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I've spent some time looking at the Holley digital 12.3 Pro Dash. Pricey, but what an amazing piece of hardware! It makes my head spin! There are plenty of online videos about it and I've watched a few.
In the end, I think that it'll end up running me almost twice what the Speedhut gauges and Classic Dash bezel will cost. I'm not even close to making up my mind and I'll probably keep sleeping on this until 31 March 2021 when the Speedhut sale ends. Any advice or comments are definitely welcome.
I've spent some time looking at the Holley digital 12.3 Pro Dash. Pricey, but what an amazing piece of hardware! It makes my head spin! There are plenty of online videos about it and I've watched a few.
In the end, I think that it'll end up running me almost twice what the Speedhut gauges and Classic Dash bezel will cost. I'm not even close to making up my mind and I'll probably keep sleeping on this until 31 March 2021 when the Speedhut sale ends. Any advice or comments are definitely welcome.
Speaking with my wife, she felt that the big Holley 12.3" Pro Dash is the way to go. Once I saw the physical outer dimensions of the unit, I got worried. Would this big thing fit inside a Fox dash? I cut out a cardboard template and the 12.3 is just too big. Bummer! The smaller 6.86" Pro Dash as well as the 7" Digital Dash will work and Florida5.0 sells the "cluster housings" to fit the Fox dash. I really don't like the smaller digital dashes. Just too small for my tastes so I went back to looking at the Speedhut analog gauges.
A couple of days ago I made multiple phone calls to several different dash companies including Speedhut, Classic Dash and Florida5.0. Thankfully I called them before I ordered the gauges. Both Classic and Florida5.0 told me that the Speedhut gauge bezels are too large in diameter to fit their cluster housings. What? I called Speedhut and they confirmed that their gauge bezels are different from say Autometers in that the bezels screw onto the gauge like a great big nut. The bezel holds the gauge in place.
I like to think that I'm getting the most accurate information when I call a company but that isn't always the case. When I spoke with the tech at Classic Dash, he told me that his cluster housings were for gauges that are 2" in body diameter not 2 1/16". Again, I was asking, "what??" I pulled out one of my old school, mechanical Autometer oil pressure gauges and measured the OD of the body and sure enough, it was 2 1/16" so I have no idea what he was talking about.
I'm sorry if all of this is frustrating for you to read. It is super frustrating for me too. I'd like to buy my gauges so I can move on but I don't want to drop $1000-$2000 and realize that the parts aren't going to fit. I think that I'm going to forget about the Speedhut gauges because they're just too iffy. I'm going to work on installing my car's dashboard so that I can get a good idea of how much room I have around the actual instrument cluster to see if maybe I can get the big 12.3" Pro Dash to physically fit even if small amounts of the edges of the unit will be hidden by the Fox cluster housing. There is a fair amount of the perimeter of the 12.3 that isn't actual screen.
You'll figure out what you want to do gauge wise. It's a subjective matter of preference -- only your vote counts. A fair amount of work on mine to get my OEM analog gauges working with the new set up, my preference.
2-0 welding cable run under the car, completely insulated and in rubber mounted clamps. On the Volvo, I followed the path that the brake and fuel lines follow but on the opposite side of the car. On the Toyota I'm in the same factory holders as the OEM brake and fuel lines. Figured if that route was deemed "safest" by the OEM designers for brake and fuel, it oughta work for the battery cable. It's in year 20 of the beta test on the Volvo. 250A slow blow fuse on the Volvo; 200A on the Toyota. No problems with the starter current.
Hey. I haven’t been here in awhile. The wire loom is from DEI. It is really nice as it wraps around the wires and constricts down on them. It looks way better than the crinkle stuff and I comes in different sizes. I just installed a Painless wiring kit in my Laguna and I think I used about 5 rolls. You can see it better in this picture.
Hey. I haven’t been here in awhile. The wire loom is from DEI. It is really nice as it wraps around the wires and constricts down on them. It looks way better than the crinkle stuff and I comes in different sizes. I just installed a Painless wiring kit in my Laguna and I think I used about 5 rolls. You can see it better in this picture.
Happy Easter everyone! Obviously I'm subscribed to this thread but I still don't get notifications so if I'm busy with other stuff like I've been, then I don't know that there has been any activity here.
REVIN, thank you for posting the picture. I think I found DEI. Is this them and which product is that in your picture? Design Engineering-Line sleeving
I've got a local Fox body Mustang guy scheduled to come over later today and haul off my donor car body. Wow! After one month shy of 30 years, the 1991 GT is going to be gone however many of it's parts will live on in my coupe project.
It’s called DEI Easy Loom. It’s a great product. Here is a link to Summit with all the sizes. I use their header wrap on my projects as well. It really knocks down the under hood heat.
