Wiring the stock gauges: Click here.

Fuel Gauges:

Question: [LS] "Can someone give me the correct part# for the fuel level gauge?"

Answers:

[WC] "If you're using the donor fuel tank and sender (1987 or later) you need 4318 (2-1/16") or 4418 (2-5/8").
http://www.autometer.com/hp/99catalog/ultra_lite/51.html"

[CE] "If you want to replace the sender, you can get one through Ford Motorsport. They have a Fuel level sender PN M-10871-A962. It's not the same as factory. It is 240 ohms empty and 33 ohms full. The best thing is that it lists at $33.95. You would have to use Ultralite gauge 4316 with the Motorsport sender.

Has anyone had any problems with 4318 and the stock sender. The Helm shop manual for 1989 lists the stock sender as 33 ohms empty and 158 full. Since the Autometer is 16 ohms empty and 158 full does that mean I will run out of fuel before it hits "E"? Is the difference the markings on the gauge and the stop pin (with the pin being 16 ohms)?"

[WC] "I use 4318 w/ a stock sender. Works great as far as I can tell. I've been running around the neighborhood (testing ) with the gage alot closer to "E" than I would ever let it get out on the road.

The "E" is about 1/4" above the pin on the gage. Maybe that's the difference between 16 ohms and 33 ohms?"

[CE] "I noticed the gauge markings are not linear - with 1/2 being a little to the right of the 1/2 mark. I've always found the factory gauges to be really poor. Once you hit the 1/2 mark on a factory gauge it seems to drop really quick to "E". Hopefully the Autolites will help."

Autometer Questions:

Question: [SS] "I finally received my speedo and tach.. Those things are nice - Phanton style 5".

I guess that the Cobra won't go less then 10 mph - that's the first 'tick' on the speedo :-)

Question - the Tach is sitting at 9000 rpm in the box? Normal or not?

The vacuum was at 6 lbs in the box and Autometer said (along with you guys) that it is defective and they are replacing it. I will ask them about this also if no one on the list has seen this before."

Comments:

[AC] "Normal for the tach.

Vacuum is measured in inches of H2O, not lbs. Just pulling your guage.
A boost/vac guage should rest on 0."

[1668] "I think that you'll find it's normal for the tach. Even when you turn off the car the tach might read 100rpm with the engine off."

Which Autometer Fuel Gauge?

[Ol] "Autometer has different fuel gauges to be used with different senders.( we all knew that, right?) Which one have you guys been buying? I got 250 ohms across my Ford sender with a bone dry tank. The "to fit Ford" part numbers that Autometer lists have much different values. Their's is is 73 ohms empty.

Autometer does have a gauge that is for 240 ohms empty and 33 ohms full. Is this the one that works?"

[LS] "91 mustang autometer ultralites #4418."

[t50] "go with the one for the 87-93 sender,"

[AC] "If your using a late model Mustang sender (87 on), you need the 16 ohms empty to 158 ohms full gauge spec."

[Ol] "I am getting 250 ohms across the sender contacts of a bone dry tank. You guys are coming up with something different. Chris, you said 16 ohms empty. Could my sender be shot? Could there be gunk and corrosion giving me higher resistance values? I'll post again tomorrow with the Ford part # for the sender. I will also try and manipulate the float and watch my meter at the same time. I bought the tank/sender used and have no idea if the sender worked or not. I might just get a new sender since the history is unknown and since they are prone to failure over time."

Stewart Warner

[Mt] "Stewart Warner does make an electric oil temp (140 to 320 degrees F) gauge for the Wings series. If you're looking for the black-faced gauge, it's: Part no. SW-82490, Part Description: Oil Temperature Gauge 140-320°F, the gauge size is 2 1/16", Dial/Sender 280EE-F, the price is anywhere from $24.99 to $35.

Company:
Stewart Warner
1320A Goodyear Drive
El Paso, TX 79936
Phone: (915) 593-5100
Fax: (915) 595-1449
email: info@stewartwarner.com
additional contacts:
Debbie Barton - (915) 595-1449
Drew Shippy - (330) 666-3450

Distributors in Washington:
RB's Obsolete Automotive
7711 Lalke Ballinger Way
Edmonds, WA 98026
Phone: (425)670-6739
Fax: (425)670-9151

Instrument Sales & Service
18814 72nd Ave. South
Kent, WA 98031
Phone: (425)251-9092
Fax: (425)251-6543

CARQUEST Distributor/GPI
7812 So. 186th Pl.
Kent, WA 98031
Phone: (425)633-2323
Fax: (425)632-2381

Cobra-related place that carry the gauges:
XKs Unlimited
850 Fiero Lane
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Phone: (805) 544-7864
Toll-free: (800) 444-5247
Fax: (805) 544-1664
email: xksunltd@aol.com
webpage showing the gauges: http://xks.com/SW%20Pages/sw4b.htm

