Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

MONZT3R · 05-23-2014, 03:25 PM

I know that there are other threads out there on this same topic, but I just thought I would share my experience with everyone in the hopes that it will help someone in the future do a gauge swap.

If your like me, I like to monitor what my car is doing and a digital clock and a oil temp sensor which starts at 140 degrees was just not cutting it, also, the battery voltage, yeah thats great, but umm in my mind not SO important it needs to be front and center.

I went with 2 1/16" autometer gauges that would fit inside the OEM rings - A/F ratio, Boost, DIPC (for fun) The replacement of the OEM gauges for these three is what this write up is about.
For all that are curious I also installed: oil pressure (in the cubby) & Digital oil temp -before my oil cooler- & EGT on the pillar bar. IDK this is just my choice of gauges, anything else I just didn't really care to have.

So here is roughly how I did it. I am not going to mention every detail on how to remove the panels and snaps, because there is lots of information out there already on how to do that.

Step 1: Pop up the panel surrounding the shifter, unscrew the knee guards & center console piece. Pull the center piece twords you, its held in with clips, once you have that off you will have to disconnect the start button and airbag light. If you have NAV, I'm sure there is more steps... but I didn't have NAV so I can't help anyone there. The goal of taking all that off is to have access to the bottom of the gauges.

>>>>>: if your a BOSS and have hella free time, unlike me, you will be able to take out literally every panel on the dash and get at all the screws so you can remove the dash and just unscrew the triple meters easy. Being that I didn't have the time to figure this out, I went the easy way out as I know a few other members did as well:

Step 2: carefully remove the hats from off each the triple meters, label them 1,2,3 they are all unique.

Step 3: Carefully remove the black cage and front rings that go around each of the gauges... Label these also. You will be cutting and modifying these.

Step 4: You now have to be brave. Grab a pair of channel locks, pliers, ext. And literally rip out everything associated with the gauges. Just TEAR that **** out. Your check engine light won't go on, your car will function fine, nothing to worry about.

Step 5: Run lines to your respective sensors up to each of the three holes. I did not bother tapping into any of the OEM sensors because I could not figure out what wires went well & my car was completely disassembled while I was doing this, so I couldn't keep starting and turning my car off each time I checked a wire. See the photo of the wire nightmare I was dealing with wiring 6 new gauges... (I have extensive knowledge wiring cars, so I warranty my work to last forever...haha)

FYI. a great place to run lines to underneath your car (A/F & EGT for me) is to drill a hole next to the shifter, just be sure to use a grommet and waterproof any holes you drilled.

Step 6: Take the black cages and silver rings you removed and modify/ cut them to house your gauges as seen in the photos. Basically your just creating a housing for the gauges to rest in. Do not glue the hats on, leave them off for now. I used glue to fill gaps and bond the two together. Set these aside to dry. Once dry you can set them into their holes and see that they all fit great and this is a great point to test and see if they all work.

Step 7: Now you will be creating a mounting solution which will hold the gauge in place via zip tie. You will make 3 of these. Cut out small rectangular pieces from thicker aluminum and drill holes for the zip ties to snake through (see photos) Place some weather stripping on one side to prevent unwanted vibrations. Curve these pieces of metal to cup the bottom of the gauge and bow out on the ends for the mounting plate to span from one side of the triple meter hole to the other, kind of like a upside down bridge.
You will need to spend a great deal of time creating a suitable piece which fits correctly for this to work, buy extra aluminum & do tests. Look at the photos to better understand this poor description.

Step 8: Run a zip tie through as seen in the photos so you have three ready to mount gauges.

Step 9: Set the gauge in place and push the mounting bracket through the hole and set each end of the U shaped metal piece to span from side to side, Once it is in place, pull the zip tie up it will pull the gauge up and hold it exactly in place. and will not wiggle around at all. If done correctly, like mine, it will not rattle squeak, or anything.

Step 10: tuck the zip tie off to the side so the hat fits into place nicely. Place a small dab of sealant, not glue onto each of the prongs and place the hat in place and let it dry. Gauge done!

Step 10: repeat step 9 & 10 for the other 2 gauges.

This is just one way of many to do this swap, but I wanted to create a system where I could easily remove these gauges if I changed my mind on which one to have in which place, zip ties are easily cut and glue is easily scrapped away and reapplied.

FYI These gauges have all been working flawlessly for the past 6 months...

Good luck people. If I think of anything else I will update via comments.