How to Build a Custom SS Dash



I have been asked by a number of people to explain how I made my custom white face SS dash, so I decided to compile all the information and photos so that you can see how I did it.

There are many ways to do this. Some are a lot better than mine, some not so good, but this is my story and I’m sticking to it !

First things first, this is not an easy or cheap undertaking ! Just a quick unscientific check of material and costs will get you over $1000 fast.

NOTE: I am using repop dash and instrument cluster (pod) for these prices. You may be able to scrounge these up on eBay, but the older a piece is the harder it is to drill and run screws into. The old ones crack very easily and in the end you may do some damage that will greatly affect the finished product – like a big crack in the pod or dash that will cause you to undo all your work to transfer it to another unit or live with something that you put a lot of work into that looks like crap.

SS dash $400
Pod $100
Gauges $500
Hardware* $100 *this includes aluminum strips, sheet stock, wiring, nuts, bolts, epoxy and beer

Est. total $1100

I used electric gauges on this project because on the small gauges the pointer is located at the bottom of the gauge rather than in the middle of the gauge making it cleaner looking and much easier to read. It is also easier to run the sender leads instead of the mechanical senders for the oil and temp.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/1gauges.jpg


The electric speedo is great because the sender is easier to run to the dash and you can recalibrate it later for tire or wheel changes.

Spending the money is the easy and fun part – especially all the Summit boxes you get delivered to your door !



You have to have the ability to work through problems and come up with solutions to them in order for you to make all of this work. The prize at the end zone is a dash that no one else around will have, retains a stock look and the pride of doing it yourself.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/2fulldash.jpg


I am going to divide this up into sections.



Mocking up the brackets and gauge mounting plate out of cardboard
Fabricating the parts from aluminum stock
Setting up the large gauges
Setting up the fuel gauge
Setting up the small gauges
Wiring



Making cardboard templates and aluminum brackets

The easiest way to start this is to get some thin cardboard pieces that you can cut to shape and trial fit before you start cutting the aluminum pieces. Notice how many templates are in the background that I made before getting the right one!


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/3templates.jpg


You will need two main pieces for the large gauges. A front bracket as seen above that will hold the gauges at the front and a strip across the rear to hold the back of the gauges. The point of this is to hold the gauges in place at the front and to keep everything parallel at the rear.

REMEMBER – you are PUSHING the gauges against the back of the gauge openings – not dropping them thru a hole !


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/4templates2.jpg


After you have the cardboard piece the way you want them, trace them onto the aluminum sheet and cut it out. As you can see on the right I have cut out “wings” for the sides and the main plate for the front of the gauges. The back strip will be bolted to the gauges and wings later.

This is where you have to use your imagination to work the front plate to fit like you want it to. I bent it, tweaked it and filed it to get it to fit like I wanted it to. The pod has a slight curve to it that you will need to replicate so that the gauges fit flush into the openings.

NOTE – the fuel gauge IS NOT held in place by the front bracket ! The front aluminum plate needs to be one piece to retain the strength and keep the outer large gauges square in the openings. I made an opening in the front plate so that the fuel gauge would not be attached. I will address the fuel gauge mounting next.

The fuel gauge

I chose to install a fuel gauge in the center. This causes a slight challenge in that the gauge needs to be mounted to the pod rather than the front mounting plate. Because the gauge is smaller it needs to have a “frame” around it to fill up the opening.

The way I solved this problem was to attach a mounting plate directly to the pod, cut a mounting hole in it and drop the gauge thru the hole. The big gauge mounting plate will have a hole in it that will be slightly larger than the back of the fuel gauge and will protrude thru but not touch the frame.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/5fuel.jpg


The gauge mounting plate in mounted to the pod with a small screw at the top (not shown) and I made a small angle mount at the bottom attached to the pod with epoxy.

The gauge is smaller than the opening so I glued some plastic material that matches the dash to it and pushed the gauge thru the opening

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/6fuel2.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/7fuel3.jpg

After covering the fuel gauge mounting plate (above left) I installed it in the pod using the small screw and bracket on the bottom.

I taped over the gauges during all of this to keep from scratching the faces and for painting the pod when I finish.




The small gauges

The small gauges are larger than the openings but it really doesn’t matter because when you are finished you can easily read the gauges and you keep the dash looking stock.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/8smallgauges1.jpg

In the photo on the left are the brackets made form strap material. It is better if you make these one piece because they will be stronger and not require as many bolts or screws to hold them.

The circled areas show the edges of the pod that will have to be ground away a little for the gauges to sit flush with the front of the gauge glass sitting against the back of the opening on the pod. The area that looks like smile will also have to ground a little for clearance.


