I've been putting together my 'switch box' (for lack of a better word) which will be used in my next car project. It's a small box which houses a Ford ignition key switch from a 60s Ranchero, a headlight switch and three 'idiot lights'. It's meant to be mounted under the dash and somewhat out of sight, yet still be within reach and view of the driver. I've always liked things clean and simple, so I want the dash to be smooth with no gauges, knobs, or doo-dads to clutter it up. Painted body color with some cool striping or other artwork is all I wanna see on the dash surface! The idiot lights will do the job as far as keeping tabs on the engine (a 302 Ford). It's either overheating, or it's fine. It's either got low oil pressure, or it's okay. It's either charging, or it isn't! You get the idea! As for a speedo...well, I just drive with traffic, and tend to run on the slow side, so I'll be fine there! Anyone else tried such a sano set-up? Any pictures? I think this idea lends itself best to T-buckets and cars of the 20s and 30s, but it COULD be applied to 40s and 50s iron, too. Whaddaya think???
Now if only you could figure out a way to get rid of that annoying steering wheel, it'd be just like sitting in a rollercoaster.
In an older issue of R&C (I think from last year or the rear before)there was a T that was set up with a smooth dash. Maybe I'm haveing a flashback, I'll dig through my***** this afternoon. They hung the speedo and tach off the colum. You could do the same with a knee knocker tach and no speedo. Basically invisable but you would still have a monitor of some sort. There were a lot of customs at the shows in the early 60's with smooth dashes. They were probably left over from the 50s. A lot of that stuff rolls over in the transition. I don't recall seeing any in the Ol' Man's shop shop without gauges when I was a kid, but most of those guys were go fast junkies. I do remember Uncle Sig showing up with one that had more gauges than a three eyed monster could monitor.But that's way off the subject. Smooth dashes are cool.
heres a stupid suggestion...you know how they install tail lights in some cars, then paint over them and you're never know they were there untill you stepped on the brakes? Why not do that with digital guages? You could paint over it, have artwork and striping, just not over where the guages are. I hate not knowing exactly whats going on in the engine... Another thing, is that legal? I really don't have any idea, but do you have to have a speedo, at least for inspections sake?
I want to use my original gauges in my '36 but until I have the money to have them restored/updated, we are taking a basic 3 SW gauge panel and mounting it on the firewall near the passenger's feet. It won't clutter up the dash, and as I glance down, I can see what the gas gauge reads. If I squat down the tiniest bit, I can see the water temp. I'll still have gauges and they won't take away from the aesthetics of the original dash. Pics on monday...
[ QUOTE ] Another thing, is that legal? I really don't have any idea, but do you have to have a speedo, at least for inspections sake? [/ QUOTE ] I'm sure it varies by state but in Cal, you don't have to have a speedo but you DO have to have a high-beam indicator.
I've been tossing around that idea for my '49 Ford, all smooth with the exception of the speedo - I think it'd look cool in a custom
I like a Simple Dash too, but the smooth Column idea is a little iffy. I guess you would have a built in theft deterrent though.
Why not mount it so that it folds out from under the dash when you need to see it.(driving) Same idea as the vacuum actuated rear tag bracket. I like to keep an eye on the temp and oil press.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Another thing, is that legal? I really don't have any idea, but do you have to have a speedo, at least for inspections sake? [/ QUOTE ] I'm sure it varies by state but in Cal, you don't have to have a speedo but you DO have to have a high-beam indicator. [/ QUOTE ] That's true about the high beam indicator. There's another one that seems to get re-written every time I read the Vehicle code, and that's Odometers and speedos. Usta say anything under ten years old had to have an unmollested odometer, so you couldn't rip people off with high mileag, basically, but lately the ten year thing isn't in the wording, at least in the on-line text. The friend of mine who built the "Budweiser Truck" didn't have any guages in it and got the run around by the cops about it and they got their own education about not needing any guages. He had his high beam indicator drilled into the top of his left headlight so he could see it glowing if he had the high beams on, and a moto meter on the radiator. The car WAS his daily driver too. He told me a couple of years ago that since California now has a state law maximum speed limit (since the 55 MPH federal law dropped) that you have to have a speedometer to KNOW that you aren't speeding. He said that before that we actually only had a"safe speed law" which really allowed you to drive "flow of traffic" as long as no accidents occured. Now, I don't know about that because I've got pleanty of tickets while driving "flow of traffic" but it's an interesting item to check out. I think I'd screw a speedo onto the******* speedo output bullet just so the car has one and it would record miles too, and I can just see a cop crawling under the car to see if it's really got an odometer! (I've got this NOS SW curved lens speedo that only goes up to ten MPH and it shows hundredths of a mile...It's a fork lift speedo!) Any car with hydraulic lifters doesn't need an oil pressure guage or light. the knocking will tell you the facts of the eminent melt down.
