[gravediggaz]

Just wondering how hard they are to install cause I've had a lot of people tell me do not attempt it on my own. My biggest concern is messing with the needles I don't want to have to pay to get them re-calibrated, and do I have to rewire anything to make the new color of the gauges show instead of the green, so anyone have advice?

and as you will notice from the pic I don't have a tac so how hard is it to find gauges without them

 

[dsmuts]

It would be easier to get an SVT gauge cluster. Its white faced and has a tach. I have one it mine it all just plugs in and that's it.

 

[gravediggaz]

It would be easier to get an SVT gauge cluster. Its white faced and has a tach. I have one it mine it all just plugs in and that's it.

are they the same as clusters without a tac no mod required

 

[ch84 spi]

I did the white face gauge installed. Mine also has no tach. You have to record where the needles are on paper, before you take them apart. Know where your temp gauge is when you could start and when it is warmed up. I dove a 20min. lap around the town, and then after the installed did the same drive under same conditions. The speed gauge is easier, you can use the built in digital speed gauge and tach on the trip meter. I drove down a emptied parking lot to set that needle, then play follow the the leader w/ a friend at a set speed and see if its correct. The gas needle I recorded and knew where it should be when the gas light came on. when the light came on I adjusted it because I was a little off. Then I put the plastic lens back on and tighten the bolts down. I hope that help you a little bit.[]

 

[ch84 spi]

You also have to have the tools to pull the needles off, but I heard of people using a fork and it working.When you put the needles back on, do it carefully because I put them on too tight the first time and it did not move.

 

[ch84 spi]

Oh, I see you also asked about wiring . yes you do wire them in . read your instructions that come with it , they differ sometimes. some tell you not to wire in to headlight switch because it could burn them out prematurely.

 

[dsmuts]

are they the same as clusters without a tac no mod required

I didn't have to do any mods to it at all it just plugged in and that's it. Although the speedo is off a little bit.

 

[tangerine dream]

I didn't have to do any mods to it at all it just plugged in and that's it. Although the speedo is off a little bit.

The gauges should have worked no problem, but didn't you have to do something extra to make the EL panel light up? On the SVT, the controller for the EL panel is built in to the side gauge cluster and doesn't plug in to a standard ZX3 harness. Most people have had to do some kind of mod to get them to light up.

 

[dsmuts]

The gauges should have worked no problem, but didn't you have to do something extra to make the EL panel light up? On the SVT, the controller for the EL panel is built in to the side gauge cluster and doesn't plug in to a standard ZX3 harness. Most people have had to do some kind of mod to get them to light up.

I cut a little hole in the top of it and hooked up a 6 inch neon and it works pretty good.

 

[flipwilly2]

gravediggaz,
I did this on my Escape. I bought a needle puller off the Internet for $5 shipped from an outfit that rebuilds gage clusters, bought a white face gage cluster that didn't work real cheap off of E-Bay, switched the white face plate, re-calibrated the tach and speedo off the trip meter, and wrote down the fuel and temp locations before starting. I think you'll find it's pretty easy to do yourself! If you want to borrow my needle removal tool,
send me your name and address and I'll be glad to mail it to you (if you'll mail it back). [email protected]