Needing a moment to do some thinking, I started to make a gauge pod that fits in place of the front speaker grill.

So what about the speaker? Who cares, I will put better ones some where else.

I am not a fan of A-Pillar pods on street cars because of the reduced visibility, the pillar it self is bad enough.

The PVC tube is just to mock up the holders, aluminum ones will be made and welded to the plate.

I might make one for the passenger side as well, depending on how much of a PIA this one turns out to be.

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i like it, i wanna see the end result

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Almost done.

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That's a good place for extra gauges. If it were me I'd paint it to match the dash so it's not so obvious. But I like it when custom stuff looks like its stock. What gauges are you putting into it?

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Awesome. I have been thinking about adding them to center dash. Losing the two center vents was a thought, but I dont wish to lose a vent.
Wrapping them in a similar vinyl might look decent.

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.

I am going to bead blast it and paint it a flat black I think, so it does not stand out so much.

I am going to put a Volt and Vacuum gauge there, I have EGT, Fuel Pressure, and Boost where the ashtray was.

If I put one on the passenger side, I would put EMP and Intercooler Water Temp, (if I put one on this car)

I thought about boring holes in the dash between the center vents and the switches, (where the wood strip is), but I am swapping out the cracked dash for a good one, and I would hate to trash a good dash, so I opted for this.

Interesting. Wouldnt think you would want to closely monitor volts and Vacuum. I can see adding a testing port in the cockpit to attach a tool temporarily to check each.

[QUOTE=OM616;2889047], I have EGT, Fuel Pressure, and Boost where the ashtray was.
Where are you picking up the reference for each? EGT and FP arent the same everywhere in the system.


Electro Magnetic Pulse? Do you inject water or have an Air to water intercooler? Curious why ICWT is important to monitor in real time?


I have thought about the same project for my 300SDL. The W123 is in good shape, but down the road? who knows. How much of a project will that be?

Keep up the interesting work. I like what you are doing. Part of me wants to monitor many data points but only have a small digital display that lets me know when a parameter is outside the limits. Datalogging would be important too. Too many gauges is overkill. Engine speed, Boost and oil pressure are the only parameters I wish to monitor continually. Everything else I just like a warning when they are too low (FP, water and oil temp) or too high. But alas that is a huge project and investment.

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.

Here are a couple of pics after blasting it. I still need to get a Volt Gauge.

I just primed it and realized that I forgot to drill and recess the hole for the screw lol.

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The EGT, (Exhaust Gas Temp) is Pre-Turbo, the Fuel Pressure sensor (electric) is between the secondary filter and the IP.

EMP, (Exhaust Manifold Pressure) gives some indication of the turbo operation, and is helpful when tuning.

The Intercooler Water Temp is good to watch in that it gives an indication that the pump is working and how much heat the turbo is producing, not as good as an Intake Air Temp Sensor though.

I use the Vacuum gauge to monitor the vacuum system, door locks and such, it is surprising how the gauge will show a small leak. Additionally it will show if the vacuum pump is starting to fail.

The Volt gauge will make sense after you have an alternator fail in an MB, the light is useless and uses the part that generally fails in the alternator lol. The Volt gauge will indicate if the alternator can not keep up, or is failing, prior to the click you will hear when you try to start the car when the batt is dead. I have two t-shirts LOL

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