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Could some one help me find a good and affordable brand of gauges for oil temp, water temp and volts!
I like the blacked out style but they are hard to find and generally expensive!

What does everyone else use??

Innovate have a range of gauges that are dual. Water temp and volts in one gauge and oil temp/pressure in another. These gauges can also be programmed with alarms etc. however these may not meet your price range.

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/MTXD.php

For price & accuracy it's hard to beat Sunpro.

Super Cheap sell Calibre range of black-out gauges but no idea on accuracy or reliability. Can't be too bad as they've been selling them for years.

I had an oil temp, oil pressure, water temp electric gauges in my old NB

I believe they were the Performance Series from Prosport Gauges - http://prosportgauges.com/amber_white_p ... auges.aspx

If I recalled correctly they flashed red when it hit the warning limit set and makes an annoying sound which can be switched off. (It has been a few long years now so you'll need to check this to make sure these functions are still the case in the new ones)

The gauges while I had the car for I think about 2 years were pretty solid.
One of the sensors became an issue later down the track but a replacement solved that problem.

timk now owns my old car so check with him how they are going - viewtopic.php?f=57&t=51007

thanks everyone for the feed back! makes it easier to choose some now!

the blacked out ones are generally useless in the daytime.

Magpie, will the innovate gear drive external idiot lights?

I really like the SPA kit, but can't afford them. Can be programmed to run both idiot lights and buzzer on a high or low limit.

Really wish I had more inputs on the ecu to be honest. Hope you have thought about that with your build.

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Which ever the brand make sure you get electric not mechanical gauges. Electric gauges have the sensors in the engine bay, mechanical run oil pressure lines etc to the back of the gauge in your dash.

I'd recommend getting ones with "peak hold" and preset warnings if you can afford them.

Okibi wrote:Which ever the brand make sure you get electric not mechanical gauges. Electric gauges have the sensors in the engine bay, mechanical run oil pressure lines etc to the back of the gauge in your dash.

There are advantages & disadvantages for both types.
For example boost gauge. A straight pneumatic feed will always beat electric feed in terms of response time.
There's a youtube video floating around that compares the same boost gauge from the same manufacturer, only difference being electric vs mechanical.

Unfortunately a lot of mechanical gauges are actually illegal as your not allowed to have engine fluids pass through the firewall.

Might get away with coolant seeing that what your heater does.
Might get away with vacuum???

sailaholic wrote:Magpie, will the innovate gear drive external idiot lights?

No! But it does output a 5 volt signal that you could use.

I plan to use something like these senders for oil/water temp and coolant level warning lights however hooked up to this type of warning light mounted on the A Pillar. The senders are a simple on/off once they hit the senders temp the warning light comes on, the warning lights are VERY bright.

My reasoning is that I have to glance down to see my Innovate guages and if I get caught in the moment (as I already have been) I may miss the warnings... However, since that incident I have not made the same mistake, the warning lights are just extra insurance against another act of stupidity on my behalf:)

Sorry for the thread hijack.

I got mine from http://www.summitracing.com/