Engine Gauges

[323Voyager]

I wanted to add a fuel gauge so I don't have to dip the tank with a wood dowel anymore. I had the typical Universal cluster which has no room for another gauge.
I decided to make a new cluster.
I used plastic cutting boards from Ikea to make the frame , spacers and backing plate, and used the Cricut craft machine to cut some vinyl to make the background graphics.
The new gauge set measures 8 x 10.5 inches, which is only slightly bigger then the old one.
Pics below of how it turned out. The final pic was difficult because the sun was reflecting poorly off the plexiglass for the picture, but you can see it for the most part.

I also added LED's for the bilge pump and a future ACR which I don't have yet. The Bilge Pump LED flashes when the bilge pump is running so I know when I'm in the cockpit. The ACR LED will flash according to the charging mode. I plan on getting the Blue Sea 7650 ACR eventually.

Hope the pics and ideas help if someone else is looking to change their current gauge cluster.

Here is the old cluster:

[323Voyager]

Here is the design. I created a template in Sketchup to lay out the gauges. and started cutting up the Ikea cutting boards to make the spacers and framing.

[323Voyager]

Here are background graphics for the panel I created with the Cricut Craft Machine. I used two colors, dark blue for the background and gold for the details. This matches how I painted the boat last year.

I'll be reinstalling it this weekend. Can't wait to see how much fuel I have!!