I installed an aftermarket tach for a V8 conversion into the factory spot. I ideally would've liked to convert the factory tach but mine was not working anyway so the aftermarket got the vote.
Very cool. I plan to do this one day with Autometer gauges replacing all my factory gauges. Was the input signal the same as what the factory wiring provides, or did you have to run new wire for it?
A suggestion too, since the new tach came with a white bulb that means the backing plate on it is colored red, and installing a green bulb won't correct the color. What I did with my gauges was order red (actual red bulbs, not just white bulbs with red condoms on them) 194 bulbs from www.topbulb.com (no affiliation) and replaced all my dash lights with those. I love the red look, and it's far better for nighttime driving.
I used the small AutoMeter 6K tach because it looked like it would fit in the stock housing, which it did with a LOT of screwing around. It has almost identical yellow number, & I got day-glo Testor's paint & did all the gauge needles in the same paint (including the tach). Works great.
Only problems are that the tach face isn't quite parallel to the lens & the light isn't even (used stock light).
Odd thing is that I used to run the 2F at higher RPMs than I normally run the 5.7 Vortec. Rarely get over 3,000 unless I have to pass someone.
Very cool. I plan to do this one day with Autometer gauges replacing all my factory gauges. Was the input signal the same as what the factory wiring provides, or did you have to run new wire for it?.
I didn't know what caused the factory tach to break so I just connected the supplied wire direct to the tach. It came with one long enough to route pretty much any way you wanted to get into the engine bay and I still cut off a couple feet of slack before installing the connector to the end.
Also, the instructions specifically stated not to use a ground from the old system. They wanted a directly run new ground to avoid 'eratic' behavior.
Thanks for the light tips, I'm going to look at the conversion to red!
I'm seeing about the same, with the factory 4 speed manual tranny I'm a hair shy of 3K RPMs at 65-70. I was concerned about accuracy, thanks for the post, it is comforting...
