whats up everyone, just thought id share my instrument panel ive been working on for a while... in my nova i got tired of the boring gas guage/ speedo combo, you know, the looooong horizontal speedo..... i had an oil/water/volt and a small tach under the dash but it got pretty annoying any cluttered. It seemed my only option was the Covans dash, witch i didnt like the look/fitment of at all.

since my cluster was pretty beat, i started with another i got off ebay from a 74 apollo..(i dig the wood panel stickers/fasten seat belt light)

The "chrome" outlines were kinda trashed so i wound up repainting the whole bezel with VHT interior paint, you can see it well later

The next step was to cut up a piece of thin steel to fit the bezel, drill the mounting wholes and play around with how i wanted the guages... i know, the paper guages look VERY professional:rolleyes:

Next was to break out the hole saws and start drilling! contrary to my normal ways, i measured carefully

Me on the bedroom floor wiring all the guages!

Finished project! painted both the guage plate and bezel satin black, and fitted LEDs for turn signals, brights, and an oil pressure warning light

i know its tight fitting all of them into the long skinny bezel, but im very happy with the results.... when installed, the tops of the GAS and VOLT guages require a bit of strain to see, but you can still see the bottom 3/4s to get an idea of where the needles at.... the temp/ oil, being more crucial, are completley visible:)

another cool detail is the shift light hidden behind the fasten seat belt light!

much better then smashing my knees on the under dash cluster:D

Now that's cool!

Sweet deal. Wish I had the patience to tackle something like that.

i know its tight fitting all of them into the long skinny bezel, but im very happy with the results.... when installed, the tops of the GAS and VOLT guages require a bit of strain to see, but you can still see the bottom 3/4s to get an idea of where the needles at.... the temp/ oil, being more crucial, are completley visible:)

Looks good. Why not flip the Gas and Volt gauges? I'm sure ones designed to be needle down could be found.

*Two thumbs up* Looks good.

That's really cool!

thanks guys! one more step in getting this car back ready to have some fun.... i recently rewired the car completley (gutting every single bit of the old harness) and i couldnt bring myself to put those crap factory guages back in

Looks good. Why not flip the Gas and Volt gauges? I'm sure ones designed to be needle down could be found.

the company who makes those guages, Autometer, doesnt deal with anything like that... im more then positive i could have had them custom made, but by sticking with something off the shelf, i get them even cheaper at the speed shop i work at

lit up in the car!

Hay man good to see you! Nice mod you've done there. I'm bitten by the mod bug myself.

Great job there, SS623!

Good work makes for a clean dash w/o the under-dash cluster.

Cool..

Nice work!

Glad to see you back around here.

thanks camino..... between the fire dept, full time college classes and working 30-40 hours a week at the speed shop, squeezing in time with my girlfriend and trying to work on the nova its been hectic!