[Nicks67GTO]

My gauge cluster is in serious need of repair. The speedometer needs fixed asap as it grinds and bounces. The clock doesn't work etc and its just a stock dash. I'm seriously considering this setup to stick behind a stock dash. It bolts in...what do you guys think? Would that look good behind a wood grain dash? Would I need to make a different insert to go over the woodgrain to make it look right?

The link is to the entire product line. I can get all different backing colors, gauge colors etc. It comes bolt in ready and hooks up to everything. The price seems stiff but im sure getting my stock stuff rebuilt or buying a rally setup wouldn't be cheap.

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...rod/prd856.htm

[old66tiger]

I looked into these when I did my dash. Neat setup and it is a bolt in replacement. The back side of the gto dash has a weird angle to it so they give you a plate to adapt their flat bezel to the back of the dash. I saw one once and thought it was off too much for my taste. It didnt quite line up perfectly.

Few observations...
I didn't like the way the gauge numbers were outside of the tick marks. Factory rally gauges have the numbers on the inside of the tick marks which looks better. The inside ring around the tick marks and the carbon fiber look is a bit out of place.

I didn't like the paring of gauges. IIRC, they had volts and oil together and water and fuel level together. The original rally gauges had water and oil together which is more intuitive.

When I spoke with their art department, they were willing to change the graphics and get rid of the carbon fiber but moving the gauge location was not possible. There was a fee for the graphics change...something line $300. ouch

I made my own setup using the speed hut gauges and I am very happy with them. But like anything else, it is all about personal preference. Speedhut was awesome to deal with but it takes some fabrication work.

[Nicks67GTO]

I got tired of having no tunes in this thing but I haven't had time to work on it myself. I talked to a local audio install place and had them install some stuff for me. It turned out great and im really glad I let them do it.

I bought one of those eBay GTO glove box install kits. The install guy said it was awesome and he couldn't believe it was only $60 bucks. He said it saved him a bunch of time and literally fell in with no mods needed.




I went with Memphis audio 6-1/2" speakers inside of custom autosound kick panels in front. I went with 3 way Memphis audio 6x9's in the rear. The kick panels seem like really good quality. The only issue is that the ebrake pedal needed to be moved over quite a bit...yeah actually a lot




The install guy made a piece of wood that sits on top of the stock shelf. The 6x9's are mounted from below. He insisted he wanted it to have a stock type of appearance but sound good so I let him just do his thing. This was his solution and I think it turned out great...

[Nicks67GTO]

The sound is pretty decent for having no amp. Later on down the road after I Dynamat the car and finish some other projects I might swing back by there and have them add an amp and maybe a small sub. Install guy said it would be an easy add on. Maybe ill do it up next spring....

Just having some tunes is so nice!

[fyrffytr1]

I have the same radio installation package in my glove box. My biggest problem is speaker placement. There aren't too many places to put them in a convertible with factory A/C. I tried mounting some on the rear seat back but the cloth top pulled them loose when I let it down.
I have a pair of Sony 4x6s under the front seats and a pair of 6x9s in the trunk but the sound id not satisfactory. I may try to put a set of 5x7s in the rear top well on either side of the seat but I am going to lay them in the bottom and not cut a hole in the rear seat panels.

[blue67gtoragtop]

My 67 GTO convertible was a FOX 21 Dream Cruiser Giveaway Car in the late 80's....one of the sponsors was an audio shop out of Asheville, NC. They somehow mounted the rear speakers inside the back seat. You can't see them, and it works great. I have had the car about 13 years, but haven't taken the seat out to look at them yet.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

I have the same radio installation package in my glove box. My biggest problem is speaker placement. There aren't too many places to put them in a convertible with factory A/C. I tried mounting some on the rear seat back but the cloth top pulled them loose when I let it down.
I have a pair of Sony 4x6s under the front seats and a pair of 6x9s in the trunk but the sound id not satisfactory. I may try to put a set of 5x7s in the rear top well on either side of the seat but I am going to lay them in the bottom and not cut a hole in the rear seat panels.

I think custom autosound makes a 2 way speaker for under the stock dash? If I ever install an amp and a sub, ill probably stick some in there too.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by blue67gtoragtop

My 67 GTO convertible was a FOX 21 Dream Cruiser Giveaway Car in the late 80's....one of the sponsors was an audio shop out of Asheville, NC. They somehow mounted the rear speakers inside the back seat. You can't see them, and it works great. I have had the car about 13 years, but haven't taken the seat out to look at them yet.

