Gauges what brand do you like

With my new motor now capable of running, I want to be sure I can monitor vital information such as oil pressure, temperature, and air fuel ratio.

I have decided to remove my factory center gauge cluster as it is so poorly lit as to be useless and the old electronic gauges just don't cut it when it comes to making me feel all warm and fuzzy about their accuracy and reliability.

I searched and saw some great threads on installing the gauges, and I feel pretty sure I know how I want to accomplish that portion of the project

(It is my intention to make an aluminum mounting plate to mount the the actual gauge cluster behind the bezel, rather than cutting up the original parts. That may change as Austin Vert wrote up a real nice DIY on his conversion.)

But I'm too far removed from actually handling and working with any of these gauges to know what brands are best and what brands to avoid.

I would like your experience and suggestions as to what brands to consider.

hey jeff autometers are a good brand, can find them for sale at alot of places.hope this helps.

I used Autometer's with no issues and love their look

VDO Series 1. The 'Cockpit' series gauges are cool, too.

I scored a set at a junk store last year for $30 - they were all still new in the box, with the exception of the tach missing (probably installed and the rest forgotten about, until they got hauled to the junk store).

Honestly, I'm not biased. They just gotta look good, though - I'm not a fan of hack jobs. I like the factory gauge look myself, so anything that looks like it belongs in the car is good with me (AustinVert's set-up is very slick!). When someone simply screws a tachometer onto the middle of the dashpad, or covers up the HVAC vents or another gauge just to have a big, shifter light tach - it screams tacky, IMHO.

I can't wait to see what you come up with, Jeff - you're definitely not a hack, so I know it's gonna be cool!

Jeff,

I think you could not go past Autometer gauges myself for quality, looks and price, eg, value for money spent.

However, just one point to make.I used the light bulbs that came with my Autometer three center gauges kit,and found the light intensity really not strong enough.

I chose a green bulb to try and match the look of the original dash lighting system. I know i will now have to move into a led bulb setup to try and increase the center gauge

light intensity.That was the only disappointment for me.

Also, thanks guys for your good raps on my center gauge system.

Greg.

Eric, I have three standard center console bezels and a couple of gallons of epoxy resin -I promise you I could do a hack job to end all hack jobs!

rofl

Yeah... well... I'm sure if that were the intent...

Here's the only picture I could find of the Autometer gauges I put in. I opted for the white face gauges throughout...the purist may cringe but I love them! Really goes with the theme of my car and looks pretty period correct. In my opinion an option Ford only wish they had considered! Dare to be different!

I like "Classic Instruments" but they are a bit pricey

that sure looks nice!

I've tried just about all the various manufacturers including various aviation specific ones, but nothing has performed better and more accurately than my Autometer gauges. I tried the VDO Cockpit series for a while and I had an oil pressure gauge that crapped out on me. Not exactly sure why, but that's the only gauge failure I've ever had aside from another oil pressure gauge (Autogage). If you stick with the ProComp, SportComp, Traditional, and Z-series gauges from Autometer I can attest to decades of reliable performance.