presumably) devoid of freon ever since R12 was banned and the system was drained. Its never worked in my car since I bought it but that doesn't mean that its broken. Looks like its in decent shape.

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-Chris

Wow, that would cause me a week of severe panic.

Do you think you'll have it back together in time for the Monthly Meeting on the 14th?

(BTW, I undrstnd you can get that gauge out without taking off the dash)

No clue. Car is down until I get my IAT sensor in the mail anyway, and then I need to make sure its running nominal.

Of course, I could have taken those three gauges out through the heater panel, but what fun is that?

EVERYTHING needed to come out anyway.

_________________


-Chris

On the s130's the gauge trio comes out through the glove box opening. Is it the same with the s30's? In case I ever own one of course.

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Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

I've never tried it, so I can't say for sure. But I'd imagine it would be a lot more difficult than removing the four bolts in the heater panel.

_________________


-Chris

On my 240, the center trio can be unscrewed and pulled out the back of the dash individually. The Tach and Speedo have to come out forward, toward the driver.

UNLESS you have a dashcap, which adds *JUST* enough thickness to the inside of the instrument bezels to prevent either the tach or speedo from coming all the way out.

Then you need a SawZall.

Phrog,

Interesting, on the 280zx all you have to do to remove the three gauges as a unit is to pull the glove box liner out, remove one screw and disconnect an electrical plug. Then it just slides out the glove box opening. I guess that's one thing that's better engineered on the 280zx's!

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Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

What are the plans here?

Looks like my car about two weeks ago. Are you installing new gauges? It is so nice that the 280z cars keep all the hvac stuff on the firewall and doesn't come out with the dash. All three center gauges can be pulled with the dash in the car with the hvac panel out of the way. It can't be done like the 280zx cars that are just one tri pod.


I was also able to use a label maker to help label all my wires under the dash and will make the job easier if I ever have to pull the dash again.

_________________
Clive Bogle President - New York Z Car Club - NYZCC.COM
1971 240Z - LS1/T56
1974 260Z-L30
1976 Fairlady Z

Secret.

You guys will find out in a few days when its done. I'll post pics of the procedure.

I don't have a label maker, but I've marked every plug with 3m tape strips.

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-Chris

[quote="EVILZ"][b]What are the plans here?

Plans? He's got no plans ~ he just wants to know how everything works.

He did the same thing with rifles and helicopters.

It's typical.

Since you've gone that far, why not put in AC? Could that be what you are doing since you split the heater air box?? That's what I did with mine which turned into changing out a cracked dash (twice), wiring an AC compressor, an AC relay, headlight relays and installing power windows. Actually, I had the dash in and out 4 times in one day because things "just weren't right". Made for an interesting Saturday!

Oh no, Frank. Sometimes I may take things apart for the heck of it just to see how it works, but this isn't one of them. I've already taken the dash apart once before...

Install AC? Why? I just removed it!
My current engine has no compressor on it, nor could it fit one if I wanted (intake piping in the way). At first when I lost the compressor when my old engine came out, I considered swapping it onto my L28ET. But then Clayton reminded me that's what roll down windows are for.

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-Chris

FFFFFFFffffffffffff-ffffffffffffffffffff-ffffFFFFFFFf-ffFfFFFFFFFFFFFF-FFFFFF.... The wait today is killing me!!!!

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-Chris

And its done... sort of...



Sorry about the mess, I didn't get around to finish putting everything back together.

This is the reason for the secrecy. A new set of Speedhut Revolution gauges. They almost look like they belonged in the car from the start. That is, until it gets dark out....



Each gauge gives off a brilliant cool-blue hue which is easily read with the contrasting red pointer. The glow comes not from standard lights behind the bezels, but the numbers themselves. Sort of like an indeglow watch. This makes them thousands of times clearer to read than the stock gauges. The first picture is probably more accurate, the second was a timed exposure in almost complete darkness. They're not that blindingly bright. More for artsy effect than anything (which is a nice way of saying I was holding the camera and my heartbeat distorted the image).

But the list doesn't stop there with pretty looks. Each gauge is fully electronic, and the needles powered by stepper motors. This makes them extremely accurate, once again unlike the aging Datsun gauges. They are also fully programmable. Want your warning light for overheated coolant to go off at 240*F? Set. Want your oil pressure to have a low pressure warning at 10psi as well as 80psi for overpressure? Done. The vacuum/boost works the same way, as well as the voltmeter. The fuel level is also adjustable, you just need to calibrate tow and high points.


But the real joy lies in the speedometer and tach. The speedo I got has integrated turn signal and highbeam indicator lights, so I didn't have to sacrifice too much with the loss of the stocker. It too is fully programmable, with peak features. Right now it is hooked up to a 240sx electronic speed sensor in my transmission, and since the car is stationary has not been calibrated. But when my Z does move again, all I have to do is drive 2 miles and the speedometer will count the pulses per mile and calibrate itself. The tachometer is no less impressive. Whether you have an L28 or a Jaguar V12 under the hood, distributor with single coil or EDIS, you can set the pulses per revolution to get an accurate readout. Additionally there are a set of integrated LED shift lights where you can set not only the shift point, but the span of the other lights. To explain a little further, say you set the shift point at 6000rpm and a span of 200rpm. 3 yellow LEDs will come on at 5400, 5600, 5800, followed by a red shift light at 6000, then a blinking red at 6200 for overrev.

And what if you don't like black gauge faces with a blue glow? Well, you could get black bezel with green glowing letters and a white pointer if you REALLY wanted it to look like stock. Or you could get a gauge face that looks yellow by day with black font and glows green at night. You can also change the font of the numbers. Or tell them to put a big "DATSUN TYPE R" in the center. The options are almost endless. Full customization.

But all this awesome comes at a price. Literally. They are pricey. I've been planning and waiting for the right time since '08 to slap these in the car, and finally got around to it. But for the money you spend you get something much more personal and unique than just about anything else. And for all the technology that these gauges have, it still won't save you from a dead fuel pump. I spent 1pm Friday to 10am Saturday without sleep installing them so I could go to the UCONN show, but it wasn't enough. Oddly, my old mechanical Autometer fuel pressure gauge gave the most crushingly accurate reading of the day; "0". Time for another upgrade....

If you have any other questions about the gauges, you can ask. Or go to www.speedhut.com and poke about. They have a fun little gauge building tool that shows you what your order will look like.

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-Chris