Take it out....We would all love to see whats hiding back there.

[HWYSTR455]

Subscribing...

Nice work Nick, have taken note in a few areas. Getting ready to go through my driver, and was going to pull the frame to box and detail. Thanks for documenting, certain others will use this thread as a reference too!

.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Subscribing...

Nice work Nick, have taken note in a few areas. Getting ready to go through my driver, and was going to pull the frame to box and detail. Thanks for documenting, certain others will use this thread as a reference too!

.

Thanks! If you have any questions about stuff I might have not covered feel free to ask!

[67GTONUT]

LOL..... I follow Nick's progress here and the Pro-Touring site...... One of my favorite cars, and use his car as a model for mine.....

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by 67GTONUT

LOL..... I follow Nick's progress here and the Pro-Touring site...... One of my favorite cars, and use his car as a model for mine.....

Thanks! So the big question I have is.....are you going to be the guinea pig on that 64-67 Dakota Digital VHX gauge pod or is it going to be me????!!

[67GTONUT]

Originally Posted by Nicks67GTO

Thanks! So the big question I have is.....are you going to be the guinea pig on that 64-67 Dakota Digital VHX gauge pod or is it going to be me????!!

Man..... I am not sure..... I go back and forth with just having Pete Serio redo my stock gauges and getting the Dakota stuff....

I disconnect my battery when the car is in the garage.... just because I dont trust the 47yr old dash harness.... So I am afraid that would screw with the Dakota electronics too much.

I am also looking at the American Wire update harness for the car, this would replace the fuse box with a modern ATC blade fuse box, but in order for me to use that harness... I must switch to an Internally Regulated Alternator..... So you see.... I have some decisions to make....

Right now.... I think I am giving up on my Manual Brakes.... I got a ride in the UMI Green Machine Monte Carlo last weekend..... and I see no possible way for me to get that kind of braking force from Manual Brakes.... So I will be installing a Booster most likely....

That's my update for now.... not that you asked...LOL

[Nicks67GTO]

So while i'm shooting the breeze here....I have a new little mini project this week....

I had a weird noise coming from the engine area. I freaked out and thought it was a rod knocking. Remember now, I bought this 455/ 6X-4's off of craig's list on the CHEAP and I even had to repair a main cap. Now iv'e literally rebuilt the carb, fixed the main cap, adjusted the valves and added headers...that's it. Iv'e got maybe $1K in the whole thing and iv'e been beating the dogpiss out of it for a few years now.

Anyhow I thought it was starting to go. Well it wasn't. Oil pressure was bouncing in the 50-60 lb range though and has for a while so I figure it needd a new pump regardless. Its pulled out right now and today I checked the rod and main bearings. They are all fine and dandy, no real wear at all. The knock was gone before I pulled it...I think i know what it was now but more on that later. I decided to pull it anyway. Since it had to come out, I decided to toss in a Canton Road Race oil pan, pickup, a new 60 lb pump and HD oil pump driveshaft for good measure. I need to get another 1.25 years out of this engine before I build something. Anyhow I will be doing some auto X with it before I build a new engine, so i'm going to call it insurance??

I don't think I will be re installing the tomahawk windage tray though. From my understanding with the Canton setup no windage tray is really needed???

Well here's a few shots of the live action....

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by 67GTONUT

Man..... I am not sure..... I go back and forth with just having Pete Serio redo my stock gauges and getting the Dakota stuff....

I disconnect my battery when the car is in the garage.... just because I dont trust the 47yr old dash harness.... So I am afraid that would screw with the Dakota electronics too much.

I am also looking at the American Wire update harness for the car, this would replace the fuse box with a modern ATC blade fuse box, but in order for me to use that harness... I must switch to an Internally Regulated Alternator..... So you see.... I have some decisions to make....

Right now.... I think I am giving up on my Manual Brakes.... I got a ride in the UMI Green Machine Monte Carlo last weekend..... and I see no possible way for me to get that kind of braking force from Manual Brakes.... So I will be installing a Booster most likely....

That's my update for now.... not that you asked...LOL

Nice! What booster setup are you going to get? 11" delco/ 1.125" master?

Be careful with the American Autowire setup. I have a friend that just did a 67 Chevelle and he had some trouble with his and still does. Hes a very smart guy too. I think based on his experience i'm going to do M&H. My under hood harness from them was perfect.