REMEMBER – you are PUSHING the gauges so the mounting studs on the back of the gauge are installed so the nuts are UNDER the bracket and back up against the bracket pushing the gauges against the opening.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/9smallgauges2.jpg


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/10smallgauges3.jpg


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/11podwithcircles.jpg


The front mounting plate (A) is holding the large gauges against the back opening of the pod and attached with the small bolts (circled) to the side plate or wings that are bolted to the pod on the side.

The strap across the rear of the gauges (B) is holding the gauges parallel to the front mounting plate AND acting as an mount for the gauges (the black things around the gauges)

It’s probably overkill but you don’t want to have to take this out again.



Electrical wiring

To hook up the gauges, I used a lead from the existing car harness to power the instrument lights and provide an IGNITION HOT from the fuse box.

I wired the gauges in series for the positive to power the gauges and for the ground. The individual connections for the gauge sending units are routed to terminal strips mounted to the top of the pod for easy access later if needed.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/12electrical1.jpg


I attached all of the leads from the gauges to the outside lugs and all of the leads from the car and sending units are mounted on the inside lugs.


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/13termstrip.jpg

The finished dash !


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/14finisheddash1.jpg


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/15finisheddash2.jpg

Tom

Nice job documenting your work. Have you done a second car since we exchanged E-mails a few years ago? Seems I recall that you sold one Chevelle to get a C5 Vette then had a change of heart and went back to another Chevelle.

For those interested in this sort of job....I did a similar conversion with guages from Classic Instruments and I second everything Tom said. This is not a prohject for the "bolt it on Sat afternoon and go to the Sat night cruise guys". A project like this takes time, creativity, patience and MORE patience. My approach was a little different than what Tom did and I would also be glad to share any info / pics etc that I have with those who are interested.

This was a very rewarding project for me and I get a real kick out of the car when I take a look at the dash. Like Toms dash mine looks stock...at least the major features / lines of the dash are retained. In both Toms car and mine the new instrumentation with the white faces adds a more modern look to the interior but retains the classic character of the SS dash. My car is black with a black interior and honestly it needed the brightness of the white guages.

If anyone is interested drop me a line at Hpexpatriot@yahoo.com.

if anyone wants the full sweep look but with the convenience of electrical hookups, you can get full sweep electric gauges now. i think Auto Meter makes them.

Hi Ray !

Yea the Vette was nice but there are tons of them here in So Cal and (at least here) the majority of the guys that drive the new ones are jerks.

I really missed the real muscle car look and the thumbs up instead of the middle finger.

I got this 70 about 15 months ago and I have been working on it pretty hard replacing the entire front end literally from the steering wheel all the way through the steering system to the tires and wheels.

I have it pretty much that way I want it now. I won't make the same mistake and sell this one.

All of the time I have had this car it looked great on the outside and ran fantastic but I had to look at that crappy dash and it made me feel like the car was crappy too because that's all I ever saw !

I really liked how the white face gauges looked in the 71 so I wanted to do it again in this car. As you said, it makes the car look more modern but doesn't take away from the stock look and the comments I get are very satisfying.

Everyone thinks it is an easy bolt in mod but as you can see it is nothing like that. I have probably a 1000 photos from doing this project so the ones I posted don't even come close to showing the real story.

Now I have to find something else to do before my wife finds something for me.

Hi Ray !

I really missed the real muscle car look and the thumbs up instead of the middle finger.

Everyone thinks it is an easy bolt in mod but as you can see it is nothing like that. I have probably a 1000 photos from doing this project so the ones I posted don't even come close to showing the real story.

Now I have to find something else to do before my wife finds something for me.

I can relate to ALL of the stuff above. ALL of it.

Negotiating the sale of my Vette right now. Got SOOOOO tired of the correct air in the tires guys.

As for Honey Do Projects.....Going to "four wall" the master bathroom...51 x 72 walk in glass block shower install is on deck after I reinforce the floor joists.

Yeah this is not a mod for the Faint of heart.

My old mind cannot recall...what was on that tape I sent you..was it the Vintage Air install? I think so.

Did you ever see my dash after I completed it ? If I send some PICS to you via E-mail would you post em here for other guys who are interested? Not a skilled PIC poster myself. I could collect some pics and send em out later today or tomorrow. Might be neet to see both dashes in the same post. I made one BIG mistake that you did not. I did not go with Red indicators. It was an option but I muffed it.

Hey Guys Great job ,but how about anyone the has done anything with the sweep style dash. Any Takers??? Thanks Dean

Hey Guys Great job ,but how about anyone the has done anything with the sweep style dash. Any Takers??? Thanks Dean

Most if not all of the sweep redos I ave seen were done with the Covans insert. IMHO the work involved is likely reduced by at least half more likely 60 % to 75 % relative to what Tom and I did. A much simpler install using Covans. Just decide on the guages you want, determine the positions and start drilling holes. The effort required to actually wire the guages is really the same no matter what the dash housing is like.

