One of the most important additions you can make to your Buick is a quality set of aftermarket gauges. If your car came factory equipped with idiot lights, this is even more important. By the time you see an idiot light, the problem is critical, and engine damage is imminent. Gauges allow you to see a problem coming. If you are familiar with your cars normal readings, you can spot an abnormal reading, stop the car and investigate, before a problem causes damage or leaves you stranded on the side of the road. The stock gauges are better than lights, but they have no markings on them, so you really dont know where your engine is running. For example, the stock temperature gauge on a Skylark/GS will be running at 200-210* when the indicator is halfway. Thats quite a bit warmer than I like my engine to run. The most important gauges to have are oil pressure and coolant temperature. I also run a voltmeter. A broken fan belt would first show as a low voltage reading and a generator light. The engine would then shortly overheat from a non-functional water pump and fan. Gauges come in two popular sizes. 2 1/16, and 2 5/8. If you have the room, I recommend the larger gauges. They are easier to see and read. Get the best gauges you can afford. In my opinion, you cant beat Autometer gauges. They have a budget line of gauges under the Autogage line. Get the better gauges if you can. I like to mount my gauges under the dashboard. If you want to keep the interior of the car original looking, use the smaller size gauges, and mount them in the glove box. Mounting bezels can be ordered from the same place you get the gauges. Jegs, and Sumitt Racing have a very complete selection. You can also get angle rings that let you aim the gauges toward the driving position. There are also mounting cups that enclose the back of the gauge and allow you to aim it. The mounting cups are more expensive, and you need to buy one for each gauge you are using. I use a bezel and angle rings. The next decision you need to make is whether you want mechanical gauges or electrical gauges. There is no accuracy difference between the two. Up until recently, electrical gauges were of the 90* sweep design. Mechanical gauges have a 270* sweep. The 270* sweep means there are more lines on the gauge, and that means the gauges are easier to read accurately at a glance. For instance, the Autometer mechanical oil pressure gauge has a line every 5 psi, the electrical gauge has a line every 12.5 psi. If the needle is in between lines, it would be much easier to read the mechanical gauge at a glance, but both gauges would show the same reading. Recently, Autometer has introduced a line of full sweep electrical gauges, but they are close to twice as expensive as the full sweep mechanicals and short sweep electrical. Electrical and mechanical gauges each have their advantages and disadvantages. Electrical gauges can be easier to install. It is easier to run a wire than a tube. Mechanical gauges measure directly, and will work with no electrical power. The oil pressure gauge entails running a tube that carries the oil inside the car to the gauge mounting position. A nylon tube is commonly supplied for this purpose. The nylon can harden with heat and age, and can break spilling oil inside the car. A better choice is to use the copper tubing, or, even better, braided stainless steel hoses with fittings. Mechanical temperature gauges come in two ranges, 120-240*, and 140-280*. I like the 120-240* type. It places the normal readings of 180* closer to the center of the gauge sweep, besides, I dont need a reading of 280* on a gauge, Im going to shut my engine down once I see 220*, and find out why it is running so hot. Mechanical temperature gauges come assembled with the sending unit. A sealed copper tube runs from the gauge to the sending bulb. The tube is filled with an ether type gas that transmits the readings. These gauges are harder to install because you must have a 7/8 hole in the firewall to pass the sending bulb through. After you decide where to mount your gauges, and have mounted the gauges in the bezel or individual cups, the next task is to run the wiring, and or tubing. I have found that in the Skylark/GS, the easiest place to go through the firewall is where the climate control vacuum hoses are. There is a large rubber grommet over a inch in diameter. It is easy to poke a hole through this grommet, and run your wires or tubes. If you drill any holes in the firewall, remember to use a grommet to protect the connections from sharp edges. I have found that the easiest way to run lighting for the gauges is to connect all the lighting power leads together, and run one wire that taps into the ashtray light wire. This enables you to dim the gauge lighting along with all the other dash lights. Also run all the lighting grounds together, and run the single ground to a metal portion of the dashboard. I use one of the mounting screws for my bezel. If you want to keep your stock gauges or lights operational, along with the aftermarket gauges, you can use a brass tee for oil pressure. With a temperature gauge, a tee is not practical because of size and clearance constraints. I use the threaded hole in the intake that housed the stock thermo-vacuum switch. That way, I can run both temperature gauges.
thanks Larry, this post has been very helpfull! I recieved my gauges and bezel/angle rings on Fri and can't wait to install!
