OK, so am I a gauge-aholic?

[Section8 0]

Well I am at it again.

Some of you might recall a previous "adventure" where for some reason I added an oil pressure gauge to my 416-8 using a radiator hose (I mean, "Anti-vibration Gauge Mounting Tube") as the mount for the gauge. If you were fortunate enough to miss that thread, here's the link to it: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?...indpost&p=83090

Anyway, I'm sorry to report that I still don't have pics of the project (still don't have a camera), but I will get one and take some and post some. In the meantime, I am already contemplating (by which I mean, I am half finished) adding more gauges to this unsuspecting 416-8, and abandoning radiator-hose gauge-mounting technology for something more traditional: the instrument panel.

So, unless someone talks some sense into me, this is my sinister plan, in crudely photoshop'd pictures:

PRE-OP:

POST-OP:

I will be using an "extra" 416 instrument panel for this project, that way I can return everything to original using the original panel if I screw everything up (my can opener ain't all that sharp). Also, with the exception of the tachometer, I already have the gauges, including a fuel gauge and tank with sending unit from an old 518H. All gauges but the hour meter will be lit. litted. inumilated. have bulbs in 'em.

So, have I lost my mind? Or am I just a gauge-aholic?

Comments, advice and psychiatric referrals welcomed.

[TJ 176]

Sounds like fun to me.

Now all you will need is a gage for barometric pressure and humidity....and a speedometer.....and a sundial......and a...... :thumbs2:

[DOC in Kentucky 178]

And why stop there???? How about a blood pressure monitor so you can see how relaxing driving a Wheel horse can be!!! and them maybe a blood analyzer to determine blood alcohol so you can't operate it, if you had to many... and then maybe a scale built into the seat so you can see how much weight your loosing from all that work you are doing on that tractor... and then maybe a flux capacitor to go back into time like in the movie- Back to the Future. The possibilities are endless but as long as your having fun with it, Its a good thing !!!!

[gwgdog66 23]

Cool! Whilst you are at it, add a compass (so you can make sure you have the horse on a straight line)

Sounds like real fun to me :thumbs:

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,508]

Hmmm....no GPS ? I cant believe I'm the only one who ever gets lost while out cruising with my horse.

Haveing fun with these tractors is the most important thing about collecting them, and it seems your having fun. GO FOR IT!

Mike...........

[dkopp 1]

Better add a front bumper assembly too while you're at it! With so many guages to look at you'll forget to watch where you're going! Just kidding. Neat project. Keep us updated when you can.

[Greg Parnell 6]

GO FOR IT!!!!!

[Section8 0]

OK, so i tried to incorporate all the gauges and instruments suggested by folks in this thread, and it pains me to report that doing so would require an instrument panel 12" tall and 34" wide, not to mention an extremely stable DC source for the flux capacitor and blood pressure monitor, so I will have to stick to just the 6 gauges as originally planned. (Besides, the GPS would have to be mounted on the hood, which would partially obstruct the flat screen TV.)

You guys are too funny.

As for the bumper suggestion, strangely enough, I am developing a brush-guard/bumper contraption that will tilt forward with the hood, which is turning out to be a little more complicated than I thought it would be -- somewhere in the neighborhood of Level 1 cussing (the oil pressure gauge project was Level 2).

As of today, I've added three gauges: Temperature, Fuel Level, and of course the infamous Oil Pressure gauge, all working and inumalate... lit up. The fuel sender in the tank I used from a 518H took some tweaking to get a stable reading on the gauge, but all is well now. Those three gauges are presently mounted with Anti-Vibration Mounting Tube Technology (radiator hoses) until I get thru mutilating an instrument panel into accommodating them all. (The factory voltmeter and hourmeter are still in the original instrument panel).

I promise I will get a camera this week and post some badly exposed pics of the current mess, I mean, configuration, along with the extension ramps I said I was going to build for the pickup and then forgot to mention that I finished them 2 weeks ago and that they've been working great all this time. Also, they are red. Which is the main thing.