TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Jan 15, 2005 12:32 pm

enquiring minds want to know... actually, curious eyes want to see... got pictures?

i'm trying to decide between cutting a hole in the dash vs. a variety of off the shelf or home-made mounts (dash, column, etc.). would love to see what's out there... especially if you've cust your dash (speaker grill)... would love to see backside view and how everything cinches together... thanks. trying to decide between an vintage porsche tach (4in diameter) or a newish smaller one, too.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 5:27 pm

I got a nice VDO white face tach for like $15 on Ebay. Check out my webpage for some pics of the dash.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 5:43 pm

heres what I used for my tach.

http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?Source...umber=6086

all that I did to mount it was was use a hose clame and clamped it to the steering colum(sp) between the 4 and 5 o'clock position and it is turned about 90degrees to the left so that I could see the numbers that I needed. and then I ran the wires up thru the same spot that the turn signal wires go thru. This is on a 65 bug. Hope that helps. Might get pics on later if needed.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 5:54 pm

go with the porsche tach, what era is it?

Sat Jan 15, 2005 6:56 pm

ktwizza

what kind of sterring wheel is that? Is it a motto litta?

Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:18 pm

i have pictures but dont know how to send them on here.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:21 pm

thanks guys...

shane: looking at mid 60s 912 tachs or earlier 356 tachs without the turn signals...

bill: you could post them in the gallery and link to them.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:26 pm

i can send to your email. i dont know how to put on gallery.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:58 pm

bill: i sent you a PM with my email... address. thanks.

Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:40 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=91532&highlight=tach

Sat Jan 15, 2005 10:01 pm

Mounted on my parcel tray

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Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:01 pm

Thats mine I know got the VDO Royale speedo in the stock speedo spot with another billet piece i fabricated.... Its the bigger one to ur left is the RPM

Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:24 pm

Tue Jan 18, 2005 12:39 pm

This topic came up last month... maybe it was on the ShopTalkForums.

Here's what I did for my grubby '69 Beetle:
http://thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=98897

A few years ago I had an old '50's Beetle where I bought a cheap 2" tach with housing from JC Whitney. It would've been up to the left of the left sunvisor, right in the corner of where the headliner ends over the front door and the left edge of the visor. Would've been in the corner of my eye and out of the way when getting into the car. That location only worked since the visor did not swing over to the side (as they did from '65 on).

On another Beetle, I used the same 912 tach shown in my photo above to mount it to the right of the speedo. I was modifiying the dash anyway so I cut out the speedo mounting "collar", cut away some sheetmetal where the stock speaker used to go, and welded the collar in a few inches to the left. Then from another car I cut out another speedo "collar", and had it welded in just to the right of the left one. The 912 tach (or if you have a later Beetle, use a Porsche 914 4-cylinder tach to match the speedo face) is the same diameter as the standard Beetle speedo, so I was able to fab a quick bracket to hold the tach to the speedo collar. sorry, no photo available at moment. Then I made a filler panel out of flat sheetmetal stock to fill in the openings around the collar welds. IMO, this location really is the very best since it is integrated into the dash for a clean look, and is in plain view while driving.

Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:08 pm

If you do decide a dash mount system, check this one out....http://www.franklinsvwwerks.com/tach-mount.htm

Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:04 am

Take a look at the setup I mentioned earlier; I just added the photo this morning to the Gallery.

http://thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=104980

Sorry the gauges are slightly out of focus...

Such a 914 tach can be obtained used at Porsche swap meets or people parting out their cars for "around" $30. Be willing to bargain. :)

Fri Jan 21, 2005 8:03 am

I bought a spare insert that goes next to the speedo. I cut a hole in that then painted to match the dash paint. I painted the barrel of the tach black so white would not show through the slots in the insert. I made two gaskets for the rear of the insert on rubber and one metal and bought a O-Ring the size of the tach barrel. I installed the tach and then cut the molding so that the edge that abbuts on each side of the tach curves into the tach moulding. It does not look like it came in the car, but close.

Mark

Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:11 pm

Has anyone used a circle cutter to make holes in the stock slotted dash where the speaker goes, then rig it from there?

Fri Jan 21, 2005 1:45 pm

Go to my WWW link and look at my setup. It is the sixth row down and fourth pic in. I bought the after market inserts and made minor cuts to make sure they fit properly. I also had them painted when my car was painted to ensure color matching. It is a nice setup and really clean with the right gauges.

Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:53 pm

its my Ghia, but you get the idea