dbx1969
Jul 5th, 07, 06:17 PM
A member here was kind enough to send me the cut-out pattern for the tach, but I never had time to do anything with it until today. Some of you know I just completed installing a TKO-600, and for me, this was very time consuming.
So today I decided to attack the tach. First order of business was to locate where the hell the previous owner ran the "tach-out" wire from the MSD. It was wrapped with a bunch of other wires 3" from the MSD box, but I found it...eventually:). I had been perplexed about its whereabouts because the car never had a tach. It ran through the wall and was all coiled up under the carpet at the top of the tunnel. I was just relieved to find it!
So, I was replacing the fuel gauge in the dash (already installed a 4 pod console unit w/fuel last week). Trex70 mentioned that he had to install his tach from the front because someone had glued his dash pad down. But I got to thinking it might be easier than taking so many things apart to get the cluster out. So....I installed it from the front! Worked like a charm. I inverted the drawing and glued it onto the cluster surface. Then I started to cut it out with a razor knife (the pattern). Then I figured...what the hell....I just got a Dremel with a milling bit and had at it. I had to make 2 minor "re-cuts" and it fit in snugly. I put terminals on the old fuel gauge grd and pwr wires, and then connected the coil wire. I crossed my fingers and started the car....voila! It works!!!
The only thing I had to remove was my radio (for reach sake), and I had to make sure to have the wires behind the dash pushed back and out of the way of the Dremel bit. While doing it this way had its own challenges, I would think this is a lot easier than taking out the cluster.
The one disappointment: After connecting the fuel sending wire to the new pod fuel gauge, it still doesn't work. Of course, the old fuel gauge I replaced with the tach didn't work, so it wasn't a shock:). And I have a new sending unit, tank and 3/8" fuel line already in the garage...waiting for me to get some time.
So today I decided to attack the tach. First order of business was to locate where the hell the previous owner ran the "tach-out" wire from the MSD. It was wrapped with a bunch of other wires 3" from the MSD box, but I found it...eventually:). I had been perplexed about its whereabouts because the car never had a tach. It ran through the wall and was all coiled up under the carpet at the top of the tunnel. I was just relieved to find it!
So, I was replacing the fuel gauge in the dash (already installed a 4 pod console unit w/fuel last week). Trex70 mentioned that he had to install his tach from the front because someone had glued his dash pad down. But I got to thinking it might be easier than taking so many things apart to get the cluster out. So....I installed it from the front! Worked like a charm. I inverted the drawing and glued it onto the cluster surface. Then I started to cut it out with a razor knife (the pattern). Then I figured...what the hell....I just got a Dremel with a milling bit and had at it. I had to make 2 minor "re-cuts" and it fit in snugly. I put terminals on the old fuel gauge grd and pwr wires, and then connected the coil wire. I crossed my fingers and started the car....voila! It works!!!
The only thing I had to remove was my radio (for reach sake), and I had to make sure to have the wires behind the dash pushed back and out of the way of the Dremel bit. While doing it this way had its own challenges, I would think this is a lot easier than taking out the cluster.
The one disappointment: After connecting the fuel sending wire to the new pod fuel gauge, it still doesn't work. Of course, the old fuel gauge I replaced with the tach didn't work, so it wasn't a shock:). And I have a new sending unit, tank and 3/8" fuel line already in the garage...waiting for me to get some time.