Fitting 240 gauges in my 740

[V-Jet]

Hi guys,

Just showing off how I fitted the 240 fuel economy gauge and volt gauge in my 740. I don't have any spare spots on the instrument cluster, as I've already installed a genuine 740 oil temp. gauge on top left and oil pressure gauge on top right. At one stage I thought about mounting them on top of the dash in pods, but decided against it as I thought it looks too aftermarket. After I installed them, a friend told me that here in Australia any gauges mounted in pods on top of the dash is considered a vehicle defect and are illegal. So I'm pretty happy with where I mounted them eventually!

Anyway I think the 240 gauges turned out pretty good, looks almost original if not for the dim backlite (never realise how dim 240 backlites are compared to 740's!!!). Here are the pics -

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjU1MTI5NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg
I've painted the strip between the glovebox and air vents matt gold just to personalise the interior.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjU1MTMwNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg
The gauges from another angle. The rubbish bin below the glovebox next to the centre console is a genuine Volvo accessory.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjU1MTMzNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg
Here they are at night. Sorry for the blurriness but it's really hard to take a night illumination photo of these gauges!

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wMjU1MTM0NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D.jpg
A shot of my car's front end, showing the original Euro headlights, as well as the Turbo grille, headlight wipers and genuine fog-lights that I've added.

[bitjockey]

Blasphemy!

Nice headlights... :-)

[Aussie Volvo]

Hi

I was looking at doing that( I had already removed that part of dash from my parts car) but my gauges were going to be angled towards the driver.

How did you get on with the clearance behind the gauges there is a Aircon tube thar runs behind that panel

[V-Jet]

Yeah that's the only downside of my installation, they're not facing the drive and are a bit hard to read from the driver's seat. But I don't mind, I feel they're not as essential as oil temp. and oil pressure gauge, which I already have in the cluster in front of me. But if I was to spend a bit more time modifying the panels the it shouldn't be a problem to angle them towards the driver.

With the vacuum gauge and volt gauge, there's still enough clearance between the back of the gauges and the A/C vent tube, so I didn't have to alter anything. I was thinking of adding an analog OAT (outside air temperature) gauge between the two, but from the photos I've seen, this gauge has a metal casing which is longer than the plastic casing of the vacuum / volt gauges, so I wasn't certain if I'll have enough clearance with the A/C vent tube.

The only other minor alteration I had to do apart from drilling on the panel and wiring everything up was the actual dash top, where it meets the panel which I mounted the gauges on. The dash top is made from metal plate covered in vinyl. The top part of the gauges were hitting the metal plate, so I cut a bit of vinyl off with a stanley knife and bent a small portion of the metal plate rearwards with a pair of pliers just to create enough clearance for these gauges. Only a very small section and besides it's hidden behind the panel so it's not a big issue.