Correct reading/gauges??

[eliyarbrough]

I bought Simco's gauge cluster. I will have them put on Tuesday. I was planning on taking a pic of where my needles are & stuff. Is there anyway to make sure they are showing right? Like my volts, yesterday it was reading @ like 13 volts. I have no idea if that is even correct! I just wanted to know how to get a correct reading. I guess since my car overheated, just been looking @ my gauges a lot more. Thanks in advance!!

 

[uncltrvlnmatt]

13-14.5 volts is right. The only way to find out for sure what it should be is to put a multi meter on the battery or alternator while it is running to see what it is charging at. The battery is much easier to get to.

Anything more than 14.5 and you are overcharging the battery. Anything under 13 and you are undercharging the battery.

 

[eliyarbrough]

Thanks, did not realize that.

 

[uncltrvlnmatt]

Thanks, did not realize that.

Your welcome.

 

[Paul]

Is there anyway to make sure they are showing right?

Yes, buy real gauges.

 

[eliyarbrough]

Care to explain that? Wasn't aware I bought faux-gauges. Bought Simco's.

 

[Paul]

They don't tell you much though. Real gauges have numbers on them.

 

[eliyarbrough]

The only thing is my car will remain pretty stock under the hood. I may do some small stuff, not for any performance gains though. Will these type gauges work good enough for me? I really have no idea. Thanks!

 

[Paul]

Not if you actually want to monitor anything with any accuracy.

Today on the way home, my stock water temperature gauge was on "A" on N O R M A L. That translates to 228* on my autometer gauge. YIKES!

I wonder what is outside of N O R M A L. :confused1:

Stock gauges suck.

 

[eliyarbrough]

I didn't know this & spent like $195 on these Simco ones. Maybe I'll use these til I can afford 'real' ones. Can you give me some examples? I want them all to be in that cluster thing. I like those pod things, I just don't feel like my car is worthy to have those. Because I will never improve the performance stuff. Thanks!!

 

[Paul]

I have the mission-critical gauges in my center stack - oil pressure, water temperature, and vacuum. (vacuum not critical, I just like having it)

http://sn95forums.com/index.php?topic=25589.0

 

[AaRoN]

Vacuum gauges are great for diagnosing problems.

 

[Paul]

Yep.

 

[AaRoN]

I see you're clutch pedal is also missing the pad.

 

[Paul]

Indeed.

 

[eliyarbrough]

I'm right now looking into buying an aftermarket CD player. Say I buy one of the pods that goes where the player was, I think you make. What gauges will be smart to have there? I know the water temp, that's all. Like I said, my car is 99.7% stock. It will stay this way, too.

Do y'all leave your stock cluster in with these others? 1 I'd like to get is a fuel level gauge. I reckon I'll buy AutoMeter's NV. They shine pretty close to my Simcos. Thanks!!

 

[Paul]

I do have a few of those gauge panels left. Just PM me if you're interested in one.

Personally, I think aftermarket oil pressure and water temperature are the critical ones. For a third one, it's really up to you. You can get all kinds - some options might be volts (inexpensive too), vacuum, fuel pressure, air/fuel ratio, etc.

I'm going to have a bunch of gauges for sale in the classifieds this weekend too...

Paul.

 

[eliyarbrough]

Crap, I'm losing it! I remember posting about having you tell me exactly what I will need to buy, Paul. I cannot find it anywhere, though.

I'm thinking something like this:
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/iwwida.pvx?;item?item_no=ATM-10008%20%20%20%20%20%201&comp=LRS

Again, I have no idea about this kind of stuff. I just figured I could install the gauges you type about, 'real'. Thanks!!

 

[eliyarbrough]

Dang, looking around some more. I don't know if I can afford those.

 

[Paul]

You don't need to replace the whole cluster. If you get a couple "key" gauges, you'll be just fine. Replacing all of them is expensive. I spent over $1300 to replace all the ones in my fox.