Changing out the center Gauges

Like most owners I was surprised by how antiquated many interior parts are on the G. My 04 has a cassette player and it alittle embarassing makes the car appear 10 years older. Anyway, the center gauges cluster is no different with 1960's style gauges with a limited 90° view and areally general idea of what the actual # is I decided to look into changing them out. This should be simple right? Wrong.

The cover pops off easy and the gauges then unbolt and unplug and now I have to test each wire in the loom to the back of the gauges to figure out what is power, ground, signal, etc.

I did not want to ruin the stock faceplate -because I already looked into it, they are not available by themself and only come as the complete gauge package at a ridiculous price. So I traced the outer design of the faceplate and cut out a new one out of 1/4" plastic, cut out new holes and covered it in Cabon fiber.

Got the new gauges wired in for power/ground, the new faceplate fits great I just have to install new senders as the linerarity curve is different.

I have to post up a few pics in a day or 2. They are much easier to see with sunglasses on during the day and absolutely gorgeous at night time.

:zthread needs pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW did you go digital??

OK, here is a quick crappy cell phone pic.

 

wow! that's pretty freaking cool! what kind of gauges are these? any shots pulled further away of the entire dash/console in context? great job!

OK, here is a quick crappy cell phone pic.

 

 

that is sweet...and info on the parts for the gauges and senders?

 

 

That looks cool. Does the red go well with the rest of the interior guages?

Very interesting as I was just lamenting again yesterday how the gauges in the early cars were so useless, at least on a sunny day (and not many people get them out unless it is sunny). I'd like to hear more specifics about how you did this and how it works, and it's a shame we can't replace the speedo with something that's visible and reads within 5% of actual too.

i dont think those gauge blend in at all. could be the pic though.

 

if you were updating the interior, you should have done a double DIN stereo if you haven't.

Give me a few more days to post up better pics and a short video. This camera makes them look way brighter than they really are, I will get a shot with the dash lite up as well to see the whole picture.

The radio is next.. it is still stock but not for long.

Give me a few more days to post up better pics and a short video. This camera makes them look way brighter than they really are, I will get a shot with the dash lite up as well to see the whole picture.

The radio is next.. it is still stock but not for long.

 

I've noticed Red is hard to photograph as well. I put some footwell lights in so my interior wasn't so coffin like at night and in the pics it looks like the whole car is bathed in red.

 

Really impressed with the effort you put in and looking forward to seeing more pics and maybe even a step by step guide!

I love them and know exactly what you are saying about photographing the red light. Would be cool to see a DIY thread with pictures if you took them. Nice work!

Wow really nice ! Please do a DIY thread !

OK, here is a quick crappy cell phone pic.

 

 

 

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, so had some time today to take a few more pics of them from different angles, on/off, light/dark.

That gauge cover pops off and then you unbolt the gauge cluster mount and unplug the wiring harness and the stock gauges come out in one pc. I then just tested each wire to figure out which had power, ground and signal. The made a new faceplate (copy the old on paper, tap on to new 1/16" plastic and cut out.) The only part that is not done yet is the oil pressure sender is not installed. I need to get the old one out, figure out the thread pitch, make a Y-fitting and install the new sender as I do want to keep the stock one in place. Seems like that sender is hard to get to and hard to remove.

Anyone ever take one out before? Know what size wrench/crows foot is needed?

 

anyway here is more pics.

Wow that looks good. So weird to see a G without the navi unit. Are you thinking about doing anything to the factory head unit I.E. swap to factory navi or after market double din?

That looks very nice.

Wow that looks good. So weird to see a G without the navi unit. Are you thinking about doing anything to the factory head unit I.E. swap to factory navi or after market double din?

Yes, that is next. You have a pic of yours? what did you go with I am still deciding.

Yes, that is next. You have a pic of yours? what did you go with I am still deciding.

 

I don't have a G...

 

I am a big fan of OEM but I don't know if you can have it wired in or not. VCR seems to be the in house audio/video expert and if you PM him I am sure he would have some solid recommendations. I would look for a double din unit that has a rear view camera option. A lot of them will broadcast the picture via a wireless connection so you only need to tap into power and not run a video cable all the way through the car.

 

I have always used Crutchfield as a starting point for my car needs since they website is well laid out and the staff is very knowledgeable over the phone.

According the the add for this 2005 G at Lambo Houston it look slike you can updated an older G with the new Navi Head unit. Probably can't do the OEM backup camera but the looks would be stock.

 

http://www.lamborghinihouston.com/vehicle_...o-Coupe-6-Speed

 

 

hmmm... very interesting. Looks very nice but I wonder if the aftermarket ones are typically so much better for less money. Something to consider.

Yes, that is next. You have a pic of yours? what did you go with I am still deciding.

 

Since you already went aftermarket with the gauges, don't use the rns-e. As a functional unit its way outdated. A good shop can get you a clean install and the aftermarket units will offer significantly better functionality. The latest gen run an iOS type of software.

Yes, that is what I thought and then I can add a small back up camera hidden in the honeycomb.

I am a very big Garmin fan as far as ease of use and user interface. They have started to make units that are built in but use the Garmin software. A few of them even utalize the free over the air traffic broadcasts so you can have on the go traffic reports. Not sure what would fit the G but I will take a look around.

Yes, I like the Kenwoods for that reason and pretty sure I will go with that brand now.