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Thread: Personal Project: Gauge Cluster and Shifter 1998 Dakota

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    98Dak408's Avatar
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    Default Personal Project: Gauge Cluster and Shifter 1998 Dakota

    I salvaged some older gauges from a Mustang project and added a few more for a gauge cluster I made to place between the trans hump and dashboard in my 1998 Dakota R/T. I’m not so much into it looking stock, as long as I can fit them in a decent location. They are all mechanical gauges with the exception of the Amp gauge. Now I have to figure out how I am going to mount it and run the sensors/pick-ups. I may brush the aluminum or maybe anodize it but I think I’ll keep the aluminum look so it matches the B&M shifter I am installing. (Guess what brand of gauges they are. Lol.)


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    The proposed position of the gauge cluster. I removed the center arm rest/catchall so I could place the shifter in the most comfortable position. I made a bracket that allowed me to use all existing holes that were used to secure the center arm rest. I just had to drill one hole all the way through for a mounting screw. I also made an aluminum block-off plate to cover where the column shifter had been. (I could paint or anodize it black or replace the plastic pieces with the manual shift option from a junk yard.)








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    madboy's Avatar
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    That shifter is sick!! Which model? Gauge cluster is cool too just a little big for my liking...


    Josh - 98 BLK RC - Mad Milkshake Maker
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    Nice clean work as always Richard
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    98Dak408's Avatar
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    That shifter is sick!! Which model? Gauge cluster is cool too just a little big for my liking...
    The shifter is the B&M 81040 Magnum Grip Pro Shifter. With it, I can get to any gear but reverse in one shot, either up-shifting or down-shifting. Time will tell if I made a good choice or not.

    The gauges are the larger 2 5/8” size. For me, this gauge cluster is just fine. I wanted a fairly straight foreword way to mount the number of gauges I desired. I find as I get older, my eye sight is not as good, and with the gauges lower than the dash, larger is better. Plus, I don’t mind the raw look of some racing components.

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    Nice clean work as always Richard
    Thanks Eric!

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    Looks good Richard. Two things I really want to do is a shifter and a tach but would like to keep the center console. Dam, I wish there was a still a mold around for the B&M floor shifter. You thought anymore about making the tach mount?
    408, HiPoTek, FRP Tuning, Martin Saine 46re
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    Looks good Richard. Two things I really want to do is a shifter and a tach but would like to keep the center console. Dam, I wish there was a still a mold around for the B&M floor shifter. You thought anymore about making the tach mount?
    Doesn’t Justin, aka 66shelby, have the mold for that? You might want to check with him.

    I’ve been putting more thought into the tach bracket, and have some new ideas rolling around in my head that should be easier to fabricate. Once I have a little more time, I will start working on that.

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    Fabricated the gauge plate mounting brackets over the weekend. This will allow me to pull the gauge plate for ease of installation or removal of various gauges.




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    Kingst3r's Avatar
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    Great work as always, well designed.

    My R/T build (rebuild) thread

    http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/...d.php?t=133167
    Quote Originally Posted by 70Cuda383 View Post
    It's an emissions thing. someone, somewhere said that the millions of gallons of gas that evaporate to the atmosphere every year was killing tree frogs on some south african isalnd or some shit, those endangered tree frogs can suck my left nut.

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    Very nice work Man I need a litttle welder and some skills


    Josh - 98 BLK RC - Mad Milkshake Maker
    Previous
    99 BLK RC - Mad Trash Hauler - sold
    99 DA RC - mad dak - Danno Stole it
    01 SLVR RC - mad sexy - retired - then died
    99 IB RC - mad RT - gone to heaven..



    Former Certified member of the 11 Second NA RT Club

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