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If you're looking for an elegant way to add a tachometer to your dash, you might want to consider the Classic Instruments optional Ultimate speedometer/tach combo gauge as well to your gauge setup. NPD stocks all three gauge styles with the optional Ultimate speedometer in the gauge kit too. Classic Instruments offers additional gauges in each line if you would like to add a clock or other gauge to an A-pillar mounting solution, or perhaps you'd rather have a separate tachometer for a Shelby gauge pod. Classic Instruments can handle that directly or through its dealers. Lastly, Classic Instruments offers LED bulb upgrades and LED indicators fitted to the face of the gauge. If you want a check engine light for an EFI conversion, or perhaps a small red LED in your temp gauge to let you know when your fan is engaged these custom upgrades are all easily possible through Classic Instruments' custom gauge program. Just give them a call for more details. Upgrading to a Five-Dial BezelFor those of you with an early Mustang that utilizes the Falcon style sweep cluster (or for you Falcon owners!), modifying your dash to install a five-dial instrument bezel isn't a big project. Compare these two photos of an early Mustang dash with its flat bottom, and a '66 Mustang dash with the clearance "notch" above the steering column opening. This area must be cut from your dash for gauge clearance and can be accomplished with a cut-off wheel, angle grinder, or even a plasma cutter (be sure to protect or remove all wiring, carpet, and so on if using anything that will throw sparks). Once you've made the notch, the only other modification is to bend the lower bezel mounting ears outward from their straight up position and you're good to go. As far as wiring is concerned, the installation is the same, with the exception of having to cut the white/red stripe wire from the oil pressure warning light to use on the oil pressure gauge. You'll also need to separate the two turn signal indicator wires from your single turn signal bulb socket (so you have a true left and right indication). The only tricky part is the generator/alternator warning light wiring. Some people leave the bulb intact and leave it under the dash as a warning light (what we recommend), but if you really want to remove the light socket, you'll have to do some minor rewiring of the charging circuit. You can find several pictorial websites online that explain how to do just that if you want to go that route.  7 The upper mounting bracket...  7 The upper mounting bracket is actually the one that will be fastened to the bezel using the smaller screws in the hardware kit. The short screws are used on the bottom row of the dash bezel and the longer screws with small spacers are used on the top of the bezel, as seen here. Don't over tighten these screws, as you're only tightening them into plastic.  8 As the gauge kit comes...  8 As the gauge kit comes together, you can see how Classic Instruments designed the two mounting brackets. The upper bracket is secured to the bezel, while the lower bracket  9 Flip the gauge bezel over...  9 Flip the gauge bezel over and verify the gauges are straight. You should be able to gently rotate the gauges as needed to ensure they are in alignment. If you can't, then you have one of the retaining screws too tight. Simply back it off a turn or two until you can rotate the offending gauge.  10 Once you've verified that...  10 Once you've verified that all of the gauges are in the proper order and aligned, you can go back and tighten the larger retaining screws to lock the gauge position into place. Don't over tighten these screws or distort the brackets with too much force on the screws.  11 The final assembly step...  11 The final assembly step calls for inserting the two replacement turn signal pigtails and securing them with a pair of short Phillips screws (per side). While we followed the instructions step by step, in hindsight, the installation of these turn signal pigtails would have been a little bit easier before the upper bracket was installed.  12 For wiring, you'll need...  12 For wiring, you'll need a couple of feet of 18-gauge wire in a few primary colors. We used red for power, black for ground, and yellow for gauge illumination. On the back of each gauge, are several 8-32 threaded studs. You'll install the power wire to the I terminal, the ground wire to the G terminal, and the illumination wire goes to the male spade terminal next to the bulb itself. Nothing should be connected to the O terminal and the S terminal is where your in-dash sending unit wires will eventually be connected.  13 To keep wiring at a minimum,...  13 To keep wiring at a minimum, we daisy chained the power, ground, and illumination wiring into a universal three-wire plug. You can get these at any auto parts store in several configurations. Classic Instruments does recommend running separate power and ground wires to its speedometer.  14 For the two turn signal...  14 For the two turn signal indicators, the black wire was simply grounded to the nearest gauge (to the stud marked G), and the white wire received an insulated male spade terminal.  15 Lastly, for the speed...  