Drilling your dash for gauges

That there's funny as ****

 

I have several of these I picked up at a garage sale about a month ago, kinda forgot I had them. I'll check to see what sizes I have, seems like a set of about 12 of them, I paid $10.00 for them.

Ps, thanks to all you guys for the replies and Ideas,

I did do a layout on the dash last night with tape and penciled them in,
I'm re-thinking the layout. I want to make damn sure I like it before I go cuting this thing up. I have several hrs. just making the dang thing. if you check out my build post you'll see what I did to make it a one off thing.

My buddy down the street is to busy to do anything with it right now so I'm gonna go ahead and do it myself.

 

I'm an electrician and the KO punches I have are for conduit sizes and nothing close to what you need for typical gage sizes.Punches are sold in all sorts of sizes however.

 

awsome looking tool...wonder what the ticket price is on that?

 

They are very nice look pretty damn expensive though.

 

Exactly. The Blair tools are excellent and leave a clean hole in anything. They are pricey, but they're worth it after the first use, when you realize that the hole is perfectly round, smooth edge & no heat warpage. A 2-1/16" M2 HSS Holcutter (#14664) from Blair usually runs around $25. This is for the individual cutter, not the arbor which you'd have to buy seperately. You can get the Holcutter with carbide tips as well.

I have the Blair #14006 Automotive & Fabricator Kit that has 7/8", 1-1/8", 1-3/8", 1-3/4", 2", and 2-1/2" Holcutters, 1 Arbor, 1 Hex Washer, & Extra Pilot Bit all in a clean plastic case. This set sells for around $175, but I paid like $125 new. I've seen them online for under $150. Regardless, it has proven itself to be worth every penny.

 

My gauges mount from the front, the smaller gauges have a lot more lip than the tach and speedo, I'm just getting back to them after building my steering column.

 

Hey thanks, that is what I think I'll try first, I'll see if they will stay round.

 

Those things are awesome! I got a set (1/2" and 3/4") and never picked up a knockout for that size again! They last forever too! (as long as you don't do too much stainless that is)

 

Took me a minute to figure this out, made me laugh out loud.

 

How do you go about removing the unwanted teeth.

 

First draw a patern on a sheet of copy paper the exact size you want it to be, markng the centers of each hole and the outside edge of the holes. Glue the pattern to the panel with a childs glue stick. Put the panel on a sheet of plywood and drill a 1/8" hole at each center with a drill press. Use a 2" hole saw to drill the guage holes for the small guages. Then open up the holes with a 1 1/2" drum sander on the drill press to the exact size. Sears carries the drum sanders.
Do the same for the speedo using a hole saw just slightly smaller than the final size and open it up as you did for the smaller ones. GOOD LUCK,

 

I cut the dash yesterday and set the gauges in, what to you think?

 

That looks perfect!

 

i used a drill and a jigsaw...wasnt perfect holes, but i had a guage cluster covering it...so no one knows.