Wow! It's just amazing how fast 4 1/2 months have gone by ! Since April, little to no progress has been made on the car. Unlike last year, I've been very busy this summer. When I do have time off work, it's way too hot to work on the car in my garage. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them!
I have purchased some components to continue my build. I've spent several hundred dollars on USA made wire, wire connectors and terminals along with the special crimp tools for Weather pack and Metri-pack terminals. I've used some of this stuff already by rewiring the super dim headlights on my 2001 Ford F250SD 7.3 diesel. I wired in a pair of USA made Omron relays. It was pretty neat to use these "high tech" terminals along with quality wire. All of this modern, high tech electrical stuff was recommended by @Project GatTagO (Andrew) last winter.
I also recently "cast the die" and ordered my FEAD brackets from ICT Billet.
I did run some of the wire for "Hole in the Head's" headlights today. Like the F250SD, I'll use two relays but they're micro relays housed in this: Bussmann RTMR Fuse Panel
I'm expecting the Houston, Hades temperatures to finally subside within about two months and then I'm getting back to work on this project. I want it running and driving before summer 2022.
Another project for this fall/winter is going to be a Mr. Cool brand mini-split air conditioning system for my garage. I'm not giving up and entire summer of project time again due to high garage temperatures!
Loving your build so far. Your craftsmanship is extremely impressive very rarely do you see somebody put in the work to their projects like you do. I myself have an 89 and 92 LX coupe I just started working on. The sad thing is I've had these for years and the Texas heat has been my excuse not to work on them. Definitely following your build closely so keep doing what you do! 👍
Fowler, thank you for your compliments! I've always been somewhat **** about things but as I've gotten older, I'm even more so. Like everyone else, I've seen enough nicely built cars that just weren't quite the way that I would've done things. As I've learned new things or new ways to do things (i.e. wiring) I want to employ them on my build for good, reliable performance and high tech, modern looks.
The Texas summer heat is absolutely oppressive! Even though my garage has a "back door" I still don't get any airflow through the garage. No matter how hot it is outside, it always seems to feel cooler than in the garage due to a slight breeze. As soon as I start working in my garage, the sweat starts to drip. I need a Mr. Cool mini-split air conditioning unit!
I added an a/c unit to my detached garage a few summers ago. Should have done it long before. Of course, insulation, tight fitting garage door, etc. are needed to make the most of it. Even if you can keep it at 80F, getting the humidity down helps tremendously. I lived in Houston for 15 years when I was "young" -- simply couldn't/wouldn't do it now.
Fowler, thank you for your compliments! I've always been somewhat **** about things but as I've gotten older, I'm even more so. Like everyone else, I've seen enough nicely built cars that just weren't quite the way that I would've done things. As I've learned new things or new ways to do things (i.e. wiring) I want to employ them on my build for good, reliable performance and high tech, modern looks.
The Texas summer heat is absolutely oppressive! Even though my garage has a "back door" I still don't get any airflow through the garage. No matter how hot it is outside, it always seems to feel cooler than in the garage due to a slight breeze. As soon as I start working in my garage, the sweat starts to drip. I need a Mr. Cool mini-split air conditioning unit!
Any chance that you're in the Houston area?
I'm about 4 hours north of you just outside of Burleson and Ft Worth. I typically have to get out between 8-12 at night or wake up around 5 am to get into my shop or else I'm not even attempting working on the cars. Our business is new residential construction so after working in the heat all day I just don't have the drive to work on the cars like I use to. Me and the wife are hoping to build a new home soon and I plan to have the shop heated and cooled which will definitely help with my motivation.
I might start a build thread for my coupes. Yours has definitely helped motivate me to get my *** back out there and I've seen a lot of cool things that you have done and I would like to apply to mine. I have acquired and sold a few fox bodies but now that I officially own 2 coupes I plan to hold onto these and build a his and hers for me and the wife.
I added an a/c unit to my detached garage a few summers ago. Should have done it long before. Of course, insulation, tight fitting garage door, etc. are needed to make the most of it. Even if you can keep it at 80F, getting the humidity down helps tremendously. I lived in Houston for 15 years when I was "young" -- simply couldn't/wouldn't do it now.
When I was younger, I loved the summer. Now that I'm older, I just don't want to deal with the heat. I don't know how retired folks live in Phoenix. I know there is little to no humidity but 110+F is hot. Real hot!
I know that once I get the mini-split AC installed, I'm going to be asking myself why I didn't do it years ago.
03-25-2021, 07:47 AM
! Since April, little to no progress has been made on the car. Unlike last year, I've been very busy this summer. When I do have time off work, it's way too hot to work on the car in my garage. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them!