You can also rotate the gauges so that when the gauges are in the normal range, all the needles point straight up. Less time spent having to look down at the gauges.
Thanks for sharing the information guys. I was wondering, are there any disadvantages to using digital gauges other then looking too modern? Are they as good/accurate as the sweep type?
I'm in the middle of installing guages (oil,water,vacuum). I don't really like seeing after market guages so I was thinking of installing them in the glove department (dept. of gloves), and facing the driver (me) and keep the glove box door open only while driving.
FWIW, the Air Force did testing a ways back between digital and needle gauges. They found pilots could process the analog gauges faster because they knew where each needle should point when things were going as planned, with digital they had to process what the number was for each gauge and if it was a good number or bad. Speaking for myself, I'm partial to a clean looking gauge with needles.
Lots of good information, Larry. For my car I bought an aftermarket gauge pod marketed by Autometer for the `68-`69 Camaro to replace the factory rectangle console mounted gauges with the round 2 1/16" units. I had to cut up the front of my console for it but I did manage to trim it to fit pretty well and then used Autometer Sport Comp gauges in it. I also like the way they angle towards the driver. Here's a pic:
These comments make alot of sense to me. I think I will end up with the needles all pointing straight up. Thanks for the good info.
This isn't for the purist, but I mounted my gauges in the dash where they are easier to see. My car didn't have A/C originally (it does now) so I had a blank spot on the left side of the dash. The clock didn't work so the third gauge went in there (it's hiding behind the steering wheel in the photo). There are gauges made now that have very "stock" looking markings that would blend in better but I've grown to like the antique look. John
John, you had time to take a picture of your gauges with your hands off the wheel all while you were going 95MPH?!?! :laugh: :laugh:
Larry's gauge info is excellent. I will only add that disabling warning lights for oil & coolant temp is a recipe for disaster, especially for anyone who spends time at the track, and/or anyone running an electric water pump. We can't watch the gages at WOT or while negotiating heavy traffic, we're supposed to be driving. As he said, you'll have time to deal with things with a belt driven water pump if the belt leaves thanks to the "ALT" or "GEN" light. Running an electric water pump, you'll need the light. Regarding oil pressure, at WOT you'll appreciate a warning light with a sender set to register a lot higher than the stock setting of 7 psi or so. The idea is that you can drive the car full bore down the track with your eyes looking forward and deal with a low pressure situation by shutting it off immediately after the red light stares you in the face. If you're about to shift at 6500 rpm and the stock 7 psi light comes on, it's already too late. I run a 25 psi sender and still hope to never see it light except at startup. Gauges and warning lights should go hand-in-hand. Gauges are great for watching trends and casual monitoring; warning lights near eye level, with proper senders, will take care of you in the heat of the moment when you need critical info the most. Devon
Good info. I also have the duplex setup but with the original oil sending unit. DaWildcat, where did you get the 25 PSI sending unit? Do you have a part No. ? Glen
I think I actually bought the 30 psi switch: http://www.autometer.com/cat_accessorieslist.aspx?pid=7 Devon
So I have a 57 and have been looking into getting some aftermarket gauges. But it seems like a ton of people go that rout and the round gauges are becoming more and more common. I'm wondering if, since I'm planning on modernizing my car's interior, if i can use this gauge panel from an 89 Olds Cutlass Supreme? This was one of my first cars and i was always impressed with the classic layout of the digital gauges. i think that it's the only set of gauges from that period that continues to look modern because it's so simple in it's layout. I'd like to set it in the dash and then place a cover over the screen with bevels surrounding the gauges so they look individual. Does anyone know if this would work?
About two weeks after installing the three gauge unit (water temp, oil pressure, voltmeter) and leaving the idiot lights fully functional, the voltmeter starting showing a charging rate of 16+ volts but the ammeter light was not illuminated. A new voltage regulator corrected the charging rate to a little over 14 volts per the factory manual. The point being is that the ammeter would never light up until something burned up but the voltmeter showed the problem. Love the gauges but the dual installation for idiot lights is very important to provide a very noticeable warning for catastrophic failures. These got mounted on the left side of the steering column for a little more low key appearance.
I would check with Dakota Digital and some of the other suppliers of digital gauge systems for the Street Machine crowd. They are a common modification for the Shoe Box Chevy ( i.e. 1955-1957 Chevrolet). IIRC they will make whatever you want to gauges; tach, speedo, pressure, temp, level, output, boost, vacuum.