The Covans alternative is a better option for folks that want to get a faster solution into their car and for folks who don't want to fool with the fussy tedious work of converting the SS dash to aftermarket guages.

I think the covans inserts fits poorly on the sweep style dash I have a covans insert in the box new and am not impressed. Dean

I think the covans inserts fits poorly on the sweep style dash I have a covans insert in the box new and am not impressed. Dean

Everything I read says more or less what you are saying. I hesitated to say this on Sat. but frankly the look of the Covans insert is to me rather cheezy. Lots of folks do a lot of nice work installing the Covans inserts no question about that. Having said that IMHO the Covans installs just seem to always end up looking like a "backyard.....high school hot rodder" kind of project. It just seems that the inserts are inevitably fated / doomed to look like a quick solution to getting aftermarket guages into these cars.

I have to say this is only my opinion and other folks may like the finished look of the Covans insert. I think I would rather see guages hanging under the dash in a "period correct" install of some Stweart Warner center sweep guages than look at the Covans insert installs.

One more time to avoid ruffeling feathers. My issue is not the work that folks do installing these things. I just don't like the "concept" of the insert. This is just my opinion, as I said I am not making a comment on the work of the folks who install these dash inserts.

The Covans dash, even if the quality was better, just does not work for me no matter what.

What would be cool is if Covan's or someone came up with a gauge that was attached to an "insert" that was just a tiny bit smaller than the stock SS dash round gauge holes and you could just stick them down into the openings and be done with it.

My biggest problem in installing the gauges into the pod is that the diameter of the gauges is just a little too big for the opening. (at least for the Phantom series)

If you had a smaller diameter gauge you could just seal off the back of the openings with a round plastic or aluminum piece, cut the holes and drop the gauges through the holes. That would cut out a lot of the work I had to do for this project. (See below)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/Optimadash1.jpg

I wanted the Phantom gauges because they fill up the opening a lot more and don't have the chrome ring around the edge. I found a way to get there. Others may take another path but in the end it is the pride of workmanship, doing what you want to your car and enjoying it. :yes:

GREAT POST! :thumbsup:

Lot's of good info, ideas, practical knowledge.

On that aftermarket gauge insert idea...


too bad some gauge mfgr. doesn't make gauges specifically for this type of install, rather than modify the dash.

Just need the right sized gauges....and a wiring harness. :D

How about someone making something for all the sweep style dashes out there. I'd be first in line As of now I'm trying to make something for mine.

Tom,

Thanks for a very informative post. This is just what I was looking to find.

And yes, I think it was the 71 you had owned I saw at Pomona.

Since the interior in my Malibu is Light Saddle my plan was to paint the dash the same and use a darker face gauge style. But I do like the white face look against the black dash also.

I really like what you ahve done. Had I the gumption (oh yeah, and skill), I would rather have done what you did instead of a SS swap. Really nice job well done!

Here's a picture of my dash I completed just last summer using similar mounting as Tom and Oman did. By the way thanks Oman for the idea about a year ago! Yes it took that long. As stated this is not an overnight project. I used the Classic Instrument Gauges as did oman. They worked perfect. But the Autometer looks great also! It's nice to know you have a few options and styles to personalize your dash. I should have documented mine better but Tom has done a great job here. All I can say is the dremel tool was my best freind in doing this project. But very rewarding.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/dash_gauges.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/dash_rear.jpg

Here's a picture of my dash I completed just last summer using similar mounting as Tom and Oman did. By the way thanks Oman for the idea about a year ago! Yes it took that long. As stated this is not an overnight project. I used the Classic Instrument Gauges as did oman. They worked perfect. But the Autometer looks great also! It's nice to know you have a few options and styles to personalize your dash. I should have documented mine better but Tom has done a great job here. All I can say is the dremel tool was my best freind in doing this project. But very rewarding.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/dash_gauges.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/dash_rear.jpg

Rampin

Did we talk via E-mail about this? I don't recognize your sig! Looking at your picture of the backside of the dash I have to believe we did talk. It looks so much like mine as far as that metal plate.

I gotta have my pics in this thread and I don't do much posting of PICs. Hows about I forward some pics to you and you post em...sort of a fair exchange for the info on the dash? Shoot me an E-mail and I will forward some pictures if you can find time to post them for me.

You seem to have less wires in there than I do but you also have a 2 guage "pod" over there on the far right. I used the quad guage which added some more circuits and ground wires.

BTW to BOTH Tom and Rampin I like the red indicators more than my black indicators but I will be damned if I jump in there again to redo the dash. NO WAY!!!

Oman

Hpexpatriot@yahoo.com

BTW I came up with a way to "white face" the heater control area. Believe it or not I did it with some white paper, a laser printer and Microsoft word. I can include that with the pics if you wanna dive back in there and redo the heater ctrls.

What size classic instrument gauges are in the small holes rampin??

