I have created space for 5 after market gauges on my '69 Swinger. Already installed are mechanical water temp, oil pressure, and volt gauge. I need to install a vacuum/boost gauge, so there is one left to fill. The tach is currently strapped to the steering column, which is OK but not my favorite look. For the 5th spot, I could install a small tachometer, and remove the big tach from the steering column, but am wondering if there is advice on other options that would be usefull. Is there a commonly overlooked gauge that would very really useful?

For instance, is there an air/fuel ratio gague that will read directly from a wide band O2 sensor? That would be really usefull in tuning. Other thoughts? Oh yeah, the stock gauges are pretty much useless. They are there only for looks now. The ameter is out of the circuit, the oil pressure was only an idiot light, the temp was quite erratic, and the fuel reads wrong too. I don;t want to run a mechanical fuel pressure gauge in the pass compartment. Electical ones are available, but they are very expensive.

Oil temp. maybe? If you are runing a turbo you may want to be able to monitor the oil temperature to make sure you aren't hinning it out too much. Or better yet, how about an air/fuel ratio meter? That would be VERY useful in the tuning phase.

Reed

Two gages that I think you should have with the turbo, in addition to what you mentioned, are an air/fuel ratio meter and a knock detection gage ( www.casperselectronics.com , P/N 102001,$69). Of course you'll also need some junk yard electronics to go with the knock gage.
Bob D

Bob, will any air/fuel ratio gauge read directly from a wide band O2 sensor, or do you need other electronics in the circuit? Jegs lists several A/F ratio gauges, but gives no details about them. Jegs also lists an A/F readout kit from K&N for $169. Why would one need this if a simple gauge was all one needed? Does anyone here know about the K&N kit?

The knock sensor sounds interesting. I will go on the web site listed and check it out. How is the presence of knock conditions displayed?

Bob, I visisted the casperelectronics website, and couldn't figure out the connection. All I saw was links to samples of certain kinds of tone generators. I undestand we are dealing with sound in the "knocking" of the engine, but I don;t see how engine knocking dovetails with this guys products. I also saw no part numbers, or ways to access products with part numbers. Can you help me out a little please? Thanks

Sorry about the confusion. The web site is http://www.casperselectronics.com . Just type in knock gage in the search box on that site and then click on the P/N. Here is one of them http://www.casperselectronics.com/Merch ... gory_Code=
(I see that the price has gone up $10 since I bought mine!)
I don't know what type of gage is need with a wide band oxygen sensor, but I do know that a wide band sensor is very expensive. The A/F kits sold by Jegs and Summit are not wide band and are way over priced. All you need is an O2 sensor, O2 sensor bung and the gage all sold separately.
Bob D

Thanks Bob. I got the info this time. I feel like I just came out of a Twilight Zone episode. When I clicked on the web address last night I got a screen that said "new web site under construction, do you want to visit the old site", which I did. The site I reached looked absolutely nothing like the one I just accessed. No I am in a quandry. I have only one more available gauge location, and this conversation has led me to want both a fuel ratio gauge and the knock gauge. Maybe I can gin up another spot. If I made the tach smaller, I could put the knock gauge and the tach together on the steering column. Thanks for the tips!

Ive researched this quite a bit so Ill pass it on.

The narrow band one wire o2 sensors are pretty useless as they can only tell a gauge that you are lean and rich from stoich. This is OK with an ECM with an 8192 baud rate or higher that can make adjustments to a/f several times per second to keep things on the level but not good for a gauge setup. The Bosch wideband three wire o2 sensor requires a module to translate its output to a gauge. It is much more accurate and useful, but the most cost effective turnkey setup for a gauge Ive seen is about $250 or so. You need a wideband o2 sensor, the box and a gauge, usually sold as a set. I will get one eventually.

The knock sensor is an interesting one to me too, it would be nice not to have to turn the radio down and listen to the engine whenever I hit a hill. The gauge looks nice, it's got a Grand National insignia on it and uses LEDs to indicate severity of knock. Used with a GM ESC module, listed for about $80. The ESC module detects inaudible knock as well, if the gauge picks that up as well itd be a nice touch. I'll keep my eye on it!

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

I think you said this, but just to reaffirm it, you do have to use a ESC module and of course a knock detector with the knock gage. My experience is that the junk yard price is about $15 for both of these items together.
Bob D