adding gauges in dash

boatman37

boatman37

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2015
4,242
pittsburgh
Boat Info
2006 Crownline 250CR. 5.7 Merc BIII
Previous: 1986 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer. 260 Merc Alpha 1 Gen 1
Engines
5.7 Merc BIII
wanting to install my hour meter in my dash (1986 Dancer). my old hour meter was back by the engine. anyone ever cut holes in the dash on these? what did you use? i'm afraid of cracking or ruining the original. i plan to do a test fit on a piece of acrylic or something. the new meter has a square mounting area. the gauge face is round but the hole can be either about a 1 7/8 circle or i can make it about a 1.75x1.75 square. either way, what can i cut this with for best reaults. not planning to remove it so hand cutting will likely be used.
 
Why move it? Just leave it where it's at.

Something goes wrong ring when you cut, the costs will add up quickly. If that is the original dash panel, it will be brittle.

Proceed with caution......
 
I would just use a hole saw to make the cut. Worst case scenario you have to order a new dash panel. I always found it funny Searay didn't put all of the gauges on the dash. My boat has all the generator gauges inside a cabinet on the port side. My boat neighbor just moved his to the dash.


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If you really need it up at the helm you may want to find a suitable place in the fiberglass dash itself rather than in the instrument panel to put it. The dash is a lot sturdier than the 30 year old dash panel and a whole lot less likely to crack beyond where you want the whole saw to make the hole.
 
Mainly so I can help use it to monitor fuel. My gauge is off by about 1/4 tank. Where it was in the engine compartment was hard to see even when I opened the cover so just want it somewhere easier to see it. I have room on the dash panel so figured that was the most logical place.
 
I just cut a hole in my dash (1987) I used a cordless drill with a hole saw it worked great, hooked up vacuum hose cleaned up the mess done in 10 minutes...B.B.
 
I just cut a hole in my dash (1987) I used a cordless drill with a hole saw it worked great, hooked up vacuum hose cleaned up the mess done in 10 minutes.... I also cut a square hole for another gauge (battery monitor) used a saber saw that also worked great....
 
actually i just did mine tonight. i used a hole saw bit and masked the area off with masking tape and cut right through. looked like factory. it was quite a bit thicker than i had thought. my gauge is in but still have to mount the bracket on the back and wire it up
 
Not to be a smartazz, but why not fix the gauge and sender? You are going through a lot of work to move this, why not fix the real problem?

boatman37 said:
Mainly so I can help use it to monitor fuel. My gauge is off by about 1/4 tank. Where it was in the engine compartment was hard to see even when I opened the cover so just want it somewhere easier to see it. I have room on the dash panel so figured that was the most logical place.
Click to expand...
 
ideally i would like to fix the gauge and sender but from what i understand it is a pretty big job? and i need/want a working hour meter too. my old hour meter was cracked where the one wire connected and wasn't working. i tried to glue it but still didn't work. and it isn't that much work. so far i have about 30 minutes into it. just have to run the wires now and i'm thinking i can run them off my tach? if not i will just run one all the way back to the coil, which still isn't bad
 
Speaking of gauges, I have come to realize there is an add-on gauge that does not work at all. My next thing to figure out is what to put in it's place. (The previous owner did not inform me it was inoperative)
 
got the hole drilled last week and had it physically installed but didn't wire it up until today. 2 pieces of 12" wire and i was done. hooked it to my tach and works perfect. total time was probably less than 30 minutes to install it. i will get pics if this rain ever lets up
 
the hour meter can run off the ignition switch or any ignition switched power.should be pretty much any other guage.if you look they are probably all daisy chained together for power and ground.put a piece of painters tape over the area before drilling.that should prevent any splintering of the dash panel.also make sure you use the correct hole saw.make sure its for wood/plastic and not metal.the wood one is usually finer teeth.
 
yeah. i used painters tape to help avoid any splintering. i used a wood tooth bit with more aggressive tooth pattern. i was thinking a metal bit would be better with the smoother pattern but i think that might have taken too long and maybe overheated the plastic and melted it?

 
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