Sometimes we wonder what Ford was thinking by building enthusiast carsthat came with minimalist gauges, and sometimes no gauges at all. We'veall seen the Boss 302 that had no tach or the Mach 1 packing a 429 CobraJet and idiot lights. It's downright frustrating. Sure, you can go '60sand slap a three-gauge pod under the dash and strap a tack on thesteering column with a big ole worm clamp, but what if you want somestyle? We like the "Racer Dave" look on some cars, but when you'rebuilding a restomod with an eye toward clean, those "tri-pods" and zoomytachs just don't hack it.
So what to do? Well, there are two very cool avenues open to you. One isa digital dash and the other analog; the top two companies in this arenaare JME Enterprises for analog dashes and Dakota Digital for, well,digital. Both companies offer high-end, high-quality products that willfit the car and make it look classy. Dakota Digital has its ownproprietary digital setup that can fit just about anywhere, and JME usesAuto Meter gauges, some of the best in the business. Both companies dothis while offering you the knowledge of what your Ford is doing underthe hood. Keep in mind too that doing anything outside of the normalMustang line will end up costing more because of the custom workinvolved.
FALCON '60-'63
This dash could go either way. We've seen Julio Mayen do some wonderfulthings with dashes that are something other than Mustang. A filler paneland some Auto Meter gauges via JME could fill out this panel nicely.
Dakota too could do wonders with the '60-'63 dashpanel. With its openarea (once the fuel and temp gauge pane is removed), the gauge face iswide open for digital interpretation. This treatment would give theFalcon a high-tech look.
FALCON '66-'67
We have a vested interest in the '66-'67 Falcon panel, because that'swhat's in the '66 Ranchero we're hacking on every other night. In thenext couple of months you'll see that we have given considerable thoughtto what we wanted to do to gain more control of what the car is tellingus. For now, you'll just have to be content with what we're showinghere. '67 Falcon owners will know we're using the '67 panel--we like thisbecause it has two turn-signal indicator lights, as opposed to one fromthe '66. We got the idea for this layout from our Aussie buds and theirXT Falcon GT.
GALAXIE
Ford has always been fond of the longitudinal sweep style of speedo(hey, that's what the Mustang Recognition Guide called it). Because ofthis you get some pretty inadequate gauge layouts. The Galaxie has apretty good setup with the two pods, but falls short on a place to putthe tachometer. You can, like the owner of this Lightweight '63 did,plop a dial tach on the dash or go creative with a Dakota Digital setupthat would fit in the two pods and leave the factory bar-style speedoalone. This would give you an oil pressure, temperature, and fuel gaugeas well as a digital tach.
FAIRLANE/TORINO '66-'67 & '70-'71
Of all of the longitudinal sweep-style speedos, the '66-'67 and '70-'71Fairlane/Torino is the least informative. All you get are idiot lightsfor the oil pressure (yes, the generic "engine" light) and the "alt" forthe charging system. Once again, Dakota Digital does a replacement thatfills the center of the speedo area with digital gauges, complete withtach. You can even replace the analog gauges with digital counterpartsif you so desire.
TORINO '68-'69
Ford went through a phase with '68-'69 Torinos that was for the mostpart very positive, except they forgot to fill two of the holes withgauges. In playing with Rick Schmidt's '69 Fairlane Cobra, we found itstriking that the car had neither the tach nor ancillary gauges, but wasin fact populated with idiot lights. Once again, Dakota can help byproviding "filler" for the four pods.
MUSTANG '65-'70
Both companies offer a great set of choices for the vintage Mustang.From JME you can get anything you want to fill that dash panel--from acomplete replacement for the '65 that includes all the gauges, to a wildnew analog dashpanel for the '69-'70 Mustang that clicks the stops onthe cool-o-meter.
As for Dakota, it's the same thing only different. What Julio at JMEdoes for analog, Dakota does for digital. With the digital stuff you cango just about anywhere in the Mustang line and have the vacuumfluorescent look that is Dakota Digital.
IN THE END
The choice is really up to you, and we hope we've whetted your appetitefor some sleek stuff. Both companies offer something we haven't hadbefore in the custom gauge market: choices. Both offer a product that,to our minds, is top-notch and worth the expense to give your Ford aclean, complete look. So, next time you decide to do gauges, you mightconsider doing it a bit differently and look into what's out there foryour ride.