[ QUOTE ] I've been tossing around that idea for my '49 Ford, all smooth with the exception of the speedo - I think it'd look cool in a custom [/ QUOTE ] That would be a natural for a VW sedan speedo with everything in one round unit. You could redo the face if you don't like the look of it. Or one of the 50's Nash-Rambler-American single unit-clusters or include the part of the dash with the shift lever coming out of the dash, grafted into the Ford dash. (Funny, when they were "new" I thought they were*****t ugly, but now I think they're cool looking...Must be the new car "Melted Gummy Bear" influencing my eye!)
in the new rod&custom they show a pic and talk about this. looks pretty cool to i think. i think i'll probrably do something like this also.
I like the idea and I like the look. I saw a 34 roadster with Manitoba plates on it that had no dash at all! It looked really cool too. Had a thin line below the windshield that housed some really tiny LED readouts....The thing musta had a huge mounting plate under the floor for the column because it had no visible means of support...just jutted outa the floor. I loved it.
I got one that I've never seen used. I haven't figured where I want to use it tho. Its a 49 nash ambassador has a pod on the steering column has a speedo and all the gages turn signals,high beam, with headlight and ignition. the only thing thats not on the column is the radio and glove box and I probably could find room for those too! nice clean unit
[ QUOTE ] I use dirt cheap or free 70s era V8s in my stuff. If everything is hooked up right, they don't run too hot or lose oil pressure, and if they DO, you'll know about it!! [/ QUOTE ] Not necessarily. An upward creeping temp gauge can give more warning. Or simply noticing that the engine is running hotter than it was can alert you to an impending problem. As far as oil pressure goes, I believe the idiot light sender is set to close contacts at 10-15#. I had a rod start knocking on the freeway and decided to keep going until I could get to spot where Sweetie could find me for the rescue. Having a spare crank at home entered into my thinking as well. Once I hit the off ramp and slowed down, the engine locked up. Still at 40# oil press. Down from the usual 45-48#. A light wouldn't show that small of a change, but it did on the instruments. As far as the speedo bit goes, I run with the traffic or most times it passes me. There'll be a day though when you'll be on the highway all by yourself and a black & white will drop in behind. Then what coach? What you could try as far as the invisible instruments go is to build a panel that goes back under the lower edge of the dash so it's only visible to the driver and not readily seen from the outside. Painting the panel black and using black background instruments helps to hide it. Note the two gauges in the panel to the left on my 32. They're down a ways and out of sight for the most part. You can see em from the outside if you lean inside the car a touch, but most people don't do that. Very few people have ever noticed these gauges. As you can see I am an instrument crazy and lust after 2-3 more. What the dash has is what I call the "racing" instruments.* The plain ol car fuel level and ammeter gauges are the ones down below. *Oil press, fuel press, tach, vacuum, speedo, water temp & trans temp. And thinking about one or two EGT's and a voltmeter. Funny part about the 31 is that is has the five basic instruments on the dash and the tach on the steering column ala the good ol daze. It gets a 2 or 3 gauge panel down below with some extra gauges.
I think some ford pick ups and trucks also had round speedos with all the gauges in them too, didn't they?
