[Freakeystyley]

Hey guys,

There are several how-to's out there for installing gauge faces which are easy to follow and have gotten me where I am, but I have a few questions for the folks who have done this before, specifically with Speedhut gauges for an SVT;

Did your SpeedHut gauges come with the high beam, traction control, and ABS backlight sections? The gauges that I received from SpeedHut just have clear windows in those three areas, giving me a nice view of the bulb that lights those.



I've got a feeling I might get just as blinded as the other folks on the road when I turn on my high beams. Has anyone had this issue? Did you cut the section out of the original face? Did you make your own?

I suppose you could probably print something on transparency for these, but I've got my dash apart right now and was wondering if anyone else had an idea.

On a side note, the openings around the needles are a little big and look lihe they're going to bleed a lot of white light. Again, making my own covers for this area could be a solution (maybe translucent red) but I'm looking to find out if I'm missing something here.

Any help out there guys?

Thanks,

~The Mainer who now lives in West Virginia

 

[Freakeystyley]

After doing more digging, I've found two solutions that people have done:

1. Cut out the original high beam, TCS, and ABS circle and mount them behind the new gauge face.
2. Leave the entire original face behind the new one.

Neither of these sound very appealing, but maybe leaving the original in there wouldn't be so bad if everything still fits together. I'd rather not chop my original SVT face up if I can help it.

I'm thinking maybe printing new indicators on transparency paper. I'm thinking maybe a ford symbol over the blue high beam indicator. Maybe I'll make that red instead. The bright blue has always been a little annoying.

As far as the light bleeding out from under the needles, I was also thinking of putting translucent red circles there, too, to give a red glow.

Another thing: I don't have a voltmeter anymore (I've been meaning to get one again) so until I do or I find my voltage detector I'll be guessing at a power source for the gauges. Does anyone here have a suggestion for the wire to tap? Or does anyone know which of the two original lines running to the gauges is the hot one?

Again, any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks guys. In the meantime I'm just driving with my dash apart. I kinda like it []

 

[MattZX3]

my gauges went right over the old ones, as in, i just placed the new gauge face right over the old one

had it for two year, no problems... so idk lol

 

[Freakeystyley]

Nice. That seems like the lesser of the two evils. I definitely didn't want to hack up my original SVT gauges just for those three indicators.

I might still try printing on transparency paper. I can try out some custom logos or something.

By the way, do you recall where you tapped your 12V from? If you could remember which line you tapped that would help out.

Any other help / suggestions people could offer would be helpful.

Thanks guys

 

[SkyPilot]

i have speed hut as well, and it just fit right over the stock face

 

[Freakeystyley]

Hmmm. Did either of you have your original gauges show through the gap right behind the needles? My original SVT face is a very light silver and shows through that gap behind the needles.

Not a huge issue, but for the price Speedhut charges you would think that the holes would be a little closer to the stock size.

 

[RedSVT 03]

Those gauges look cool, but I think that you will end up hating them. I had custom gauges done up for my 03 SVTF by Speedhut similar to yours, and the light bleed through was just horrible. Around the needles, and on one edge. I hated it. I ended up taking them out and they are sitting in my tool box.

There might be issues if you did not leave the stock face on. There will be a glare from those two round holes at the bottom during the day. The glare will make you think that a warning light is on. At least that is the experience I have.

I think you need to leave the stock face on. Do not take the needles off, as you will never get them back on just right. Mine are close, but they are a little off. The RPM needle hangs a bit, and the speedometer is off, but it shows too fast, which is a good thing, never have to worry about speeding.

Since you have yours off, could you take a pic of the hookup for the auxiliary gauges? I somehow have mine messed up, and the EL part of the stock gauges no longer lights up.

Thanks.

 

[HaveBlue83]

Smezy, but prolly gonna be a pita.......hope to see some installed picts!!

 

[HaveBlue83]

Smexy, but prolly gonna be a pita.......hope to see some installed picts!!

 

[Freakeystyley]

Yeah, I've been driving with the gauges just like there are for the last week. During the day, they're nice, but you're right about the glare. I don't have Traction Control, so that never goes off anyway, and if the ABS goes off I probably won't be looking at the dash, so I haven't really been bothered by it yet, but at night is a different story.

Without the bezel in place, there is a TON of bleed around the outside, but that should go away when I reassemble the dash. The bleed from around the needles is pretty obnoxious though. and I think the high beam indicator is brighter than the actual high beams. I get blasted when I turn them on. I have to drive with my hand at 12 o'clock to be able to see.

