Saleen gauge pod install with Autometer gauges

[cavero]

Hey all,

Curious if anyone else had run into this problem. I'm working on installing some Autometer sport comp gauges in a Saleen dash pod. When test fitting the gauges into the pod, I noticed the gauges hang below the bottom of the pod:





Yeah if you look at the Saleen gauges, they're definitely shorter.





But the directions have you drill some big 1" holes right around where the back or the gauges end up, so I figure that must give some relief.


But before drilling anything I wanted to mock up the fitment on a cardboard box -- good thing I did, because the drill locations in the directions wouldn't have worked. Here's where they want you to drill:




Nnnnope.





I'll save the blow by blow, but after some trial and error, this is what I ended up with. The red is the outline of where the gauge pod sits. You can see I had to hug the inside edge of the bezel. The holes started out as 1", centered 3/4" further back than called out in the directions. But then I had to embiggen them to 1 11/32" long by 1 3/16 wide



Clearance


Fitting good.






I'm going to try coming up with a better template before trying this on the real thing.

 

[GlassTop09]

That's a good looking center dash gauge pod! So Saleen part...........................

Mind posting where you got it?
Would appreciate it!

 

[GriffX]

Everybody is different so, I always installed gauges in a way that I can remove them to sell the car. I would never cut holes in the dash. There are so many good glue products out there which can be removed. And I would go with the cable around the glass. The big holes are only for the connectors? I would pin it out just to need smaller holes.

 

[cavero]

That's a good looking center dash gauge pod! So Saleen part...........................

Mind posting where you got it?
Would appreciate it!

You can find them on eBay for not too much ($70). Think they're typically replicas but I have found an actual NOS parnelli jones set with the guages for $300.

Everybody is different so, I always installed gauges in a way that I can remove them to sell the car. I would never cut holes in the dash. There are so many good glue products out there which can be removed. And I would go with the cable around the glass. The big holes are only for the connectors? I would pin it out just to need smaller holes.

Yeah for the longest time I tried to make sure everything I did to the car was reversible. But with forged internals and supercharger, I'm past the point of returning to stock. If I ever sell the car it'll be with everything included.

Also wouldn't be drilling unles I was A B S O L U T E L Y sure this was the look I wanted and I've always loved this look since 2006 when saleen came out with the S281. There've definietly looks that have come and go over the years, but this one's stood the test of time for me. That said, if for some reason I had to remove the pod, I'd patch up the dash and leather wrap it so you'd never know.

Oh with the actual Saleen gauges (pic from eBay), looks like they're tapered so you wouldn't have to cut big holes for clearance. The autometer gauges are a lot bigger.

 

[GlassTop09]

You can find them on eBay for not too much ($70). Think they're typically replicas but I have found an actual NOS parnelli jones set with the guages for $300.

Thanks! After I got the steering column pod from OZGaugePods, I now want to also install a Banks I-Dash gauge so I can also pull in actual manifold MAP & baro\MAP deltaP, thus now could use a second gauge pod.........unless the Banks I-Dash gauge can also operate\read my 2 Bosch LU 4.9 HUEGO W\B's & will interface w\ HPTuners VCM Scanner software, then only 1 pod is needed (these Banks I-Dash gauges can operate several sensors thru a single gauge thus can display up to 6 different modes at the same time)..........or I might go ahead & send my OZGaugePod back to them to have the 2nd gauge pod added on the opposite side.

I like that Saleen center dash gauge pod MUCH better than the AutoMeter version I bought some yrs ago & may get 1 before all this stuff gets discontinued.........

Decisions, decisions, etc..............

I'm past the point of returning to stock. If I ever sell the car it'll be with everything included.

+1 here....... I'm now in the process of getting rid of all the '09 OEM good parts I've pulled off taking up space due to upgrades that I know I'm not going to revert back to '09 OEM stock & either giving them away, scrapping them for junk or throwing in the trash (have recently remodeled\painted my storage shed inside & out back in spring of this year & am getting rid of\giving away all unused stuff we tend to hang onto for value\reasons that in the end nobody else really wants any way........even when trying to give it away for free).

So, make her your own & enjoy her to your heart's content!

You got her looking good!!!!

 

[07 Boss]

I went with the simple autometer 3-gauge pod for my Jessica. Yes I drilled a hole in the dash even though I probably could have run wires through the defrost vents.




