Tacho Mod

[smidge]

As you know its nearly impossible to get a factory tacho, and i've yet to see a decent looking aftermarket tacho for under $300

not to mention there's nowhere to put the thing where thieves aren't going to see it

i don't really look at the tacho while driving but it can be a useful tuning tool, so with that in mind i headed down to jaycar and purchased their tacho kit

for the money, its decent, if you haven't built a kit before, then i wouldn't recommend jumping straight into this one, that said, its a cheap-ish (30-70$) way of getting a working tacho...

pics below...

 

[smidge]

pic2

 

[smidge]

pic3

 

[CMF_deNs]

I was gonna get one of those at one stage, but then thought I didn't really like reading digital displays for the tacho. Though I might still get one for the bar graph or figure out how to make my own one.

Looks good, but isn't it a bit low? Would be almost dangerous trying to read it while driving.

Edit: Ignore last sentence, just read the bit about you not needing it while driving.

---dens

 

[smidge]

valid point: you can acually see it in your peripheral vision cause its right through the bottom hole of the steering wheel and quite bright, so yeah i wouldn't go staring at it but the response isn't quick enough to need to keep looking at it, it will come in handy to know what RPM/boost is doing further down the track

that said, its also a legal mod cause its not above the crash pad of the dashboard saving problems with theives and defects

the tach signal comes straight off the blue wire on the distributor, just take care when splicing the wire

 

[CMF_evade]

haha thats where i put my boost gauge...it was a bit hard to see..

dens..you should get it, but mod it so you just have the square LEDS sitting up in the cluster somewhere..that would look cool haha

im assuming it has some adjustments for redline, etc?

 

[CMF_tris]

thats pretty cool... id like to be able to see it tho... ive seen people who have put tacho's in their fan dial.. i wanted to try and put the temp gauge into the fan dial and replace the temp guage spot with a tacho somehow... let me know what you think of that idea and if its possible

 

[smidge]

i've got a good spot for a boost guage, but tacho not really sure... pillar mount is always an option

messing with the instrument cluster is one way to go about it but its a bit more work, if you have a spare i'd be messing with that one first and just get in there with a dremel and give it a go!

 

[CMF_deNs]

aaron: Yeah actually i'd been thinking about that. I've still been thinking about it and i'll probably make a casing for some LEDs so that I can have a bar graph like that, which sits on top of the gauge cluster, but underneath the dash mat so you can't see it apart from in the drivers position.

Yes you can put a gauge in your fan spot - 60mm gauges often fit except you'll be removing heater controls, which are generally a pretty useful thing. I'm pretty sure all the heater controls are together in one unit, and the two other dials are mechanical, not electrical. This means that it'll be fiddly to remove and to put back in if you ever needed them.

I wouldn't bother fiddling with the instrument cluster, as I'd say it's one large PCB behind the thing, and if you start taking a holesaw or dremel to it you're likely to remove more than just that gauge. Pillar or clever dash mounting is always an option.

---dens