What size classic instrument gauges are in the small holes rampin??

Oman here.

If Rampin used what I used (apparently he took more that a little of my advice) he used the smallest guages Classic makes. I cannot recall the exact size but (at least on my dash) I used the smallest size Classic makes. They are a little bigger than the holes in the dash but just a whisker bigger.

BTW Classic has been one of the BEST vendors I have ever dealt with. I slammed my guages hard on the floor when I tripped and wanted the guages recalibrated / checked for function before I finished the install. I sent em back and they checked everything out for MINIMAL charge. I knocked off one pointer and they reloaded that NO CHARGE.

While the guages were there for recalib / test / the new pointer install they noticed that I had scratched the lenses a little in the process of handling the units. They called me and OFFERED / VOLUNTEERED to reload the guages with new lenses FREE OF CHARGE!!!!!

When I was considering getting the Classic guages I called with some questions and asked about dimensions for the guages. They OFFERED to send me AT NO CHARGE two empty guage housings, with bezels of my choice attached, to use a mockups as I designed what I was gonna build. It just does NOT get any better than the service from Classic IMHO.

On to guage sizes! If you looked close at my dash (IF someone will help me post pics) you would see that the small guage faces are ever so slightly obscured at the edges. To my old eyes it works ok some folks might think otherwise. It is however critical that you get the center of the Classic Guage DEAD NUTS in the center of the hole in the GM bezel / guage hosung. If you are off target that small overlap / shrouding of the small guages faces will be accentuated.

On my install the Classic guage face is pressed right to the rear of the GM plastic bezel. Then the GM front plactic (the large clear panel) is placed infront of the Classic lense. In effect when you look at the guages you are looking thru 2 layers of clear, one on the guage itself and the other ...the stock GM clear.

I am more than willing to help in any way I can and any info you get from Rampin would likely be very similar in nature to what I did. Looking at his pictures the physical mounting of his guages is the same as what I did.

Ray "Oman" Opperman

Yeah I used the small gauges Classic sells the 2-1/8 dia they are are slightly bigger than the openings in the dash. Oman is right you have to be dead nuts on centering of the small gauges. To help that I used a small dia dremel sanding drum to bevel or open up the inner diameter of the small openings. The large ones fit perfectly into the openings with the stepped bezel. (Oman send me your pictures and I will try to post them). bsadler@yahoo.com

Yeah I used the small gauges Classic sells the 2-1/8 dia they are are slightly bigger than the openings in the dash. Oman is right you have to be dead nuts on centering of the small gauges. To help that I used a small dia dremel sanding drum to bevel or open up the inner diameter of the small openings. The large ones fit perfectly into the openings with the stepped bezel. (Oman send me your pictures and I will try to post them). bsadler@yahoo.com

Okay gotta figure out what CD they are on. Stand by. I may take a few new pics also so it might be later tonight.

This is great stuff, guys. I'm contemplating a gauge installation on my 1969. I'm trying to find a right multi gauge set to replace the fuel/lights original setup. Will be a challenge for sure.
I bought a complete second instrument bezel and gauge set so I can work it out on the bench while still driving my el Camino.
I put a full set of Auto-Meter gauges in the dash of my 1966 Suburban.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_aZniZlzG90Y/SCcaxuQYSGI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/8LYrhSsXsvA/s640/S7301305.JPG

Keep it coming.
Dan

<< On my install the Classic gauge face is pressed right to the rear of the GM plastic bezel. Then the GM front plastic (the large clear panel) is placed in front of the Classic lens. In effect when you look at the gauges you are looking through 2 layers of clear, one on the gauge itself and the other ...the stock GM clear.>>

I cut out the gauge face area on the plastic lens so that you are not looking through two lenses. That way it looks like your looking into a hole at the gauges. You need the rest of the lens in between the pod and the dash or it will rattle.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e345/team5150/PIC00003.jpg

I saw the multipin plugs you used Rampin. I thought about using them but I wasn't sure if they would carry enough amps to the gauges because the AutoMeter instructions stated you should use 12-14 gauge on some of the leads.

You also used a lot less bracing than I did. I guess I wanted to make sure I didn't have to go back in there for a loose whatever. If we have a nuclear hit my pod will be there unharmed !:yes:

As I said, I also have a ton of photos from this project so if you have any questions about a particular aspect of this type of project - just let me know and I'll post what you need.

Here's a couple of pictures from Oman's Dash he wanted me to post. I only have 2 right now I ran out of space on my showroom photo's so I will try and post more.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/oman_dash_3.JPG

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/controls.JPG

More of Omans dash

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww45/rampin_ss/omandash4.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww45/rampin_ss/omandash2.jpg

What size gauges should be used for the center 3?

I cant get any of the original pics on the right up to come up. Does anyone have this with the pics?

Thanks Tim.

I'd like to see them as well