GNX dash alternative

[Bent6]

Testing the waters to see if there would be any and/or how much interest in this type of gauge setup. Any type or brand of gauges could be used as long as they are 2 1/8" for the small ones and 3 3/8" for the speedo and tach. This is a prototype fabricated by myself as an alternative to what is out there at this time. This is not exactly plug and play but then it's not brain surgery either as long as you have basic electrical knowledge and skills. While this does require trimming of the stock core support it is NOT to the point it's completely hacked up and couldn't be returned to stock if desired. Don't pay attention to the trim bezel as it is a used piece with no overlays installed at time of photo.

[Brocks GN]

Yea I like it. I would be interested.

[84TXGN]

Looks good. I have been thinking of something like that for a while. What do you plan to do with the idiot lights from the right side?

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by 84TXGN

Looks good. I have been thinking of something like that for a while. What do you plan to do with the idiot lights from the right side?

I did away with the conventional idiot light setup - it takes up way too much room. The small LED in the bottom right corner is the SES light and the LED in the bottom left corner is the "Brake" light. These are the only two idiot lights you really need IMO. The turn signal LEDs flank the center gauge. I did away with the "Volt" light as there is now a Volt gauge - besides - the stock idiot light could fail and shut down the charging system. I personally don't need a light to tell me when "Cruise" is on but it could be added. I didn't have an LED in for the "High Beams" at the time of the photo. You don't need a "Water" or "Oil" light with the gauges. I used the stock wiring for these lights as signal wires from the sending units in order to keep things neater and less wiring to run.

[84TXGN]

Originally Posted by Bent6

I did away with the conventional idiot light setup - it takes up way too much room. The small LED in the bottom right corner is the SES light and the LED in the bottom left corner is the "Brake" light. These are the only two idiot lights you really need IMO. The turn signal LEDs flank the center gauge. I did away with the "Volt" light as there is now a Volt gauge - besides - the stock idiot light could fail and shut down the charging system. I personally don't need a light to tell me when "Cruise" is on but it could be added. I didn't have an LED in for the "High Beams" at the time of the photo. You don't need a "Water" or "Oil" light with the gauges. I used the stock wiring for these lights as signal wires from the sending units in order to keep things neater and less wiring to run.

I supposed colored LEDs could be used for the other lights as well.

What modifications were necessary to mount that other than cutting the outter bezel?

[8tsixt]

looks good.

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by 84TXGN

I supposed colored LEDs could be used for the other lights as well.

What modifications were necessary to mount that other than cutting the outter bezel?

Exactly - you could duplicate all of the idiot lights with LEDs if you wanted - I just prefer the cleaner look without the unnecessary ones.

There is some material that must be trimmed from the core support mainly around the areas where the stock idiot lights were. Nothing that would prevent it from being returned to stock if done properly. The bezel trimming is pretty easy and straightforward. I picked up a used one instead of hacking up my mint original.

[Boston GN]

Looks great!!!!
What are we looking at price wise?

[HYBRIDT]

You'll need a "charge" light and it needs to be a bulb not an LED. The alternator won't charge without it. I'm not sure that a gauge lets the correct amount of bleed through to the alternator. That being said Radio Shack has some small incandesent (SP) bulbs with covers that look pretty good and aren't huge. Looks good though. I always like seeing another option. If you've all ready used the gauge and the alternator charges then ignore my previous statement.

Adam

[TR Custom Parts]

Hmmm, thought those plates looked familiar.

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by BuickGn Boosted

Hmmm, thought those plates looked familiar.

Wondered how long it would take you to notice I sent you an email.

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by HYBRIDT

You'll need a "charge" light and it needs to be a bulb not an LED. The alternator won't charge without it. I'm not sure that a gauge lets the correct amount of bleed through to the alternator. That being said Radio Shack has some small incandesent (SP) bulbs with covers that look pretty good and aren't huge. Looks good though. I always like seeing another option. If you've all ready used the gauge and the alternator charges then ignore my previous statement.

Adam

You don't have to have a "charge" light to make the alternator work - just a little creative wiring!

[HellOnWheels]

Looks good to me. Post some pricings...

HOW

[Robert Walton]

Looks good. Two things. First, HOW MUCH??? Second, I don't know about other states but here in Texas a high beam indicator is manditory for a state inspection. Might want to find a blue LED.

[Rosewood T-Type]

price please

[buttonfly]

Looks Good!

[FBSideoiler427]

Based on pricing, I'd be very interested. I built one for my 67 Mustang before the JME unit came out and its working fine.