15 Lastly, for the speed sensor wiring to the speedometer, we made a trio of wiring adapters from the three studs on the gauge (power, ground, and signal) that ended in insulated male spade terminals. Doing so will allow the gauge cluster to be easily disconnected for future service instead of dealing with the 8-32 retaining nuts inside the dash.  16 Whether you're removing...  16 Whether you're removing your gauge bezel to reuse it with the Classic Instruments kit, or like us, you're using a new bezel and simply need to extricate the stock stuff from the dash, it's best to get the steering wheel out of the way for access. Disconnect your battery and then remove your steering wheel. Stock horn buttons rotate to disengage/remove, but with the Mustang's deluxe wheel and most aftermarket wheels, you simply pry the center cap off to access the wheel's retaining nut. The use of a steering wheel puller might be necessary as well.  17 There are six Phillips...  17 There are six Phillips screws that retain the gauge bezel to the dash; four at the top and two at the bottom. Place a shop towel or other protective material over your steering column once you're ready to pull the gauge bezel free.  18 Pull the gauge bezel out...  18 Pull the gauge bezel out of the dash opening enough to reach your hand around to the back of the gauges and disconnect the sending unit wires, bulb sockets for illumination and turn signals, and the speedometer cable. Don't worry too much about what goes where, we'll help with that in a minute.  19 While you can install...  19 While you can install your sending units at any time, once we got the old gauges out, we felt this was as good a time as any to update the them. First to get updated was the coolant temperature sending unit in the intake manifold. Remove the old sending unit and quickly thread in the Classic-Instruments-supplied sender before the coolant has a chance to flow out of the intake (if you're quick you won't get a drop of coolant on your intake). If the sender leaks, it is ok to use a little liquid Teflon paste on the threads to seal it.  20 For the oil pressure sending...  20 For the oil pressure sending unit, Classic Instruments supplies the adapters, angle fitting, and tubular extension to fit the large diaphragm-style canister sender to your engine if you had a standard warning light sender installed previously. In our case, we only had to use one adapter bushing to match the threads of the extension already in the block.  21 Due to the slightly longer...  21 Due to the slightly longer sender (including the adapter bushing), we had to grab a wrench and clock the extension a few degrees to point the sending unit rearward just a little bit. This allowed it to clear the power steering pump hoses and the fuel line from the pump to carb.  22 The included speed sensor...  22 The included speed sensor is a two-part assembly. Shown here already assembled, it's comprised of a driven gear adapter that is installed in the transmission and a sensor that converts the rotation of said gear into a signal that the speedometer can use. No more changing driven gears when you change rear gear ratios or tire sizes, just recalibrate your speedometer. Remove your old speedometer cable and transfer the gear and retaining clip from the cable to the driven gear adapter, as we've already done in this photo.  23 The '66 Mustang we're...  23 The '66 Mustang we're installing the Classic Instruments gauge kit into is running an '87-'93 Mustang T-5 five-speed manual transmission conversion. The Classic Instruments speed sensor and driven gear adapter slid right into the side of the T-5 and there's plenty of clearance around the sensor. The adapter will work with all Ford transmissions. The three-wire sensor cable is connected at this time and routed toward the engine bay.  24 The speed sensor wiring...  24 The speed sensor wiring is routed along the parking brake cable to the firewall and secured by tie wraps. We used an existing hole in the firewall to route the cable through, but depending upon your routing path, you might need to make a new hole or enlarge a factory hole for the harness to pass through. This was a factory-punched hole with a turned-in edge. Drilled holes should use a small rubber grommet for wire protection.  25 We're now ready to wire...  25 We're now ready to wire up the gauge kit and test it. The first thing to connect is the three-wire molded plug. The opposite end of the plug is connected to dash illumination (blue/red stripe), power (black/green stripe), and a steel dash support for ground. The turn signal wires require cutting the bulb holders off of the ends of the factory wiring and crimping on the proper insulated spade terminal (left indicator is green/white, right indicator is white/blue).  26a After connecting the...  26a After connecting the three-speed sensor wires to their appropriate colors, all that is left is the three gauge sending unit wires for fuel, oil, and temp. The stock sending unit wires will work fine with just a gentle squeeze to compress the wire end, as they are just a bit bigger than the 8-32 studs on the gauge.  26b From left to right, you...  26b From left to right, you have fuel (yellow/white stripe), oil (white/red stripe), and temp (red/white stripe). There is no sending unit wire for the volt gauge, as it takes its reading from the gauge's main power wire. Any unused factory gauge wiring (ammeter, additional illumination) must be carefully taped up and tucked into the dash to prevent any short circuits.
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