I didn't wire the new gauges yet, so they are pitch black at night. I have to turn my interior light on, set the cruise control, then turn off the light to keep from speeding. I find that when I try to just drive by feel I end up being a lot faster than I should be

As for the needles, I have a couple of strategies that have worked well: I have a Predator that I can use to monitor the RPM and speed the ECU reports. I drive with the bezel off and set the needles while driving down a non-busy road. It take a couple of tries, but can be as accurate as your hand is steady. You can also use cruise control and GPS for speed.

I haven't been able to get to any of this because I've been helping a friend prep a house he bought from a foreclosure, so I've been painting, hunting floor squeaks, and cleaning for the last week, and the big move is this weekend. I'll try to work on it this weekend, and I've been documenting this anyway.

RedSVT 03, I'll definitely take a shot of that connection when I work on it. I'm not sure exactly what you want me to photograph, because there isn't much there, but I'll take a few shots. There's a possibility that you bent it at some point and broke it.

I'm going to try to fix the bleed a couple of ways. I'll definitely put it up here.

 

[RedSVT 03]

Thanks for the pix if you can get them. I don't want to rain on your parade, but that light bleed probably won't go away when you put the dash back together. I think it will make you notice it even more.

Like you, I got really sick of the high beam indicator, and I don't have traction control either. I tried to use electrical tape to cover those two indicators, light went right through it. That was pretty much the final straw, and I yanked them.

 

[Freakeystyley]

AUX Gauge Pictures

Well, here are your pictures. Let me know if you want a different orientation. I didn't know which of the two connections you were talking about.

By the way, could you trade a picture of where you tapped 12V switched power. I can dig around and find one, but was looking for options. If there's anyone else that has or can take a picture of where their power supply taps the 12V and ground, and where you mounted your dimmer, I'd love to see them.

 

[Freakeystyley]

The gauges are installed. The bleeding around the gauges actually looks pretty good if you leave the originals in place. I was originally going for a pure red and black look, but the blue that's coming through actually helps make my cluster look MUCH better. Check it out in the attached pictures.

Now I just need to readjust the alignment a litte (you can see the blue isn't even around the odometer) and finalize the wiring.

I'm still waiting on someone to show where they wired and mounted their brightness switch. I'm thinking of using the Orange/Yellow wire in the headlight switch harness for switched 12V, but I'm not sure the best place to ground this thing.

Any suggestions? To a harness? To a nearby bolt? Pictures would be cool.

~Mainer

 

[RedSVT 03]

OK, first of all, thank you for the pictures, that was what I needed. Hopefully I can get mine fixed now.

Second, yours look a lot better than mine. The three blue circles, where the brights indicator is, and the two lower ones, yours are dimmer than mine were. Mine were pretty bright. I cannot find any pictures unfortunately. I think I deleted them in disgust.

I mounted the switch right on the fuse door on the lower dash. Be careful if you do the same, as I hit it a few times getting out of the car with my knee, and I ended up bending it pretty bad. As for the wiring, I have no idea, my friend wired it in for me.

I will say this, yours look much better than mine, especially with the light bleed through. My whole right side of the cluster bled through, around the edge of the cluster.

 

[Freakeystyley]

Glad I could help.

I'll remember your advice when I mount the knob.

As for the bleed through, the gauge does light up around the edges, but the bezel covers that all up. It's too bad that yours didn't work out, because mine looks pretty good.

Anyone else have a good place to tap the power and ground for this?

It's starting to look like I should just suck it up and buy a multimeter.

There are plenty of folks on here with SpeedHut gauges. One of you must be able to take a picture or two for me [???]

 

[RedSVT 03]

Thanks again for the pictures, I figured out why my aux gauges don't work now. I seem to be missing the wire from the front of the gauge to the back, like the last few pictures you posted.

You helped solve half of my problem. The other half is me finding either the wire, or a new set of aux gauges to replace mine.

 

[kauffersZX5]

anyone else get shocked by the battery on the switch

 

[RedSVT 03]

I did when I had mine in. I hated that.

 

[Freakeystyley]

I have to admit, I powered mine up temporarily and when I went to switch from blue to green backlight, I braced against the back of the switch. Got myself pretty good.

Again, anyone have a suggestion for what wires to tap. I think I'm going to use the orange / yellow for switched 12V and the black for ground.

 

[RedSVT 03]

That is how I got myself also, accidentally got the back of that switch and I got a serious shock.