[Bent6]

I made this for my personal street car because I have always wanted this layout and nobody offers it and evidently didn't want to take it on as a custom project. I never had any intentions of marketing the thing, just thought there may be other people out there like myself. Fabricating the mounting plate isn't the hard part. Knowing your way around the wiring is the issue for most people. I thought if I can completely wire a 7 sec race car, I can sure as heck tackle a stock dash. Forgot how many wires were behind a stock dash compared to a race cars! I can tell you all this much - I have somewhere around $750 in this panel including all gauges, plate fabrication, hardware, wiring, and new VSS! Bear in mind that this is using an electronic speedo as well as electric fuel pressure gauge from the Autometer Phantom series - cheaper gauges could have been used. Add to that the labor for modifications to the core support, the trim bezel, as well as wiring and you can see that it aint cheap! Now - anyone still interested?

[Rosewood T-Type]

yes!

[SPOOLFOOL2]

yes!

[BandAid]

Are Y"all smoking somthing,,, Just buy some gauges look up BuickGN Boosted for his website and have him make a panel for you,, and install the thing ,,Bent6 did not just reinvent the wheel

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by BandAid

Are Y"all smoking somthing,,, Just buy some gauges look up BuickGN Boosted for his website and have him make a panel for you,, and install the thing ,,Bent6 did not just reinvent the wheel

You think it's that easy huh? What are YOU smokin!?!?

[rodman99999]

Originally Posted by HYBRIDT

You'll need a "charge" light and it needs to be a bulb not an LED. The alternator won't charge without it. I'm not sure that a gauge lets the correct amount of bleed through to the alternator. That being said Radio Shack has some small incandesent (SP) bulbs with covers that look pretty good and aren't huge. Looks good though. I always like seeing another option. If you've all ready used the gauge and the alternator charges then ignore my previous statement.

Adam

The alternator bulb can be replaced with a 400 ohm wire-wound resistor(what I did on my full gauge dash). I replaced all the idiot lights with LEDs hidden behind a sheet of smoked lexan so they don't appear until lit. The warning LEDs(oil, volts, temp, brake, all but bright lights) are flashers, just in case I'm not paying attention to the gauges at the moment. By the way: that's a nice looking dash. I wish I had the motivation and time to provide aftermarket dashes to our crowd.

[turbo39151]

How about price with the gauges supplied to you?

[John Wilde]

Looks nce, what about the new project and race car???

[steve hughes]

That is exactly the setup i am getting ready to build myself. You did nice job on it. I just bought all my gauges for it. Would you be interested in selling me 2 of the plates??? I can see were you could easily have way more than $750.00 in the project without labor. I wanted all electric full sweep ultra-lite Autometers. Oil pressure and water temp are both $200.00 each. Thanks

[Bent6]

More detailed pictures.

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by John Wilde

Looks nce, what about the new project and race car???

Thanks. It's nice to do a project outside of the race car arena from time to time.

Race car may be on hiatus for a while - got a new baby and all that goes with it! All I'm gonna say about the new project is that it will stand the Buick community on it's ear when completed!!! Although that may be a while!

[Robert Walton]

I'm with you, wiring up the gauges is NOT the hard part. I'd just be interested in the panel, anodized like yours of course. I say bring it on and retire early.

['87Turbo-T-AZ]

Wiring wouldn't be bad if I had instructions. Definitely like the way it looks, great job!

Rodman, do you have any pics of your dash?

[rodman99999]

Originally Posted by '87Turbo-T-AZ

Rodman, do you have any pics of your dash?

Yes- I do. Send your e-mail addy, and I'll forward them.

[DMan]

FYI...don't mean to burst anyone's bubble but these folks have been around a while.

http://www.gnxdash.com

You say you have $750 into it. Plus your labor. I think that would put you at around the same price point as these guys.

I've always wanted one of these dashboards to get rid of all the add on tachs and pods and whatnot.

Why is your setup better than gnxdash.com? this is not a smart-ass question, just a question.

[Zoliaster]

Looks great. I prefer your layout. IMHO, it would look even better if it had the white trim stripe around it the way the 3 panels below have them. Nice job!

[Bent6]

Originally Posted by DMan

FYI...don't mean to burst anyone's bubble but these folks have been around a while.

http://www.gnxdash.com

You say you have $750 into it. Plus your labor. I think that would put you at around the same price point as these guys.

I've always wanted one of these dashboards to get rid of all the add on tachs and pods and whatnot.

Why is your setup better than gnxdash.com? this is not a smart-ass question, just a question.

Like I said earlier, I did this for my personal street car. I never said my setup was better than what he offers. He makes a very nice dash panel setup. Matter of fact, I contacted him a couple of times over the past year or so to see if he would be interested in doing one like mine but never got any response. I can guarantee you if he did offer one like this it would be upwards of $1k. Mine is a 7-gauge layout plus it eliminates the idiot light clusters on both sides. This is just personal preference on my part.

[Bent6]

Installed in car.