full aftermarket Fox body instrument clusters ?

[MUSTHAVE302]

So when the snow melts and i'm again able to work on my painfully slow 4cyl conversion, i would like to upgrade my instrument cluster. I think for about 4 bills, i can get autometer phantom guages for fuel, water temp, oil pressure, voltage, speedo and tach made for indash mounting (3-3/8" on the tach and speedo, and 2-1/8" (i think) on the others) which i think will fit nicely into the available space on a 93. Does anyone make a prefab panel that will take the place of the factory cluster? I'm trying to avoid the air vent panel or A pillar route too.

I already have the stock cluster removed, and have a 5.0 instrument cluster ready to go in, but it just looks dingy. Something that already has the guages in it, or just a housing for aftermarket guages would be cool. I'm also toying w/ the idea of Ford Motorsport stuff. Anyone that has cool pics of what they have done is welcome to share

 

[siege]

try florida50.com...they have some nice lookin stuff

 

[evlgt85]

There's also this, which is aluminum instead of plastic, and has idiot lights, and turn signals:

http://mc-machine.com/87dash/87dash.htm
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=371494

I've got the 79-86 version in my car.

 

[MUSTHAVE302]

Damn! That looks fantastic. Sure am glad i asked! I checked the florida50 site, and that stuff looks nice, but not near as nice as the aluminum piece listed below. Thanks fellas!!!

 

[MustangGT01]

That's sweet lookin!!! I too checked out the florida50 site and think this is far better than theirs. I'm glad I popped in to see what was going on in here.

 

[MUSTHAVE302]

all i have to figure out now is what guages would look good. I had my eye on the phantom series, but the procomp's look good too. I wonder how that aluminum piece would look powdercoated? It's pretty bright as it is. I checked out the link to the corral thread, there is a picture of the thing with the back showing. Looks like a daunting task to put the sucker together. I'd like to see some pics of it in the car if available . . .

 

[evlgt85]

Since it's aluminum, you'd probably want to go with anodizing. I had mine (different style) done in black and grey to match the factory look. I think that Mental Addiction (the place selling them) has them already available in black as well as bare, not sure though. Might want to call them about that.

Apparently there's a kit that Painless has out now for ~60 bucks that you can get that makes the wiring/installation for aftermarket guages a breeze. Figures this comes out after mine is already done. :/

Unfortunately, having real guages is never a plug n' play situation. It's worth it when it's all done. I love never having to wonder anymore just where in the range of "N O R M A L" my car really should be. LOL!

 

[MUSTHAVE302]

Thanks for the tip on the painless kit evilgt. I had no idea it was going to be this easy! I checked my summit catalog last nite and the phantom speedo and tach are listed as a 3-3/4" face rather than a 3-3/8" like the cluster calls for. I'm hoping that's a misprint but probably not. I'll check autometer's website i guess - that limits my choices.

I'm sure your set up looks killer - especially black/grey like you mentioned. I have a friend that bought an 86 4 cyl for a 351 he's building - i think he'll be real tempted to get the panel for the 86. I know i asked already - butyou don't happen to have some pics do you? If not that's cool - thank you for putting me on to this guage cage - I'm really excited about getting it.

 

[ECU5.0]

where can i find that painless wiring kit...ive been lookin at gettin a cluster like that...definetly like yours better than florida5.0

 

[87gtconv]

What did you do about your gas,water, and oil low level lights?? I have to tell you this plate will look great anodized black in my black 87 ragtop!

 

[YardSpecial]

Dam there goes some more Money !!!

Big Thanks to the Member who posted the picture and link to Corral !!

Looks WAY better then Florida 5.0 stuff !!!

 

[jlhall_10]

where can i find that painless wiring kit...ive been lookin at gettin a cluster like that...definetly like yours better than florida5.0

yea id like to know also. Ive been looking at those for a while but i have no clue how to wire them.

 

[evlgt85]

Anyone who sells Painless Wiring stuff should be able to get them. Summit, Jeg's, local speed shops. The place selling the MC Machine dash plates, http://mentaladdictionmotorsports.com (I think that's the right URL...it's flippin' LONG! ) deals in Painless stuff, too.

I'll try to dig up the pics of my 86-earlier plate tonight. I had some online, but lost them due to a server crash. Yay.

When you've got a full complement of real guages, idiot lights are really just redundant and unnecessary, IMO. The 79-86 plate doesn't have provisions for any of the warning/idiot (whatever your term of choice for those things) lights. The guages I have will tell me everything I really need to know about my oil, gas and temperature, and in far better detail. Then, if you get a guage cage or any other provision for additional guages, you're so covered beyond belief. But, like I said, that's just my feelings on the subject.

 

[87gtconv]

I still would like those low level warning lights for water, gas and oil. I dont drive mine more than three times a week so I depend on them sometimes rather than checking on levels under the hood!! Think there is a way of incorporating those three lights in the dash??

 

[Black Sun 5.0]

Which Painless kit did you order for your dash? I don't seem to be able to find what I'm looking for.

 

[IndyBlk5.0]

ive always wanted to take the instrument panel out of a 78 mgb and put it in a stang, now that would look good!

 

[93 LX]

http://www.painlesswiring.com/connectr.htm

UNIVERSAL GAUGE HARNESS
If you want to keep your under-dash area organized or you think that you need to remove gauges from time to time then you need to install our universal gauge harness. It will connect all major brand gauges including Auto Meter and VDO and works with most dash layouts and sizes.

UNIVERSAL GAUGE HARNESS
#30301 - For cable driven speedometer.

UNIVERSAL GAUGE HARNESS
#30302 - For electric speedometer and includes speedometer connections.

http://www.painlesswiring.com/connectr.htm

 

[ECU5.0]

awesome...thanks man

 

[Black Sun 5.0]

Nice. Now one more dumb question: '91 GT, cable or electric? I assume it's cable driven.

 

[dustang90]

Here is a tough question. On that AutoMeter speedometer, how does that thing hook up??? How do you get that thing to read properly???