Help with new gauge setup

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danielb927

danielb927

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Hi guys,

I'm planning to install an aftermarket water temp gauge on my car. The engine is a 360, stock cast iron manifold. While I'm at it I was thinking I'd add an oil pressure gauge, if it's not much more of a hassle.

Was thinking of going with mechanical gauges for simplicity.

Are any of the pictured locations (red arrows pointing to each one) suitable for mounting of the water temp or oil pressure gauges?

1. This is a tapped hole on the passenger's side with nothing in it.
View attachment IMG_2623.jpg

2. Just to the driver's side of the thermostat housing. There's something in there, looks more substantial than just a plug - is it an old gauge sender maybe?
View attachment IMG_2620.jpg

3. This one looks like it's tapped to vacuum, since it has a plastic fitting screwed in with two rubber hoses. The hoses are plugged so it's doing nothing at the moment.
View attachment IMG_2622.jpg

There's also something on the far back of the engine that looks like it could be the oil pressure warning light sender. Too far back to get a good picture, it's below and behind the distributor. Right now the sender (if that's what it is) is not hooked up to anything, is that what I'd want to swap that out with the business end of the oil pressure gauge?
 
morning Daniel

that's an interesting project you got going on there

the very first picture you posted is a mounting boss for something (A/C mount maybe?)
no point plugging anything in there since it is a blind hole (otherwise it would be shooting water, oil, or exhaust fumes the moment you fire up the engine right?)

the two middle pictures I'm not sure about (I'm running a weiand on my duster)
I would run the engine for a minute and pull the plug on the driver side and see if the bottom is wet, if it is, put you water temp sensor there)


the port in the back by the distributor is your oil pressure sender port
 
I believe that photo #2 is in fact the original water temperature sender with a rubber cap on the top of the threaded stud. If so, that's where you would mount the temperature sender part of the mechanical water temp gauge.

You can unscrew that device and if you see coolant under it, then you have a "Bingo"!
 
The hole in #1 is a boss for A/C compressor bracket. The port with the TVS (thermal vacuum switch) or the other with the original temp sender should both provide accurate readings. It's really a matter of convenience for your setup.
 
mguner said:
The hole in #1 is a boss for A/C compressor bracket. The port with the TVS (thermal vacuum switch) or the other with the original temp sender should both provide accurate readings. It's really a matter of convenience for your setup.
Click to expand...

X2 on all counts.
(except I used the threaded hole in the first pic for my throttle return spring bracket) :)
 
One perk of living on the West coast, I can post a question before bed and get an answer in the morning! Sounds like either #2 or #3 is the way to go then. I'll try to get a pic of the oil sender to verify that I'm looking at the right thing there too.

Out of curiosity, what is that Thermal Vacuum Switch supposed to hook up to, a vacuum source and the EGR?
 
New gauges are set to get here tomorrow. I went with an Autometer 3 gauge set, water temp/volts/oil pressure since I may do the ammeter bypass a bit later on.

In the meantime, am I looking at the right sender to remove and replace with the oil pressure line?

View attachment IMG_2628.jpg
 
Looks like I won't get to this until a couple of weeks now. I found a good spot to mount the gauges in place of the factory ashtray/cig lighter fixture. There's some bits of crumbled padding/insulation up under there - anything I need to be cautious around? We've been having asbestos abatement in our building recently so I'm probably just paranoid, but can't hurt to ask some experts...
 
Not sure what comes with gauges anymore, it's been awhile since I bought any. Depending on your set up you may need a fitting for your oil pressure sending unit. Here's a pic of mine.
 

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  • oil pressure sending unit.jpg
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Gauges installed over the past couple days! Everything but the oil pressure line is hooked up and working. Please excuse the ugly zip-tie mounting as I don't have a drill handy. I may actually leave the ties and just cut off the ends.

Looks like voltage is kind of high at 15.5V - from reading around, it sounds like that's usually caused by poor connections somewhere between the alternator and battery?

Oh, and I ended up going with the spot in pic #2 for the temp sender as it was easier to get at and closer to the firewall hole I wanted to use. That puppy was pretty stuck, finally got it by sitting on the passenger side quarter panel and using my foot to turn the wrench.

View attachment image.jpg
 
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