You have to admit, the woodgrain bezel in ths 1965 Mustang is sexy. But gauge technology from the 1960’s leaves a lot to be desired in today’s world of high performance engines. They just didn’t react fast enough or tell you your actual engine temp or oil pressure other than high or low. We upgraded our cockpit with an aftermarket tachometer which not only blocked our amperage gauge, but screamed ricer. A lot of people add separate gauge pods above or below their dash, but this places the critical information out of your eye sight, especially during racing.

1. We chose the Autometer Elite series for our setup. They offer full sweep movement, data logging output and best of all – seven backlit colors that change when a parameter is out of range.

2. Start by laying out the gauges on your workbench in the order you want to see them. We put the fuel level and volt gauge on the outside, so the 4 critical gauges could be seen easier.

3. There are several blank bezels available for the 1964-66 Mustang to choose from. Check out California Mustang Parts for a full selection. We went with this brush aluminum look. Start by sliding your gauges into place.

4. Install the retaining bracket on the other side after install each gauge.

5. Now it’s a good time to crack open a beer and enjoy your work. It’s okay to pretend you are driving your workbench around for a bit after seeing how awesome your new gauges are.

5. Turn the bezel over onto a soft surface so you don’t scratch your gauges. Lay out the wire harnesses next to each gauge since the ancillary gauges use the same plug.

6. Plug in each wire harness to the corresponding gauge.

7. There are a lot of wires, but don’t get overwhelmed. Please read the instruction manual for your gauges, but our Autometer Elite’s used a very common color code for each wire. Start by grabbing all of the black (ground) wires and unwind them from the harnesses above.

8. We need to make a wire with a female spade connector end for the speedometer. Start by grabbing a spare black wire and strip the end.

9. This is what or stripped wire looks like. Wrap the end around once to fit better in the spade connector.

10. Slide the female spade connector over the end of the wire, and crimp it on there. Give it a tug to make sure it won’t come off.