I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Topic: I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of) (Read 2585 times) previous topic - next topic

here's a question

Reply #15 – March 17, 2006, 02:05:24 AM

i'm going to look like an idiot (not that i haven't already), but does the eec have anything to do with the way a signal is displayed on the digital dash or does the dash do all the figuring from a signal it receives from a sensor?

electronic understandings..... might as well be greek

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #16 – March 17, 2006, 10:35:22 AM

For our cars...no. I am not sure if 1983's had a VSS but 1984-up did. That sends the speed signal to the EEC, and from 1985-up it also fed the signal to the speedo unit to drive it. You still have a cable-driven speedo, which is good for aftermarket gauges, but I'm not so sure if it's good for an electronic aftermarket speedo. I'm sure there's something that will display in digital but accept a cable for the signal.

Everything else is dependent upon signals fed in from sending units (water, oil, fuel, tach) or the 12v+ wiring itself (volts). They all need ignition-switched 12v+ power, and a ground, and also lights-on 12v+ wiring. That's all there is to them, though...nothing elaborate. You would need electrical gauges, not mechanical. And if you're worried about whether or not the fuel gauge will work, it's almost guaranteed that it will. I've never heard of anyone having problems with our cars.

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #17 – March 17, 2006, 05:11:51 PM

IIRC, after looking at an EEC-III manual for my 83 Continental, the digital speedo has a built in VSS and gave speed information to the engine computer.

thanks

Reply #18 – March 18, 2006, 12:42:51 AM

i'll keep all that in mind when i get new ones..... i haven't looked underneath much, but if i have a cable speedo for my electric dash, what's the plug on the back of my transmission for (it looks like a vss)

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #19 – March 18, 2006, 02:11:36 PM

went to see the other dashes from late 80's cats and i see what you mean... i didn't realize my instrument panel was do square.... thanks for the info, i guess i'll have to make a cluster.... eric, did you say that i can get a cluster that will fit my dash that has all the buttstuffog guages, or will i have to gut my digital case and add new guages for that.... thanks again for all your help :)

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #20 – March 18, 2006, 03:48:16 PM

Well, I don't see why just a custom cut piece of aluminum wouldn't work for your dash. That can be your entire mounting panel...no need to gut your stock digital one. Like for mine, I did sacrifice a rather beat-up TC cluster to use as a base, but you shouldn't have to go through all that. I don't know of any other buttstuffog cluster that drops right in to your car.

If you get me the dimesions of your stock cluster (length, width and depth) then I can probably draw up a template for you.

Also, see here for some ideas for your dash:
http://www.coolcats.net/stockmod/modified/gauges.html

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #21 – March 18, 2006, 06:55:10 PM

what about the 85ish lincoln contenantals? They are full digital and look to be about the same size

sure, i checked out the continentals

Reply #22 – March 18, 2006, 09:21:24 PM

and the 85 i saw had the same rectangular dash, but they were all buttstuffog with just the speed and fuel level (i think they might have had a temp gauge too but it still wasn't a full one).... tried car-part.com but they have none either.... i'll get that dash measured up and try to send it up to you tomorrow eric.... :)

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #23 – March 19, 2006, 11:18:01 AM

The 84 TC gauges won't do much for you. I've got a 84 TC with the factory gauges. All you get is the speedo, tach, Gas. everything else is a idiot light. there has been talk that the 80-82 tbird cluster is the same as the 83-84. Its also been talked of a 83-86 crown vic's cluster working. Other than that you could swap the whole dash out of a 85-88 and use the sport or TC cluster.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3260&d=1124034882
I did do a white face conversion for the 84 TC cluster though.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4670&d=1133104906

doh!!!

Reply #24 – March 20, 2006, 12:54:16 AM

oh, you wanted DEPTH too :(...... the cluster is still in the car and won't be getting out for a few weeks or so..... i'll have to get back to you on that one..... why do you need the depth? will i need to make it a box?

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #25 – March 20, 2006, 09:58:55 AM

Just checking for depth due to the aftermarket gauges. I had to actually take chunks out the back of my dash to get them to fit. It's been many years since I've had a 1983-84 cluster out and I can't remember the dimensions offhand.

cool

Reply #26 – March 20, 2006, 11:13:48 AM

as soon as i get it out i'll send those specs to you... thanks for all the help

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #27 – March 24, 2006, 11:41:36 PM

do what i did. i just mounted the oil volts and temp guages under the stereo where the switches and cig lighter were and mounted the tach on the steering collum. i still got to keep the diggi speedo and fuel and have gotten lots of comliments on how good it looks. and what was said about using electric guages i dont agree with. electric guages are more accurate but they are more expencive and dont respond as fast. i used sunpro mecanical guages and love them.

jeremy

funny

Reply #28 – March 25, 2006, 04:23:27 AM

as a matter of fact, i was just out there fiddling (at 3am no less

) and i was thinking just that (except for the tach on the column.... my wife won't go for that)... but i was just wondering to myself how hard it would be to put the guages there and relocate the power antenna and premium sound buttons to the center console where the power controls for the passenger seat should be..... you can fit 3 guages down there right?

I hate the 83 guages (or lack there of)

Reply #29 – March 25, 2006, 10:27:34 AM

yep i put 3 guages there and elliminated the antanna switch (i just leave it up anyway) and the premium sound switch (it doesnt do anything and i want a nes system anyway) and im going to move the lighter to the ash tray.