Lets see gauges, switch panels and cockpit photos (Page 1 of 4)

Our is clearly visible in our videos. See the Vimeo link in my sig.

Our design was gauges on top, then LED indicators, then switches, then below that resettable circuit breakers. If one blows the driver can see it and try a reset. Other fuses are in the box behind the panel.

We've also got a smaller add-on panel we install for street driving. It has the horn and blinker buttons and a cigarette lighter power plug for our A/F meter and other stuff. The blinker switches are separate toggles, one for left and one for right. Turn them both on and we've got emergency flashers.

We had FrontPanelExpress.com make ours. Download their free software, draw it up, click a link, and a week later you've got it.

I've tried doing my own but I can't keep the holes lined up and can't drill/cut for the larger holes or do decent text.

That reminds me to leave room for the Judge Phil suggested "no talent idiot light" to go along with the empty space for the talent meter gauge.

The problem with some post-80s cars is that the ECM requires the factory cluster to work properly.

what's the electronic box to the right of the shifter?

Love the windshield wiper stalk on the dash bar. +1

Mad props to Jim and Nick for the ever evolving awesomeness of the finish of our car.

Nick cut out weight and kept the blower/defrost with minimal excess. Sadly this photo does not show some of the finish detail which is quite impressive and gave us a nice area atop the small sheet metal dash on which we mounted a small clock, lap timer and video.

PS- We will be adding a system that will allow the kill switch to be activated (triggered) from outside the car as well.

Innovate LM-1 wideband O2 controller/gauge.  We added it when we added the turbo to keep an eye on AFRs at WOT in boost.  It was just for verification that we weren't going to blow it up at 14:1 in boost.  It came in handy at Charlotte when the fuel pump was dying.  Otherwise i never look at it while driving.

4.2: Safety Equipment DOES NOT Count Toward $500 Total

        4.2.1: Beside the items and processes listed in Section 3, the following are considered safety-related and therefore exempt:
            Driver comfort & information (steering wheel, shifter, gauges, pedals, cool suits, vents, heaters, radio)

Can't reach it when belted since we moved the seat.  not going to move the stalk, just going to rivet an extension on it.

Link for circuit breakers?

We used economy gauges from Carquest and it's been a complete failure.
Behind the steering wheel:
-Fuel gauge (inop because sho sender is dead)
-Tach (Works, but seems slow to respond and may read on the high side)
-Temp gauge (measures engine compartment air temp)

Power distribution:
-The SHO CCRM (relay module) is in place and still automatically controls the fan and fuel pump.
-The SHO underhood fuse center is mounted on the pass floor to supply power to the car.
-The Geo illumination harness is the only metro component retained aside from the body and the dash. Lights and wipers still work in case we want to drive on the street.

Center cluster:

-Ign switch (Re-purposed push/pull industrial switch)
-Starter button (Cushman horn switch)
-"order food" turns on taurus fan for extra cooling
-LED idiot lights (Oil level light is usually always on due to flaky sho sensor)
-"gauges" turns on instrumentation
-"fan2 and fuel pump aux" are backup switches in case of CCRM failure
-Ammeter (removed because the taurus alternator can cook it. Replaced with new voltmeter that has to be tapped with your finger to read accurately.)
-Coolant temp (We've been through 3 temp gauges, 2 were mechanical and didn't reach. The current one is an elec one that reads 15* high.)
-Oil pres (Mechanical one was failure prone and got replaced with elec unit.)
-Another temp gauge on the tunnel reads trans temps

With all the money we've spent on these el cheapo gauges, we could've had 2 MGL TP-1's with alarm function and junkyard tach and voltmeters that actually work.

-Cool suit system attaches with a strap and couple zipties when in use.

IMHO, the mistake a lot of teams make is to put the switches too far forward to easily reach when you're belted in tightly.  Sure, the dash (or crossbar) is a convenient place to mount things, but if you can't reach it what good is it?

And even if YOU can reach it now, there's no guarantee that you won't have some short-armed freak on nature on your team in the future, or maybe you'll have to move the seat back to fit some giant and then where will you be?

Also, the transmission tunnel is tempting, but with a horse collar or other neck restraint  on you'll often find that even though you can reach the switches you can't look down and SEE the switches.  Fumbling around blind trying to turn on the wipers while NOT turning off the fuel pump is no fun.

If you can, find a way to mount the switches in an easy to reach AND see place, like so:

We installed gauges just before the last MSR race, I fabricated the panel ahead of time and didn't have a chance to install it until I was at the track, I'm unfortunately about 200 miles from the car most weeks out of the year.  That said, I hated how it turned out.

The switches were mostly for future functionality, lights, shirt cooler, etc, which is why they weren't labeled.

Anyway, the panel sticks up too high, and you can see that the gauge faces can be rather reflective depending on viewing angle.

My redesigned version will have the switches and clock moved below the gauge faces, the whole panel extended outwards from the roll bar with a few spacers, and the right edge extended a bit further out to put the whole panel at a better angle to the driver, and lastly a bit of a shield around the gauges to block light from reflecting off the faces.  We're likely adding a 4th gauge for oil temp as well as oil pressure.

I had originally planning adding a few breakers but didn't for this initial version, not sure if the next version will have those, but if so I'll likely align them with the relevant switches.