Aftermarket gauges

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Dartfreak75

Dartfreak75

Restore it, Dont part it!
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Hello all, I bought a set of aftermarket gauges strictly for the purpose of break in so I can keep and eye on the water and oil outside of the cab. I have ran into and issue with the temp gauge tho. The fitting that came with it will not fit into my intake. I don't want to drill the intake because I plan on using the original style sensor after break in, can I cut the end of the new one off and just splice in a boot style end that goes onto the factory sensor? The oil fittings fit perfectly i already have it installed. I may end up using these gauges in the cab afterwards just to have a backup set idk yet but I want to use the factory style water sensor.

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I always use a heat gun for break in. Also it checks your gauge inside to make sure it's correct...
 
j par said:
That was just an example that I looked up real quick. I'm not sure of the price of them. My wife got me one about 4 years ago for Christmas and I've Loved using it ever since..
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Does it give you an accurate reading of the water temperature? Do you check it at the neck or radiator?
 
dartfreak75 said:
Does it give you an accurate reading of the water temperature? Do you check it at the neck or radiator?
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Well that's the nice thing about it you can check everywhere. The water neck the radiator in the heads the intake manifold the carburetor see how hot everything's getting... You can even check individual header tubes to find if your not getting spark...
 
j par said:
Well that's the nice thing about it you can check everywhere. The water neck the radiator in the heads the intake manifold the carburetor see how hot everything's getting... You can even check individual header tubes to find if your not getting spark...
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I just ordered one on Amazon 23 bucks!
 
Remember they don't work really good on chrome.. a silver manifold is okay but the chrome kind of reflects the laser I think..
 
j par said:
Remember they don't work really good on chrome.. a silver manifold is okay but the chrome kind of reflects the laser I think..
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Thats ok I don't have any chrome not a fan of ot tbh! The only thing that's chrome is my dipstick tube and that's cause I couldn't find one that wasn't chrome haha. Its getting sanded and painted to match the engine.. you know for the original look haha
 
No, you cannot cut the sensor off the end of the temperature gauge wire. Well yes, you can but it won't work anymore. You should be able to get a 1/8 npt male to 3/8 npt female adapter. That's all you need to hook it up.
 
Pretty funny reading this thread, because I went through this exact scenario, to the point of purchasing an expensive aluminum (o-ring sealed) water neck spacer specifically for adapting a probe - yet the autometer probe still hit the thermostat. It won't directly thread into even a Performer intake manifold as it's too long. We ended up purchasing a brass pipe thread fitting and a threaded brass piece of pipe to use as an extension @ Home Depot. I don't use the factory probe.
 
If it doesn't fit, you don't need it! lol But in all seriousness you'll probably have to figure out an adapter. I think I used a bushing, but that's because my sensor was smaller than the bung in the manifold. Are they the same size on your manifold?
 
I had the same issue with the mechanical temp gauge. I used an electric temp gauge (auto meter) and it works great, besides the gauge itself fogs up alittle
 
Sweet5ltr said:
Pretty funny reading this thread, because I went through this exact scenario, to the point of purchasing an expensive aluminum (o-ring sealed) water neck spacer specifically for adapting a probe - yet the autometer probe still hit the thermostat. It won't directly thread into even a Performer intake manifold as it's too long. We ended up purchasing a brass pipe thread fitting and a threaded brass piece of pipe to use as an extension @ Home Depot. I don't use the factory probe.
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Oh Boy.......I've got a water neck spacer coming from Hughes that I paid a small fortune for to get shipped to Canada. I too want to run an Autometer mechanical temp gauge but didn't realize that the probe may still hit the thermostat. Autometer has an adapter fitting that seems a bit longer than a regular fitting. Hoping this will do the trick.......I'm already $100 bucks in, what's another $20:BangHead:

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Is there such a thing as a hose coupling that has a fitting that can be put into the upper radiator hose? Would be handy for an electric fan temp switch as well.
 
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