Nelson Racing Engines called me up to design a one-off instrument cluster for a '63 Cadillac they were building. The Cadillac might be huge, but the 14-71 blown big block will push it along just fine.
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| The stock '63 dash |
To keep track of the vitals of such an engine you need more than just a temperature warning light. A full set of instruments are required, but those instruments can be hard to neatly package. I came up with a few ideas that retained the overall look of the stock dash, but still offered a full complement of gauges.
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| Initial ideas for the '63 dash |
Tom Nelson decided the idea for a long sweep tach that replaced the speedometer was just too cool to not implement into the design. With the decision made we sent the imagery over to Shannon at
Redline Gauge Works.
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| Finished cluster |
You can check out
this article from Hot Rod Magazine for more information on how these custom gauges are built.
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| '63 Caddy's new engine |
