GPS sender for speedometer

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demon322

demon322

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Trying to decide between GPS and electronic sending unit for my new auto meter speedo. Those of you that use a GPS sender can you share a pic of where you mounted the sender on the dash? Center or side? Can it be tucked up near the dash pad? I know it has to have a clear view of the sky so I assume somewhere on top of the dash is the best bet. Thanks all.
 
Garmin GPS works for that. I use mine to check accuracy after a rear gear / speedometer pinion change.

All spot on from the charts available so far.
 
Thank you for the reply, but I think maybe we are talking about two different things.

I have a new aftermarket electric speedometer from auto meter. It says I have two options to make it work. Either GPS sending unit or electric sending unit bolted to the transmission where the old speedometer cable went.
 
With just a little more wiring, you can also mount the GPS receiver under the back glass. That way it will be a little less obvious.
 
I use the speed hut GPS unit so I'm not sure what antenna you have. My ,magnetic puck is inside the car at the far right corner of the dash. You can barely see it in the pic against the blue welder case.

20160623_192112.jpg
 
It's very small, I ran it down the dash defroster vent and to the back of the speedo.

If you look close you'll see it in this picture.

20150430_150841.jpg
 
g413 said:
With just a little more wiring, you can also mount the GPS receiver under the back glass. That way it will be a little less obvious.
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Interesting idea. I had never thought of the back glass area. It says it comes with 16ft of cable so that should be plenty to get back there if I went that route.
 
Keep in mind that "clear view of the sky" doesn't literally mean line of sight to the sky. The main thing is to make sure it is not directly blocked by metal. I have two (one Autometer unit, one Classic Dash branded) of them mounted under the dash pads on different cars, and both work great. One is in the opening where the factory AM radio speaker would go, right under the perforations in the pad. The other is in a spot where there was a factory void in the metal top of the dash, just under the pad and right above the glove box.
 
Gdub310 said:
Keep in mind that "clear view of the sky" doesn't literally mean line of sight to the sky. The main thing is to make sure it is not directly blocked by metal. I have two (one Autometer unit, one Classic Dash branded) of them mounted under the dash pads on different cars, and both work great. One is in the opening where the factory AM radio speaker would go, right under the perforations in the pad. The other is in a spot where there was a factory void in the metal top of the dash, just under the pad and right above the glove box.
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So tucked under the end of the pad should be ok? I actually had thought about the factory stereo speaker location in the center of the dash but that wouldn’t work under the metal dash frame. I wasn’t aware of the void above the glove box, I’ll have to look into that. I’d like it to be as little noticeable as possible. Do you mind showing me pictures of the two that you mentioned? Thanks.
 
The thing is very small and sleek looking.

If you wanted an even more stealth location I'd consider the rear speaker area.
 
demon322 said:
So tucked under the end of the pad should be ok? I actually had thought about the factory stereo speaker location in the center of the dash but that wouldn’t work under the metal dash frame. I wasn’t aware of the void above the glove box, I’ll have to look into that. I’d like it to be as little noticeable as possible. Do you mind showing me pictures of the two that you mentioned? Thanks.
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The vehicles I was speaking of were not A-bodies, so you'll probably find something different under your dash pad. But otherwise, yes, the pad itself will not block GPS signals; it may attenuate the signal strength slightly, but not enough to cause any problems. But covering the antenna with metal is no bueno.
 
roccodart440 said:
The thing is very small and sleek looking.

If you wanted an even more stealth location I'd consider the rear speaker area.
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It is! Came in yesterday and I was surprised how small it is. Another vote for the rear tray. I’ll keep that in mind.
 
Gdub310 said:
The vehicles I was speaking of were not A-bodies, so you'll probably find something different under your dash pad. But otherwise, yes, the pad itself will not block GPS signals; it may attenuate the signal strength slightly, but not enough to cause any problems. But covering the antenna with metal is no bueno.
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Gotcha. So if I choose the front I was thinking of maybe center dash butted up against dash pad or close to it and should be able to get the wire from there to inside the dish fairly easily. Thanks again.
 
I'm using a GPS unit from Classic Instruments. I've used them before, they work fine as long as they can see sunlight. I got creative in mounting my GPS, I cut out the speaker enclosure, welded in a box with a lexan cover. The GPS works fine. Here is a picture of it mounted in the dash. I buried a 2007 300C radio antenna in the box as well but it isn't working.
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retroron said:
I'm using a GPS unit from Classic Instruments. I've used them before, they work fine as long as they can see sunlight. I got creative in mounting my GPS, I cut out the speaker enclosure, welded in a box with a lexan cover. The GPS works fine. Here is a picture of it mounted in the dash. I buried a 2007 300C radio antenna in the box as well but it isn't working.
ngView attachment 1715258703
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That is slick...... Very nice work
 
Somewhat on the same topic - my autometer gauges are LED lit. Did any of you wire in an LED dimmer (AMs is #9114) in your install?
 
demon322 said:
Somewhat on the same topic - my autometer gauges are LED lit. Did any of you wire in an LED dimmer (AMs is #9114) in your install?
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I did. It's not super-linear like a potentiometer with incandescent bulbs, but it's not a bad approximation. Although, I find my Ultra Lite II gauges to be a bit on the dim side, so I usually have them turned up all the way. If I did it again, I wouldn't bother with the dimmer.
 
I should have asked earlier then ha. I already have the dimmer, am just unsure about the wiring. It has the single white wire that goes to the gauge lights, and says it works multiple gauges.

I bought the classic dash wiring harness with my gauges. It has a single gray wire labeled gauge lightts that splits into 6 wires on the gauge side of the harness, one going to each gauge. Do I just splice the white wire from the dimmer to that gray wire before it splits off for each gauge?
 
demon322 said:
I bought the classic dash wiring harness with my gauges. It has a single gray wire labeled gauge lightts that splits into 6 wires on the gauge side of the harness, one going to each gauge. Do I just splice the white wire from the dimmer to that gray wire before it splits off for each gauge?
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I also used classic dash. I believe that's how I did it, but it's been over 2 years now, so I can't be certain.
 
Gdub310 said:
I also used classic dash. I believe that's how I did it, but it's been over 2 years now, so I can't be certain.
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Ha. I understand that. That was the only way that made sense but I wanted to see if anyone else had done the same. I'll give it a shot.
 
What about the speedometer cable? Did you remove since it isn’t needed with the GPS or just leave it hooked up. If you removed it did you do anything to the adapter at the transmission? Or just unscrew the cable?

Thanks.
 
demon322 said:
What about the speedometer cable? Did you remove since it isn’t needed with the GPS or just leave it hooked up. If you removed it did you do anything to the adapter at the transmission? Or just unscrew the cable?

Thanks.
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When I had my 727 built the speedo pinion was replaced with a Freeze plug. No leaks.
 
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