924Board.org

[Jim-87-924S]

I just got the Tweeks catalog, the 25th anniversary edition with the cake on it... excellent catalog!

I want to replace my instrument guages with the white lexan kit for $139.00 along with the replacement dash cover kit for $79.99

Is is a PITA to change the guages myself? Of course the catalog says "its a simple installation by the Do-It-Yourselfer"... but I want a 924 owners opinion.

The dash looks easy enough, and 924RACR gave it a thumbs up on appearance. I have a souple of really nice cracks I want to cover.

Thanks for the help

Jim

[924RACR]

I think it's a bit more work to do the gauge faces, actually - if I'm not mistaken, you have to remove the gauges from the dash (no big deal), then pry off the lenses (a metal crimp all around the edge) without scratching up the bezels too bad (they can be touched up, I hear, with black model airplane paint), pry off the indicators (the hands on the clock or whatever), unscrew the old face and screw on the new face, then reasssemble... then you have a PITA factor to restore the crimp, again with minimal damage...

I want to do the set someday, I like the looks, just can't budget the money right now...

Anyway, not impossible, but a bit of a PITA with somewhat delicate stuff...

_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[F924T]

I got the dash cover and I am very happy with it...Do not get it from tweeks or performance products...Get it staright from the manufacturer, is cheaper to get it starught from the manufacturer...I got mine for $88.58 shipped; comes with everyting you need to install it, but tools....but it come with instructions and adhesive...Check out this website:

http://www.coverlaymfg.com/E_Store/Dash_Covers/Foreign/Porsche/

[D Hook]

I was going to wait to post this until I hear back from the lady I bought these from but since the question has been posed.....

I just bought and installed a set of the white gauge faces off an ebay auction. A lady by the name of Cathy is whom I dealt with. Very pleasant. The set I bought was for a 931 but she gave me the ones for the '80 924 for the same price. These are the exact same ones in the Tweeks catalog for $150 or so. I paid a WHOPPING $20.51 plus $4.00 for shipping. Brand new!

Last night I sat down to install the faces and noticed that the oil pressure face was not the one I needed; it was the replacement for the yellow/green turbo oil pressure gauge which, I believe, only goes to "5" bar instead of "10" like most 924's. I sent her an email today and she is shipping out a new one for the "10" bar gauge. Great service!

Along with the kit is the tool needed for prying off the needle on the tach and the speedo. Just be sure to use a soft towel when you pry it off so you don't damage the orignal faces, in case you ever want to switch back. I just spread a towel out on the work bench and that helped, especially in catching the small screws so they don't get lost.

It is a bit of a trick to pry off the bezel trim ring but, if you take your time, it goes pretty good. It took me about 2.5 hours to change the speedo, tach and combo gauge. I have yet to do the clock and the oil pressure gauges.

I did have the fortune of having an extra tach from an '87 that I bought as a set to get the 160 speedo so I practiced on that one first. The older tachs are much easier. Not nearly as much electronics/moving parts inside. The newer ones have two rather large-ish circuit boards inside.

Anyway, just pry off the trim ring with a straight edge screwdriver VERY SLOWLY, DELIBERATELY AND CAREFULLY, remove the plastic, take off the needle, remove the two screws holding on the face plate, slip on the new one and reverse for assembly. Use a pliers and soft cloth to crimp the trim ring back on.

When doing the tach, I had to realign the needle to match the new face plate. On the '80, "0" is at about 3 o'clock. On the white face plate, "0" is at about 2:30. It was simple. The stop for the needle is inside the tach so you just let it rest against the stop, line the needle up with the first mark and push it back on.

The speedo was a bit trickier and I won't know for sure if I got it right until I get it back in and road test it. On the speedo, the needle stop is on the face of the gauge. Using a small awl, I tapped it out from the rear. I reinserted it from the rear into the white face plate and put a drop of hot glue on the back to keep it in place. Tape would probably work as well, if you use a good tape. (not scotch or masking) After taking out the stop, the needle will drop just slightly. You pry off the needle, replace the plate and put the needle back on so it rests in the same position it did before, below the stop. Then gently lift it up and slip it over the stop so it rests against it. I'm pretty sure I got it dead on back where it was to begin with. I'll find out when I get it all back together.

The combo gauge is really easy but you do have to make a slit in the bottom of the white piece that goes behind the needles to slide them over the needles so you don't have to remove them. The slit is not visible when assembled.

Overall, I'd say this kit is a very good upgrade for a rather unexciting interior. It sure brightens things up!. Now I want to relocate the OXY sensor light in the top of the gauge pod to a different, less conspicuous location. The set of gauges I bought from the '87 doesn't have the hole cutout for the OXY sensor and it looks a little better. I might put some kind of other lights in those places, some kind of indicator lights for something else. Don't know yet. Suggestions? I thought about maybe auxillary blinker indicators but....

Go to ebay and search for "924". The faces should come up on there. I asked the lady today if she would be interested in selling directly and what price because I thought others might be interested if the price was good. I'm kinda' hesitant to put this out on the board since there might be members bidding against each other on ebay but the lady sounded like she's got quite a few sets of these so she might want to sell outright. I'll post what she says when I hear back from her.

In the mean time, if you can get a set, I say get them; not that hard of install and REALLY looks good and much easier to read, IMHO I'd be happy to answer any questions I can.

UPDATE:
Cathy said it was fine to post her email here. You can talk w/her directly about getting a set as they do sell directly. Don't know about pricing though. The last set I saw on ebay sold for about $40 and there' another set on there right now that's is up to about $20 so far. Cathy said they're working on a website, too.

No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.
Her email:
drivers_edge@hotmail.com

UPDATE #2:

When replacing the face on the clock, you don't need to try to pry off the adjusting knob on the front. You only need to loosen the bezel trim ring, and the lense and adjustment knob come off together. The hands come off easily, no prying needed.

BTW, anyone have a clock they'd like to sell? I need a new one since I broke the plastic lense trying to pry off the adjustment knob. Good experience....it's what you get when you don't get what you want.

UPDATE #3:

Got all the gauges back in and they look very nice. Easy to read, especially at night.

Had some trouble with the tach/seedo swap. I couldn't get the speedo cable to go in when I moved it over where the tach was. Part of the bulkhead structure kept getting in the way. So instead, I swapped places with the fuel/temp gauge. So left to right, it goes speedo, tach, fuel/temp. Having the tach in the center is a very nice arrangement. Only downside is that part of the temp gauge is hidden by the steering wheel. But I've got a 944 steering wheel on mine so it sits farthur away from the instruments. The wiring fits with no problems.

Also took the time to install a new stereo, new auto antenna and clean up all the wiring under the dash.

12 hours under the dash....oh yeah....that's too much fun!


[ This Message was edited by: D Hook on 2001-08-31 01:39 ]

[ This Message was edited by: D Hook on 2001-09-01 23:59 ]

[ This Message was edited by: D Hook on 2001-09-04 12:09 ]