Donny Carlson
05-08-2004, 06:36 PM
Today, along with other mods installed, in went new Nordskog digital oil pressure and volt gauges. These are extremely nice units of high quality, not the crappy cheap digitals you see from time to time. I selected green, because I thought this would be close to OEM digital color, but, as you can see, the "green" is more yellow/green than blue/green. Dakota Digital sells a "teal" color digital gauge that is probably as close to Ford OEM as you can get aftermarket, but I had already bought these, and the Dakotas are a bit more expensive. Nordskog also offers these in red and blue, and perhaps the blue would have been a closer choice.
No matter. I like these even though -- or maybe because -- they aren't the same color. This color, which reminds me of that color used on fire trucks a few years ago, is highly visable, even in bright daylight while wearing dark sunglasses.
I have underdrive pulleys, so the volts are near 12 when the a/c is on, the car in gear, and idling. Oil pressure reads 15-18 PSI at idle in gear with the a/c on, too.
The volt gauge will flash when it detects voltages below 12 and above 15. Pretty cool. Also, each gauge has a button which, when pushed, will store the low and high readings that is recalled by another button push. These gauges have a dim feature that dims them 50% when the headlights come on.
Even dimmed, they are amazingly visable.
I used to ignore my analog gauges, and granted, these are a novelty now, but I enjoy glancing down and seeing them. I've already made mental notes as to what PSI reading is usual for certain speeds and rpms, ditto with the volts.
Installation was easy - I had Jason at Team Ford put them in!
Also in the gallery pics you can see my new Nokia Total Car Kit, which is a hands free unit with its own speaker and microphone. It will send a command to the phone to shut off when it detects the ignition is off. It charges the phone. And the cradle attaches to a Wilson Stealth cell antennae that greatly increases the range of the phone. The microphone is just to the left on the A pillar. I have the unit programmed to turn on the phone's lights at night, to auto answer incoming calls. Works fantastic. You just have a normal conversation like there's somebody in the car. My phone has a voice feature which dials numbers when I say their name. I just reach over (it's close enought to do without looking at the phone), touch the key and say "Home" and it dials my home number. The unit also has a privacy hand set that shuts off the external speaker and mic to take a call when it is not desireable to have passengers or bystanders hear the other end of the conversation. I'n not sure if I'll keep this handset, though, because it does extend into the leg room of the passenger a bit. Not the handset per se, but the cord dangles down far enought to brush the passenger's leg. I did not have the feature connected that auto mutes the stero, even though our factory head unit supports this. I didn't have the exact wiring diagram the tech needed, and, hell, the "mute" button is within reach anyway.
Check out the photos in the gallery.
No matter. I like these even though -- or maybe because -- they aren't the same color. This color, which reminds me of that color used on fire trucks a few years ago, is highly visable, even in bright daylight while wearing dark sunglasses.
I have underdrive pulleys, so the volts are near 12 when the a/c is on, the car in gear, and idling. Oil pressure reads 15-18 PSI at idle in gear with the a/c on, too.
The volt gauge will flash when it detects voltages below 12 and above 15. Pretty cool. Also, each gauge has a button which, when pushed, will store the low and high readings that is recalled by another button push. These gauges have a dim feature that dims them 50% when the headlights come on.
Even dimmed, they are amazingly visable.
I used to ignore my analog gauges, and granted, these are a novelty now, but I enjoy glancing down and seeing them. I've already made mental notes as to what PSI reading is usual for certain speeds and rpms, ditto with the volts.
Installation was easy - I had Jason at Team Ford put them in!
Also in the gallery pics you can see my new Nokia Total Car Kit, which is a hands free unit with its own speaker and microphone. It will send a command to the phone to shut off when it detects the ignition is off. It charges the phone. And the cradle attaches to a Wilson Stealth cell antennae that greatly increases the range of the phone. The microphone is just to the left on the A pillar. I have the unit programmed to turn on the phone's lights at night, to auto answer incoming calls. Works fantastic. You just have a normal conversation like there's somebody in the car. My phone has a voice feature which dials numbers when I say their name. I just reach over (it's close enought to do without looking at the phone), touch the key and say "Home" and it dials my home number. The unit also has a privacy hand set that shuts off the external speaker and mic to take a call when it is not desireable to have passengers or bystanders hear the other end of the conversation. I'n not sure if I'll keep this handset, though, because it does extend into the leg room of the passenger a bit. Not the handset per se, but the cord dangles down far enought to brush the passenger's leg. I did not have the feature connected that auto mutes the stero, even though our factory head unit supports this. I didn't have the exact wiring diagram the tech needed, and, hell, the "mute" button is within reach anyway.
Check out the photos in the gallery.