I've got an 84 2wd SR5 Toyota cab for my 80/89 frame that was repaired (half is an 80, half is 89)...I've also got a buick 3.8 and doing basically a ground up on my little project...

ANYHOW...

The speedo in the guage is fried, the pin that holds the needle is broken and when the cab was removed from the salvage yard the fuse box under the hood was cut, the headlight harnesses were gone, other misc items too.

My friend suggested we just gut the current cluster and put in full mechanical guages to replace them all, including tack/speedometer.

Only problem is, who should I go with?

Autozone - Sunpro guages, relatively cheap
Autometer - :eek: :eek: :eek: $$$$ but good looks and reliability
Stewart Warner Guages that i can order from local parts store, they look good and a friend of mine loves his...
Or You mention another brand out there...

I'd like to have smaller guages so they all fit w/in the dash, and would like to not pay $100 for a friggin Volt meter or oil pressure...

Yes i've searched, but I prefer a poll of various opinions since Pirate is the place of the know!

I lot of it depends on personal preference. I am going w/Autometer because I like the looks of their guages and they have some of the special guages that I want to run. Not everyone has an Air/Fuel ratio guage. After having one in my Suburban, I don't think I will be without in any of my vehicles.

Guess i'll just sh*t some $$$$ and get the Autometer's I need...

personally i think teh stewerts or whatever are complete junk. my dad used them in his sandrail and they never worked currectly, now he has autometers and they work great, plus there is little to no price differance between the two. other then that you might want to try vdo, they offer dash kits that have all the gauges you would need, seem to look real nice.

i dunno if your into the digital thing, but cyberdyne and dakota digital offer nifty stuff -outside temp gauge, stereo amp temps, a gauge that has the psi for 4 airbags and the tank-. check them out

I have owned three Autometer gauges, all of which worked perfectly. I have no experience with the others. I don't think I would trust the sunpro stuff, it looks really cheap to me (JMHO). Never seen the other brand in the poll.

i think that the autometers are worth the money. if you figure some extra money now or a lot later when the guage doesnt read write. i feel that obviously they make a decent guage or they wouldnt still be in bussiness and used by so many people. 98% of the time the masses will let you know what works and what doesnt ... just my opinion.

98% of the time the masses will let you know what works and what doesnt ... just my opinion.

Exactly why i posted a poll :beer: ...Thanks all! Autometer it is..

VDO

AutoMeter=great, stay away from AutoGage, Autogage is the economy version (read:cheap) of Autometer.

Eric

A quickie on mechanical gauges . . . Most of them (including the best) are no better than ¡À5% of full scale. If you have a 0-100 PSI gauge, it can be off by 5 PSI anywhere on the scale. Soooo, a gauge reading of say 20 PSI will translate to an actual pressure between 15 and 25 PSI. Temperature gauges are even worse.

Second, probably 1 out every 5 gauges are defective right out of the box

Originally posted by Rockcrusher
A quickie on mechanical gauges . . . Most of them (including the best) are no better than ¡À5% of full scale. If you have a 0-100 PSI gauge, it can be off by 5 PSI anywhere on the scale. Soooo, a gauge reading of say 20 PSI will translate to an actual pressure between 15 and 25 PSI. Temperature gauges are even worse.

Second, probably 1 out every 5 gauges are defective right out of the box

Hm...thats interesting...

I'm wanting to go with mostly mechanical because the less I gotta wire up the happier I am. I want as little wire under the dash as possible, I mean, its not really a big deal as i'm going to school for computers and electronics. But I just hate wiring, fusing, and all that mess...

Originally posted by Jakesteramalamajama
VDO YUP That's what I have. The ecectronic speedo is great because if I change tire size and can adjust the speedo with a screw driver!