Help with new gauges
 

I would like to update the dash and gauges on my 271, looks a little dated.
the gauges are backmounted, kind of flush to the panels, no bezels and dull colors, dash panels are painted grey and pretty blah.
see pics below

I was thinking of getting the panels done with a 3m carbon fiber look film, maybe a light grey, should be fairly easy but I don't know how durable the stuff is.

For the gauges, probably white face and red bezels.

One question is the wiring for the gauges, are they kind of standard connections.
signal, power, ground, light???
the plugins on the back of mine are flat blade conncectors,
is that a standard connection.
my gauges are vdo, but i've been searching for new vdo gauges and they don't seem to come in white faces.
is there another brand that will be plug and play on the back side

Most of the gauge kits are 5 units, with out speedo or trim.
I would need a speedo as well, will the water tube on my speedo attach to a new one.
will my senders[fuel, oil pressure] work with the new gauges.

what size are the formula gauges, 2 & 4 inch?




http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...7/Steering.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...rmula090-1.jpg

you probably should go to a Gaffrig ..Livorsi ...or Autometer setup .... all make a 2" .... 2 5/8" and a 4 5/8" Gauge ... looks like you have plenty of room ....might think about adding oil temp and maybe water Pressure ... fuel pressure too .......

You can wire up the Panel out of the boat ... there will just one wire out of the wiring Harrness to each Gauge ..... Blue/oil Pressure tan/water temp grey/tach ..... Volts/purple ......

I noticed you have GPS .... you could really not even replace the speedo ... I didn't on mine ..but I had limits on room for all the Gauges ....m

i did find some vdo gauges in white
http://www.vdo.com/products_solution...ture-gauge.htm

so i'll probably try them, easier to change
you are correct, i should add some extra as well, lots of space

edit,
the pic with the gps is old from the previous owner and the gps has been removed.
i have a new raymarine which i could put in place of the speedo
thanx

The vinyl film is very durable I have wrapped both dash panels in both my boats with it! I also would think about leaving out the speedo and adding some other critical instruments!

they have 3m 2mm carbon fiber look film at my local
graphics shop, is 2 mm heavy enough?

You ask as if your going to be throwing the dash panels around. The vinyl is very durable once applied to the substrate. What you should be more concerned about is the UV exposure. Those dash panels are going to see a lot of sun. The carbon fiber I have has a 5 year outdoor life. Here are some pictures of my dash boards.

I have pictures os my Fastech 271 dash with monster gauges on seriousoffshore.com . Just go to the Formula forum and look at the "post pictures of your Formula link" It is near the end. All the name brand gauges wire up pretty much the same as Formula. The standard Formula sizes are 2-1/16 and 3-3/8. Jeff Wurl

I have replaced my vdo gauges with gafrig yes you have to change the sending units and you have to make short pigtails to go from a screw post on the back of gafrig gauges to the flat blade style not to hard to do just time consuming.:evilb:

thanx guys, all my questions answered.
if i need to change the senders, i'll probably go with vdo to
avoid that.
i'll post up some pics when i'm done.

You can also use a male spade to ring terminal, it justs snaps in the female and attach to the post.

The cost of changing the senders is minimal when considering the cost of gauges. Everyone has their personal preference on gauges, but there is also a reason that many change from the VDO's. I changed the VDO's out on my 292 for Gaffrig and will be doing the same on the 34. VDO's just aren't what they use to be.