Instrument panel

[hathanger]

Our instrument panel in the cockpit has serious cracks and finding a replacement isn't going well !!!!! All the replies all start with, " I've got bad news that part has been discontinued ". Does anybody have a suggustion ? HELP !!! I believe they call it Admiral because it has the Tach in it part number 300690. Chip

 

[Loren Beach]

Are the instruments still ok? I ask because after all these decades the molded black plastic mounting starts to crack and look bad. Too much UV I would guess... and worse for that down in Florida.
Our instrument faces look a bit faded but all still work (knock wood).

There is a very interesting thread here somewhere that shows how an owner built a new replacement mounting and then installed the gauges back in. I cannot recall if the tach and gauges were replaced or not.

Anyone else got that link??
Class? Bueller?!

Thanks,
Loren

ps: found one, but it's Not the one I remember.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?7485-Custom-Instrument-Panel&referrerid=28

Second Edit: this might be the one: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...-engine-instrument-panel-box...&referrerid=28

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

Bad panel

Suggest you don't look for plastic. Get a guy good with wood to custom make you a panel. You'll be happier in the long haul. If you have trouble in your neck of the woods, call Jacques Fillatraut. 637-3922, Punta Gorda. He can does ANYTHING. If he had been God, he could have finished making the world in a weekend. But then we would have had to go to church five days a week.

 

[toddster]

Another possibility would be to find a good instrument panel box from another boat and cut a larger hole.

I'm not too happy with mine either. The gauges tend to fog up in damp weather, and the PO scabbed a fuel gauge into the mix by drilling another hole outside the instrument panel. Plus I get tired of ducking my head down between my ankles when I'm steering, to check the engine temperature. But it's not a super high priority, except I'd like to add a tach.

For those with a plastic cover over the panel, can you easily read the gauges through that?

Down the road, it would be nice to wire up an analog-to-NMEA converter to get the engine data onto the nav monitor, where I can see it (and set alarms.) I found this one that costs $500, but I think one could whip up the same thing with an arduino board for about $50. If one had sufficient time on one's hands...

 

[toddbrsd]

Just an Idea

Chip,

What does yours look like. I just replaced my plastic faux wood grain panel with real wood. Its not that difficult, just get a hold of some hole saw blades and walaa!

 

[hathanger]

Thanks for the suggusetions and pic's ! My panel is almost like yours but with the tach in the center with the amp and temp gauge on each side. The glow plug and starter button are located lower left corner and the key and oil toggle on the lower right. I was wondering if I remove the gauges and the panel and take the plastic panel to a fiberglass marine shop do you suppose they can just glass over it? It may be a dumb question !! I can download a pic if I can figure how to attatch it here ? Thanks for all your help. Chip

 

[paul culver]

You might take a look at frontpanelexpress.com. They have a design app you download to make your own panel design, from which they price out and manufacture your panel.

Paul
E29 "Bear"