I used to clock the my gauges (old school trick) so that all the needles pointed straight up at WOT. This way you can glance at them and see everything is ok without having to actually read them. But my current gauges you can set different colors for different ranges so I have them set to be all green when they're in their proper range for WOT operation. That way during a run I can see everything literally in the green as I make a pull.

 

[GriffX]

when they're in their proper range for WOT operation.

It's sad that nobody makes a gauge for superchargers with the smaller boost range. I used in the end an industrial pressure gauge from SMC with max pressure memory to watch afterwards. Have lots of problems with blown gaskets at my Mercedes Eaton assembly.

 

[cavero]

It's sad that nobody makes a gauge for superchargers with the smaller boost range. I used in the end an industrial pressure gauge from SMC with max pressure memory to watch afterwards. Have lots of problems with blown gaskets at my Mercedes Eaton assembly.

Yeah I've seen 15 psi gauges, but seems like most of them are 30. I'm probably maxing out at 10 psi right now (Vortech V3 Si HO) so I'd only be using 2/3 the range of the gauge. A boost/vac gauge would make it even worse where your boost range would be like 1/4 of the sweep

 

[cavero]

I went with the simple autometer 3-gauge pod for my Jessica. Yes I drilled a hole in the dash even though I probably could have run wires through the defrost vents.




I used to clock the my gauges (old school trick) so that all the needles pointed straight up at WOT. This way you can glance at them and see everything is ok without having to actually read them. But my current gauges you can set different colors for different ranges so I have them set to be all green when they're in their proper range for WOT operation. That way during a run I can see everything literally in the green as I make a pull.

I like the look of the double pod myself but that's a pretty sweet setup, especially with the color change. What's the blue for though?

 

[07 Boss]

What's the blue for though?

Nothing, just matches my stock gauges. I think i took the pic in the middle of setting them up.

 

[cavero]

did some more mocking up using a contour gauge to get the right curvature on the dash, then used it to get the right shape for the cut outs.

Also had to notch the bracket that holds in the gauges to get it to fit over the long posts, and had to widen the slots for the short posts that the thumb screws went on

 

[cavero]

After measuring, over and over... And over again I finally got to work. Didn't have enough room to fit the drill under the glass, and even the flex shaft on the Dremel was too long on the furthest holes so I did it by hand, stepping through every bit I had up through the 5/16" needed





I traced out the template I made and finally cut out the recesses for the gauges




This hurts to see

 

[cavero]

But here are the results

 

[Blue03Cobra]

Well played, Sir. Well played.

 

[07 Boss]

That looks great! I wonder if you could have angled them a little bit? It would probably be an issue with the curve on the dash mating with the pod if you did that.

 

[brasil]

I am with 07 Boss. Looks great, but I think little angled towards the driver would be a "nice to have ". Perhaps you can turn the whole assy a little bit ?

 

[cavero]

Yeah I figured at least I'd mount the oil pressure closer to the driver to be easier to see. With the curve of the dash/pod, I don't know if it'd work, but then again curve is very slight so the gap might not be that bad.

I thought about after you mentioned that, instead of drilling the three mounting holes, I probably could have made two of them arcs so it could pivot. Sucks though, those cutouts I had to do for the gauges are right up against the sides of the pod so if I turned it even a little bit you'd see the cutouts poking out around the sides

 

[cavero]

Got the lighting hooked up this weekend, HUGE thanks to this thread. I ended up splicing into the plug for where the automatic shift lever would've been.

Wiring up gauges -- best place to splice in power supplies?

Brought my wiring (from the sensors) in through the rubber grommet at the driver's side foot well. Need to find convenient spots to splice in a 12+ battery, 12+ ignition, and a 12 volt with parking/headlamps on (as a trigger for the gauges to switch colors when the lights are turned on). I...

www.s197forum.com

and MAN do those incandescent bulbs suck. The only way you can read them is at full brightness, and then the housing is getting pretty hot.

This is at half brightness


And this is at full blast.

 

[cavero]

Went looking around and found Autometer sells 193 size LED bulbs, almost $20 each --- yikes -- but I bought them anyway because they were dimmable and had good reviews.

 

[cavero]

Compare between the two







And here they are installed, this is minimum brightness





And this is max




They're definitely dimmable and follow the brightness with dash pretty close (just a little brighter). Color wise, they're a little... mintier? Def bluer than the stock Ford green backlighting, but a not too bad. Actually matches pretty well to the color setting I've been using on the cluster lately (maybe 1, 3, 2 RGB?).