It wouldn't matter if I had a speedo or not. I'd still get a half dozen speeding tickets a year. DrJ, I'd love to see that forklift speedo. Any chance you'd sell-or-trade it? I'm not much for the no gauge look except for show cars, which we all know aren't really cars at all, but are pieces of art that resemble cars that don't have to have real functionality. Having a minimal gauge set DOES look good. A tach and an oil pressure gauge only, or a speedo with a set of idiot lights on the face a-la VW or a floating gauge pod on the steering column or in the dash area like some of the late '50s Chryslers or like an early Mini. I like the no-dash gauge pod on the So-What RPU. The absence of a dash board reminds me of competition cars, but like competition cars, I still think a small complement of gauges looks good.
The 32....... I like the plain look also. SW speedo, fuel and water temp. The high beam indicator lense cover a dual filament bulb so I have turn signal and high beam on 1 small red lense. The engine turned panel and the stainless trim ring are all original 32 Ford stuff. Stock 32 knobs on the switches. 70 Chevrolet van column, gear indicator (lighted) built in and no key.........hid under the dash. I have a fold down panel with volts and oil pressure. Go for IT !
[ QUOTE ] I've been putting together my 'switch box' (for lack of a better word) It's a small box which houses a Ford ignition key switch from a 60s Ranchero, a headlight switch and three 'idiot lights'. The idiot lights will do the job as far as keeping tabs on the engine (a 302 Ford). It's either overheating, or it's fine. It's either got low oil pressure, or it's okay. It's either charging, or it isn't! You get the idea! Whaddaya think??? [/ QUOTE ] If you are doing the idiot light thing...........you only need 1 light. You can have ALL 3 senders hooked to the 1 indicator. Just place a diaode in line for each sender. A diaode is a electrical device that allows the current to only flow 1 way.......so the current can NOT back up to anything else. I have this in the 32.....on the turn signal indicator. When it blinks I know the signal is blinking....I do not need to know which side.
What about the old vw buses where th column drop pod thing held the gauge? What Rocky said about small led gauges got me thinking that a REALLy small set of led gauges set right above the winsheild might be cool. Completly out of sight from the outside of the car, but more in veiw for the driver than under the dash or on the floor. Mount them above the visor and noone will ever know you have gauges.
I was thinking about an all smooth dash for some time for a 51 Chevy Truck, Was thinking I'd smooth everything on the dash except the Radio hole and make the limited gauges I needed pop up out of there when the key was on (But hidden under the dash). I was looking at the little motors they use in the later model vans to open the side windows to pop it up. Never ran accross the gauges I thought would work. But last week I ran accross this over at Dakota Digitals Site. It's made to go on Motorcycle Handlebars but It's small enought it would work perfect. Info from their site: The HLY-6000 is packed with features including a 199 MPH speedo, user selectable 0-5000, 0-8000 or 0-16,000 RPM bar graph tach, menu driven set up and calibration, odometer/trip, plus indicators for turn signals, high-beam, neutral, low oil pressure and check engine for fuel injected models. Now if I just had a Gold Chainer ride so I could afford the $645.00 for it. http://www.dakotadigital.com/Detail.cfm?Category=63&PartNumber=HLY-6000 MONGO
If you ever need a speedo and don't want the look, bicycle cyclometers go to 99mph (some 199mph) and will go on anything at all using a little magnet and sensor (you just program in the circumfrence of your wheel) and they are smaller and less gay looking than that motorcycle one, and they cost about $30. They are the size of a watch without a band and you could put it anywhere, mounted permanently or not. They do have a bit of a lag though when you accelerate, it takes them a second or two to catch up, or at least the last time I used one they did.
I was out in Oregon looking at Oldcarglassguy's 49 Nash insturment cluster and came to the conclusion... A.he wasn't gonna give or sell it to me B. I could prolly make a similar setup using a 49-50 ford speedo and insturment cluster or a speedo/cluster from a 61-66 ford pickup, housed in an old car headlight pod. Now, I just need to find the correct pod. I'm thinking a guide light with the turn signal on top for a shift light.
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