Get the VHX gauges! I like the stock stuff but its too dim, i'm tired of having gauges hanging all over in my interior and on my steering column and they really are pretty trick. the nice thing is at a glance no one sees that its not stock. Its subtle unlike the plastic dashes they sell for autometer stuff.

[67GTONUT]

Originally Posted by Nicks67GTO

Nice! What booster setup are you going to get? 11" delco/ 1.125" master?

Be careful with the American Autowire setup. I have a friend that just did a 67 Chevelle and he had some trouble with his and still does. Hes a very smart guy too. I think based on his experience i'm going to do M&H. My under hood harness from them was perfect.

Get the VHX gauges! I like the stock stuff but its too dim, i'm tired of having gauges hanging all over in my interior and on my steering column and they really are pretty trick. the nice thing is at a glance no one sees that its not stock. Its subtle unlike the plastic dashes they sell for autometer stuff.

I have a small 9" single sitting here next to my desk..... I want to keep it small.... plus I dont want it over-assisted.....

I have read thru the directions for the American Autowire kit.... it reads like greek to me... So I am pretty sure I will go with M&H also..... plug and play.... I like that....

LOL.... keep trying to talk to me into the VHX stuff.....
I need to call Dakota again.... ask them about constantly unhooking battery..... see if they think that will be a problem....

[HWYSTR455]

Thanks again Nick! Any chance you can guess-timate what that bare frame weighs?


I can chime in a couple things here. On the dash harness, you really don't need anything special, IF you move all the load to under the hood. For example, headlight relays and internal relay alt. Gauges really don't draw that much, and with the existing accessory feeds you should be fine. If you really wanted to, you can convert your dash harness to ATO fuses, and can use this DYI as a reference:

http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/GMATOStyleFuseBlock.htm

So really, all you need to do is replace any damaged or worn wires in the dash harness, and maybe re-wrap sections. Once you have that biotch laying in front of you on the floor you will see it's not that difficult.

Use quality crimpers and wire.

Under hood, that stuff cooks, so best to buy a new engine harness, they aren't that expensive. Call M&H and talk to them about available options. At minimum, step up the gauge of the charge wire. Do the HEI conversion and the internal regulator too.

You can buy a new forward light harness too, they aren't that much either. There's not a lot there, so if you really wanted to, you could re-wire the original. Then do the headlight relays. Use the MAD tech page as a reference, and go from there:

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...adlights.shtml

Remember, you don't have to do it exactly like that, can jumper off the battery directly.

While you're doing the headlight relays, consider upgrading to at least H4 lamps. I did the clone, and used 4 hi/lo bulbs, and wired high beams to light all 4 elements. Yeah. Daylight.

While you're at it, might as well setup the wiring for electric fans, even if you have no immediate plan to go to them. Later, if you do, you will only have to plug them in.

The other MAD stuff is good reference too, and I personally do the PowerUP! mod:

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml (bottom of each page has a link to go to next page)

I used a jumbo ATO 60amp fuse and holder, ran a 2ga from the battery, through the firewall to a post under the dash, then to a post in the trunk. You can tap off those for any additional or special needs you might have.

The Dakota Digital stuff is nice, but, for me, I'm going SpeedHut in the driver this time around. I will have the Pontiac arrow graphic on the face, and choose the day/night colors I want. They have a fast reacting GPS speedo and the gauges are shallow for easy mounting. No speedo cable or wires either. Those with the Thunder Road insert and think that's the way I'm going.

What's the link on the Pro-Touring site? I will follow over there too...should spend more time there anyway...

.

[HWYSTR455]

That one guy has some other good info on his site, delay wiper info, GM and other electrical connector info, retained accessory power, and more:

http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tech/index.htm

.

[67GTONUT]

Nick's Thread

http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/6...highlight=NICK


I already did the M&H Engine Harness.... so I might just get their little internal alt regulator jumper harness....

I just wish the Dash harness was not so damn expensive......

My biggest gripe with the Thunder Road dash bezel..... I love the pod look.... dont want to lose that...

[Nicks67GTO]

A guesstimate on the frame? I'm not really sure to be honest. I picked it completely up by myself, on my shoulder {im 6'1"}. I found the balance point in the middle of the frame somewhere and walked it onto a trailer when I took it to CR to get blasted and powdercoated. It was really awkward but not overly heavy... so if I had to guess I would say....225-250lbs with the boxing plates?? I really dont know though.