Temperature & Oil gauges unreliable, any aftermarket that are small or other options??

[Wadesters]

Just completing a restoration on a 1965 FJ45 LPB. I have new OEM sending units in water & oil. Temp starts off pegged in hot (which I believe earlier models are supposed to do). When switch is turned on temp comes down only to the first mark even though stone cold. Upon running it moves close to H but is not hot. I have verified this with a temp gun.
Once started oil moves up only a little. It does not fluctuate at all with rpm. Since the engine is newly rebuilt for the break in period I had an after market set up just to make sure of good oil pressure, so I know it is good.
Fuel seems to be operating correctly.
Amp meter pulsates back and forth (alternator was rebuilt and voltage regulator looks new and is correct part number).

I know Summit has an after market digital gauge package but is almost $900 and I would like to stay as original looking as possible.

Just wondering if anyone else has run into the same thing and if so what you did.

Thank you..

 

[sodafeld1]

I really like the aussie engine guard watch dog, it is a pyrometer thermocouple which bolts directly into the cylinder head. Really accurate and super easy install. Swear by it, very handy for towing uphill and can predict when thermo fan clutch kicks in, love watching it warm up and watch the numbers from the kitchen having my coffee, also can read the temp if you need to glow or not. no affiliation, just a ripper gauge, not too expensive compared to that exy summit one. it is celsius, but hey 100c is boiling, pretty easy.

I have a sandwich adapter between my oil filter for gauge ports and bypass filter. I put a marshall mechanical gauge in the bay and an autometer electric gauge (which is not that accurate for it's price) but I know that the mechanical gauge is usually 10 psi less than the autometer, by observing both gauges when stationary and bonnet open for some form of calibration. I am going to try out vdo for my next build, used by porsche and merc, for the electrical gauge. Marshall is bang on.
At times when there is an oil leak, somewhere, it is reassuring to watch the oil pressure for sure.

Happy consistent, predictable oil and temp numbers, turn the tunes up carefree!

 

[sodafeld1]

I also use a cheap ebay cig lighter volt gauge which is handy for my wilson switch, at first volts drop then as glows warm volts rise again then crank, Also lets you know if your batteries are getting enough charge from the alt during a night storm with blower, wipers and lights running, even the trailer lights. Have another voltmeter for the aux battery too, which I run the driving lights off. That way my starter battery is only used for crank for the most part. Just used cheap n cheerful for the volt meters. led globes drink heaps less, I like stedi.

 

[1911]

I replaced my stock gauges with Autometer short-sweep gauges as per this old thread:

Aftermarket (even mechanical) gauges into STOCK cluster!!! - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/aftermarket-even-mechanical-gauges-into-stock-cluster.289513/

Unfortunately, he is not making the mask kits any more.

Here's what mine looks like:

 

[South Texas 97]

We are not really answering your question.

I have a set of the three autometer short sweep gauges (oil pressure, water temp and volts) mounted in the radio slot - almost a perfect fit.

for now I use them as a verification of what the standard gauges are showing. At some point I would like to fabricate the brackets to fit them in the original housing - although the original vendor is not selling the brackets anymore, it should be straight forward to make something from sheet tin.

I also had an IR thermometer that when I stopped driving, would pop the hood and check the thermostat housing and head temperature (by where the sensor is mounted) to give me a sense check if the gauge was more or less right.

Not sure if your year has a similar thing, but on my 76, the fuel gauge stopped working, and it turns out there is a 7V voltage divider inside the fuel gauge that provides volts for the water temperature gauge. If this is not working, it could cause an issue.