Little Mule Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 I bought a JDM clinometer/altimeter on ebay late one night. Why? I don't know. And I thought it was kind of neat as I tend to like gadgets. I guess its a little bling. It works mechanically, but has some wiring for lights. I'm going to put it on the center of the dash just above the air conditioning vents. But before I go putting holes in my dash, I want some expert advice. Question 1: How should I attach this to my dash? What is under the dash that I can damage if I try to drill into it? I don't think the vinyl dash material is strong enough to hold it on its own. Question 2: Wiring it up? There is one red and one black wire. I assume I need to attach an inline fuse on the red. But to where should I connect the power? Thanks for the help. Here are some photos. The cluster: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 The bottom: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 The wiring inside: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Ideally, the red wire should be connected to one of the dimmer-switch controlled 12vDC+ wires for the dash lights, so it goes with the rest of the lights. Realistically, you can hook it up to any 12vDC+ source you want. The black wire is the ground, of course. No idea on how mounting should go, it appears to me that they screw to the dash in JDM stock form, but I've never experienced an install of anything like this. I'd say try doublesided sticky 3M foam tape and see if it'll sit flat against the dash that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 I bought a JDM clinometer/altimeter on ebay late one night. well... I've heard of "flying down the road" but to need an altimeter?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFoxGT Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 I want one. How much and were there anymore? Smitty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikuz Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 They're around $20 to $50 on eBay... let us know how the install goes, definitely post some pictures, and maybe this could become my next impluse buy too. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 There's some killer 3M tape that you could probably get anywhere. I've used it and its great. Its heavy duty, pretty much permanent, and made for automotive use. Sticks like hell for sure. Just be sure to clean the dash thoroughly to remove any armor-all or any of that type stuff so you get a really good stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 There is one on ebay now. Here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...sspagename=WDVW I almost got one for $25, but someone tried to snipe me, but failed. But they drove my price up. Oh well. I'm going to do a little studying before I install it, but I will take pictures when I do put it in. My only concern about using an adhesive is the the mounting bracket is a little raised. Thus, if I just use adhesive, the cluster will sit about 1/2 inch above the dash, leaving an ugly gap. If anyone has one mounted, I'd love to see a picture. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 That's sweet. So will it give you the angle you're sitting at any point, like on the trail? I wanna see some flex pics where you're like 50degrees off center. sly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 You'd about tip over at 50 degrees! Pathys are good up to 45 at least, though. I've seen several of those things go for at least $50 on Ebay...you can buy a Steel Horse tiltmeter/clinometer for about $20 new if that's all you wanted. I never wanted to drop $50 on one specifically from Japan. Spendy toy, that's for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 Try spending money to buy a new car. The way I see it, little expenses like this keep me happy with my 16 year old car, and decrease the urge to go buy a new Titan, etc. But, as I said. I was up too late on ebay. It does however match my dash, and that was the final straw that made me give in. well... I've heard of "flying down the road" but to need an altimeter?!? I've got an ebay search for wings and a rudder, but nothing has come up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Cool. I got it installed. It was easy. I took pics of the process. But you have to wait until Monday. I'm going fishing this weekend and hope to take an action photo for you. I need to go get my fishing gear ready now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 Okay, I'm made it back. Barely. Clutch problems, but that's another topic. If you know anything about a clutch, click here and help a fella out. http://npora.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtop...t=0entry11943 Anyway, back to the altimeter/clinometer. Here is picture of my dash before I started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 As I said, I didn't want to use adhesive tape, because the bracket stands too tall. This would leave an unsightly gap between this gauges and my dash. I can't have my pretty Pathy be unsightly. The pic of the gap: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 So I removed the center dash panel. I pulled out the ashtray, and took out 4 screws in the red circles in this photo. Then disconnect the cig lighter wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 Then carefully take out the air vents. You need to remove 3 more obvious screws. There are four plastic retaining tabs that you can push down with a thin flat head screwdriver. You may also need to slightly push away the edges of the dash pad if they overlap the vent housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 Here is a pic of the for plastic tabs on top of the air vent housing. I had to push these down to get it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 Ok. After you have the air vents out, if you look into the space where they were, and luck up under the dash, you will see 4 square holes in the plastic. 2 are towards the front, and 2 are towards the back. The front holes are about 2.5 inches ahead of the back. The holes are also 6 inches apart from side to side. This perfectly matches up witht he 4 holes of the bracket used to mount the altimeter/clinometer guages. Figure out where those holes correspond to the top of the dash. I did it by putting 2 small nails through the front holes, putting my bracket on over the protruding nails, and then circling the back bracket holes on the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 Here is the pic of the nails protruding through the top of the dash, and my bracket over them. This enabled me to find where the holes in the back of the dash need to be. After I figured this out, I took a scapel blade and cut out holes in the top of the dash as seen in that last picture. I also made a small hole in the middle to run the wires through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 You need some metal clips like this one already in the dash. I tried Checker auto parts, but they didn't have anything like it. The clerk there said she had never even seen anything like it. So I tried 2 Nissan dealers. Neither had any in stock, so I had to wait 4 days as they ordered them. I'm sorry, but I lost the receipt, so I can't tell you what part number they are. If I find it, I'll post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Carefully snap the metal clips into the holes in the dash. They fit perfectly and are snug. The metal clips have a hole in the top for a screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Here is a picture of the mounting bracket in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Here is what it looks like underneath with the screw coming through the metal clip. After screwing the bracket into all four metal clips, thread your wires through the center hole and down past the AC controls and radio. Screw your guages into the mounting bracket, and screw the cover into the top of the bracket. You will need a short stubby screwdriver for that because the windshield is in the way for a long screwdriver. I still need to hook up my wires. I'm going to do as 88 suggested earlier and hook them up to the dimmer switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Snap and screw your air vents back in place. Connect your cig lighter, and screw in your center dash panel and you are done. Here is the after pic of my dash with it in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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