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Gauges for 350 swap

756 views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  the_experience3006 
#1 ·
Ok, I'm lining up all the parts for a 350/700R4/208 swap for my truck since I got a smoking deal on the combo and my 22re is still in pieces. I'm not afraid of the wiring...or the motor mounts...or any of that crap. What has me down are the gauges....

I'm thinking it will be easiest to just make a new dash with mechanical gauges. Easy enough, right? Mostly....

What do people recommend for a fuel gauge and a speedo? Can the factory signal from the sending unit be made to work with a generic fuel gauge? If so, easy enough....

What about the speedometer? Universal speedos are stupidly expensive. Expensive enough that I would consider using my factory gauges adapted to the V-8, actually. But that doesn't solve my problem...my factory speedo is of the electronic type. Is there a way around this? Is swapping to an earlier mechanical Gen III dash an option?

Discuss.
 
#2 ·
sky's the limit.

I would recommend the factory fuel gauge. No aftermarket one's that I know work correctly.

On my 84 I installed 2 1/16" guages in the dash behind the clear cover. Lot of work, but it looked good.
 
#5 ·
Sarcasm aside, I was actually looking into Megasquirting the 22re. Heck, someday maybe I'll Megasquirt the 350. For now I just need it done. I'm not going another winter driving a Honda Civic. The March 1st Thunderblizzard about did me in with an inch of snow per hour for 36 hours.
 
#6 ·
The fuel sender is unique to toyota, no aftermarket gage bolts up directly, except programmable ones.

Just replace the sender in the tank to work with a 0-90 gage. The senders are about $25 through summit racing.

Pony up and buy a programmable speedo, They only cost about $110, and reprogram at the drop of a hat.
 
#7 ·
Forgive my ignorance, but anything I've ever seen that needed a programmable speedo didn't need a speedo at all....

How are they programmed? Is it just a digital operation? DIP switches? Modules? Will it work with the stock Chevy speedo cable? If I have to pony up, I have to pony up. I'm just all about doing things on the cheap when I can.
 
#8 ·
or use a tach. fiigure your speed for x gear at x rpm. make a little cheat sheet on you dash or label the tach.

I like the lcd screen idea. Some computer diagnostic program's had a display for tach, speedo and all the goodies. hmm
 
#9 ·
The tach method is how I did it to compensate for my bigger tires and stock gearing (it's not that I don't want to fix the stock gearing...it's that I can't afford to). I actually didn't notice for a week or two that my harness had snapped off from the tranny at the plug thus rendering my speedo useless. I noticed when I calculated out my mileage and got about .3 mpg.

The problem I see with the tach method is that it doesn't work real well at slower speeds when the TC is unlocked. Those are the speeds I see people getting nailed at more often. Granted I would err on the side of caution in that the tach would indicate a higher speed than I'm actually going thanks to TC slip, I don't want a bunch of middle fingers for going too slow.

It might have to work in the short term....
 
#11 ·
[hijack own thread] Which build of Megasquirt are you using? You going to do fun stuff like run the timing off it too with EDIS? [/hijack own thread]
 
#13 ·
Programmable speedometers need a VSS input from something. You can get a sensor to adapt an old mechanical output.

Depending on the company, you push a button, drive a measured distance with a GPS(1 mile or 2 miles), then push it again. Bam, its calibrated.

You change your tires, just do that again. Bam, accurate.

I'm doing all VDO gauges in my truck with this setup. They are just as accurate and a good bit cheaper than autometer. Of course, I design OEM instrument clusters for VDO, so I'm biased...
 
#14 ·
I think I'm going to have to look at doing that. 1 paycheck=1 gauge I fear. Being a poor college student sucks. My laundry list of stuff I need grows twice as fast as I can knock stuff off it. :shaking:
 
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