Aftermarket gauges in the radio hole... MK2 Jetta

[Iamvandemon]

Hello,

I am trying to stuff 3 VDO gauges into the area of the MK2 Jetta oem radio hole.  Does anyone know of any write ups that I can look over?

Thanks

[ORCoaster]

Good luck with that!  I don't think there is enough room for three normal-sized VDO gauges.  Better to take a thin 1/8 inch of aluminum and drill out the holes and get it to fit over the catch box that is normally in the dash.  You might find a piece of plastic will work as well. 

Finding a good attachment for the panel becomes a problem on some dashes as there are few places to anchor anything.  Normally the catch box has 4 7mm nut head screws that hold it in so it makes it easy to secure the plate that way.

[Iamvandemon]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll post my results soon...

[Iamvandemon]

Here is my finished gauged panel installed. Its not perfect but its sturdy.

[Iamvandemon]

I had to cut out a bunch of the trim and a little of the dash to cram the 2 1/16in gauges into the radio hole. I also had to shave off some of the gauge bezel in order to use the 3 gauges panel that I had purchased some years ago.

The gauge mounting plate is cut out of a dewalt tool case. I cut a bushing out of the gauge mounting sleeves in order to lift the gauges away from the surface of the dash trim. Why did I do that?? Well because the oem buttons and climate control panel all extend out away from the dash trim surface.

a few pictures if your interested...

[ORCoaster]

Nicely done sir.  Looks as good as it can for the age of the car it has a professional look about it. 

[Iamvandemon]

Thanks,

Its already come in handy 2 times. Once when the battery light came on; I looked at the guage and saw that it was pegged right, so I pulled the exciter from the alt to avoid frying anything. And secondly when the oil pressure light started blinking and I looked and saw that the oil pressure was fine; no panic no tow...

[fatmobile]

 Nice setup. Not sure why a separate coolant temp gauge is needed.
 A vacuum gauge on the fuel line is another great gauge to have.
 I usually mount mine at the top left of the dash.

[ORCoaster]

Not sure why a separate coolant temp gauge is needed.

Because with all the different senders out there, as well as poorly manufactured replacements, a guy just needs to know what temp the engine is really running at.  Not that the stock gauge is near the red or in the middle or to the cold side.  Not specific enough for those of us that are focused on numbers and thus gauges. 

I count 8 on my dash and console.