The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 5" gauge cluster & speedo

I have a 52 with a 350 motor. Want your opinion on best gauges and speedo. Price and quality. Or should I send in for rebuild? Thanks Shelly

I have a 1953 GMC and had the original gauges rebuilt with new guts from U.S. Speedometer and they're great.

chevy shelly, i am looking at putting guages in my 54/3100 from www.tpiguages.com. they are programmable on the fly with a touch of a button. they allow for tire and wheel size transmission and other variables. ron

Hey WE b old, I couldnt get to that web site, was it correct. Thanks Shelly

it will work if you spell "gauges" correctly!

Visit TPI Gauges

I put TPI gages in my 51 this past june ,this is after i had the originals rebuilt, go for the TPI,s you will be happy with them, old navy 51...........

thanks, being old and the bifocals the spelling still looks rite. ask 54phatboy.

I put Dolphin Gauges in my 54 ... and I love 'em!

Info and pics Here

Thanks for the replies gents.

horvath, how do you post your pictures by just typing here. i struggle just to get them in the computer. i have my pictures in webshots also. is there another way to go. any help would be appreciated. ron

Hey, Ron

1 - You have to have pictures on the web -- not on your PC.

2 - Go to your picture on the web ... right-click on it and "Open In New Window."

3 - Copy the "http://www." address from the address bar in the new window ... click & drag across it to select it, then type Cntrl + C to copy.

4 - When you're posting, click on the IMAGE button, under "Instant UBB Code" which is seen below the posting-window.

5 - When the prompt pops up, paste your address into the prompt-window -- click your mouse in the window and type Cntrl + V to paste ... and click "OKAY."

When you finish your post, you'll see the picture.

thanks horvath. i am a computer greek but i will have a go at it. ron btw i love your site learned alot. i work at home depot parttime and they don't have the quick roof in my area. ron

Stewart Warner has a very beautiful 5" 4-function gauge that looks almost exactly like the original. Problem is, their cost. I went and looked at one at one of their dealer locations and the price I was quoted was $355 just for that one gauge!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd have to seriously consider the TPI gauges. Looks like I could have a 4-function gauge and a programmable speedo for less than a single SW gauge.

That's unfortunate. I really should write to SW and ask them if that $355 is actually what it should cost, or if there's a generous dealer mark up added onto it.

That Stewart Warner 4-in-1 is a nice looking gauge. It's listed for $235 on StewartWarner.net (an SW distributor). See here.

Autometer also makes some nice 5" 4-in-1 gauges in their Street Rod series, though they're not like the originals.

I' giving seroius thought to using a set of dolphin gauges from EZ Wiring. I picked up a EZ 21 Circuit harness for 165.00 and it looks very simply to use. If I get a 5 gauge cluster, I plan on using their dash insert so I can save my OEM one.

Jake

Stop scrimping and go digital. Your truck is worth it and you deserve it.

I, for one, don't like the looks of digital in a stovebolt.

The Dolphin gauges DO look nice. I like the Speedo with the tach built in, even though it's kind of a dinky tach. But it's better than no tach. What bugs me is the lack of an odometer if you get the speedometer/tach. That would make oil changes tough to calculate.

I like the TPI gauges too, especially the programmable features. Change the rear ratio, program it. But I don't care for the green digital numbers. Picky, I know, but I've changed my interior lights to red.

The Autometer gauges are alright, their $199 price for each gauge is good. They look too modern to me. I prefer a little more of a retro look, but that's a personal decision. The Dakota Digital gauges fall into that category too.

The $235 for the Stewart Warner quad gauge is a reasonable price that brings it in line with these others. For that price, I'd give SW the nod because of the original look and the cool winged gauges. But I sure wish they could have snuck a tach in the middle of the quad gauge. That would have been cool.

Anyway, really nice options here!
Too bad the TPI gauges didn't offer red digits instead of the green...

A friend just bought a set of S-W guages. Best quality out there! Most others Ive seen are cheap plastic crap, makes you question the quality inside as well........