Replacing the Clock with a Gauge?
 

Hey all, first real thread here...

I'm curious to know if there is a possibility to replace the clock with an actual gauge that matches the other two.

I've searched on the forum here and through numerous performance parts websites, but it seems I can't find anything that retains the OEM look. I'm a big fan of keeping OEM esthetics, so having a Defi or AEM badge on the face kind of ruins the look and clearly looks aftermarket.

Did the 350 ever have a gauge that could work on our cars? I've never actually sat/drove one before.. were the interior lights different from the orange-ish red color we have? If it's a matter of changing the color of the lighting, I can't imagine that would be all too difficult.

I'm also not interested in ripping off the clock, like I've seen some other do... It just seems sacrilegious to destroy a brand new car in such a fashion. I don't mind taking the time to remove the dash either. Seems like it would be well worth the time to do it right the first time...

The three gauges are all one piece, so you would have to replace them all to get rid of the clock.

dang... I thought they could be separated from the bracket that holds them together. I just looked at 350 interiors and it looks like they only have two gauges also... the same two gauges the 370 has.

Is there any other option, or am I SOL?

The FSM may have a 'sploded view. Going by what I've read on this site, Chuck33079 is right about it being one piece (at least as far as Nissan is concerned). You should be able to find a few threads about the gauges on this site (I think I remember some gauge threads but my memory ain't what it used to be) - if the site's search comes up empty, try a web search engine and add "site:the370z.com" to your search string. Works at all the major search engines.

Or screw up the clock like I did a few weeks ago. That way, you get this spiffy little dash (like dot, dot, dash. Not dashboard) where the clock used to be. :icon14:

I'd rather have that how'd you do that

It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Absolutely true that the gauge pod is one piece underneath the hoods. I literally tore mine out piece by piece and filled up a little box with all the pieces. It's one of those jobs where if you start the point of no return is breaking off the first hood. Very scary thing to be reaching down inside with extended needle nose pliers breaking off small bits and dropping them into a box.

Gah... I think I'll just end up leaving the clock as it is, even though I can't stand it. Seriously, the navi screen has a clock too, only 4 inches away.

In the long run, the car will likely be worth more with that stuff intact. As much as I don't like the clock, I like irreversible mods even less. Sigh.

I think Mr. Galeforce removed the OEM gauges intact. He had to remove basically the entire dash to do so. IINM, they are displayed proudly on a trophy case in his house :icon17:

100% true. :D

I'm not sure who at Nissan thought a digital clock there was appropriate, but who ever they were, he/she was a totally moron idiot. First of all, if there had to be a clock then it should have been analog. But the clock is totally unnecessary because its a redundancy on the radio. Second, while a clock may technically be sort of gauge, it's certainly not a true car related gauge. So why the heck was the third circle not a gauge that fits, like water temp, duh, or even the fuel gauge? Stupid. And lastly to make them so you can't take them apart is annoying. This would be a perfect mod for someone with a turbo to put in an OEM style boost gauge.

Has to be the same guy/gal who did the left side digital dash readout. Doesn't match the other 2 gauges, has digital gauges, is less than intuitive to use (hard to use), and they left off the tire pressure readouts as one of the scroll through options. Epic fail.

What makes it worst to me is that the 350z has an oil pressure gauge on the triple gauge cluster and a digital speedo on another....aaand illuminated door cup holders:icon14::icon14:

I'm not disagreeing with your points, but I will point out that there is no second clock for those without navigation (the majority of Z owners) :twocents:

...and numerical TPMS readout. Saved my bacon a couple of times.

Speedhut makes some nice gauges you can customize to pretty much match the oem look but as others have mentioned you will have to replace all 3.

:iagree: I ordered a nitrous pressure gauge from them and they are well built. :tup:

Oh crap, is there not a clock on the stock radio? It's been so long since I've had the piece of crap in the dash I've forgotten. I thought there was. Guess I figured everyone without the Touring Package replaced the OEM hunk a junk long ago. Not so much with the Touring Bose system. But every aftermarket head unit is going to have a clock.

Still, the OEM clock could have easily been part of the dash readout scroll through pattern instead. Why they put it where they did is a mystery.

Actually you can turn off the Nav screen digital clock through the display settings. That's what I did.

If my memory serves me right, didn't the original 240z come with those three gauges (oil temp, volts, clock) in the dash pods? I'm guessing Nissan wanted to incorporate some of the original 240z dash features. You can also see some other 240Z design features such as the rear quarter window shape.

Actually, the 240 had the triple gauge cluster; the left one had a water temp and oil pressure, the center had amps and fuel and the right was an analog clock...

Way older yet way more pertinent info than our current gen....smh:icon17:

I like the longer sweep of the 370 gauges (than the 240), but I agree that we need at least an oil pressure gauge instead of the clock...maybe some day, I'll find a bone-yarded Z and experiment with the gauge pod...

You can reference my post here to see what the gauge looks like:
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...tml#post747744

Maybe a OLED overlay on top of the clock to display what you want. just need to find a place to poke a little wire hole through.

Pictures?
 

I'm thinking of modifying the clock to read out Water Temperature. My idea is to use the stock display and add a circuit to drive the display segments directly. Before I open things up, I was wondering if anyone can post some close-up pictures that show the instrument cluster removed, the circuit board, etc.

-Greg

Wow, if you're going this route, just buy a set off ebay they're about $75 or cheaper if you find one thats damaged.

I just recently (as in yesterday) got ahold of my Defi Advance BF gauges (oil temp, oil pressure, water temp). I'll be doing the swap sometime this week hopefully. Just working up the will to not be lazy about taking the dash apart. I'm going to try to keep the Franken-gauge functional in case I ever need to go back to stock. I'll take pics along the way, but I'm not sure if we need another DIY for this.

Removing the dash is complicated enough that you can probably add something to the knowledge base. If nothing else, you may come up with a few "don't do this" items. :)

I would love to change up the 3 gauges. I am afraid of going 'down a rabbit hole' once I begin.