Hot Rod Shops (probably carry the gauges):
Mullins Hot Rod Parts
2876 Sweetwater Ave. Suite 2
Lake Havasu City, AZ. 86406
Phone: (520)505-3032
Fax: (520)505-3055
webpage: http://mullinssteeringgears.com/index.htm

Bob Drake OFPs
Phone: 800-221-3673
http://store.yahoo.com/bobdrake/index.html

Just about any hot rod shop is going to carry this gauge ... whether they sell it individually or as part of a gauge set is up to the shop. I got mine through Bob Drake. XK's Unlimited is the company that advertises that they sell REAL Cobras (they are a Shelby dealer...because of Shelby's tactics and XK's misleading advertising, I would strongly recommend going to them ONLY as a last resort.)"

[j[] "You can also simply call the 800 number on the xks website and deal with them directly. That is what I did and they gave me a local dealer as well as any info I needed for my wings pattern gauges mine are the white ones http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/roadrat/newpage38.htm this is my site if you want to check out what mine look like."

Mustang™ Speedometer

Resetting the speedo: [MZ] "You need to pull the metal pin out slightly that holds the white gears behind the odo. Then keep their relationship while rotating what you need to get it back to zero. Once all are lined up tap the pin back in so that it gets tight. It will take about 15 minutes for a first timer."

[BS] "Lining up the numbers is going to be the tricky part. For it to look good, they must all line up in a straight line. if any of them are higher or lower, every time I saw it , they would bother me.."

[BK] "Took mine to my local speedo shop - told them what I was doing and after about 1/2 hour of Cobra stories they zeroed mine for $5."

[LL] "It's really easy. Should take you about 5 minutes. Make sure they are zeroed and aligned."

Question: [TW] "If I go with the painless harness and use Stewart or other gauges on an EFI, do I still use the gauge pod ??? All I need from the donor is the engine bay harness or do I need the dash harness as well ??"

Answers:

[mi] "You do not need the pod if you go with a painless harness and aftermarket gauges.

The only wiring you will need, if you stay EFI, will be the engine harness and whatever connects to the computer.

I went the painless route...but then again I have a carb. There are others who have gone the painless route with EFI. Lots of weight savings. Also, its a toss up as to whether it is cheaper than having the stock harness trimmed out."

[jp] "Get the Painless harness, the engine and computer harness from the donor and the FMS instruction book."

[ra] "ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU CAN USE THE PAINLESS WIRING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 89 EFI WIRING HARNESS....TELL ME MORE..."

[WP] "The EFI harness needs only 2 wires from the Painless harness. The first is the pink ign wire to run the coil, TFI module EEC-IV and the EEC relay. The other is the fuel pump power wire. You need to run a power feed wire to the hot side of the starter solenoid to supply a constant feed to the memory lead of the computer and to power the EEC relay. All of these are marked on the FMS Hot Rod EFI harness."

[JW] "I didn't go the painless way so this may not apply but if you don't use the pod you have to wire in the 500 ohm resister off the pod or it won't charge."

[DH] "You will also need the O2 sensor harness to use the painless harness on the EFI. If you have the main harness around keep it. You will need the brown and green plugs off of it to tie into the computer harness. You may want to use the alternator connections as well depending on what alternator you are using.

As for the inertia switch, I think that is wired in series with the fuel pump. That is another plug to cut out of the main harness along with the fuel tank section. Get the book from Ford Jim Pomroy recommended. It is well worth the $5.00."

[M3] "It's actually pretty straightforward to eliminate the gauge pod. You need to retain the 510 ohm resistor that's in parallel across the alternator charge warning lamp. This looks like it may be used to tickle the field winding in the alternator. I've read posts that make me believe people are doing without the fuel gauge anti-slosh module, but it's easy to incorporate. If you look closely at the contacts on the module and the gauge pod, you'll see you only need 4 connections. +12 VDC, ground, fuel level sensor in, and fuel gauge out. These can be smaller gage wires soldered to the metal fingers on the top side connector of the a-s module. A terminal barrier strip will work fine for the interface to the wire harness. DR DAVE posted a good picture some time ago on his dash wiring using terminal strips."

Question: [CV] "I am doing all the wiring for my Factory Five Kit using Smith gauges, and was wondering what most builders do with the check engine light. Is this light incorporated, and if so...how? Or do builders simply just disregard it all together. This is using the donor wiring harness."

Answers:

[t50] "you do not need the check engine light, but a small red light can be used. The only thing that puts the check engine light on is emission related problems, ie. egr valve sensor purge canister and O2 sensors. It never affects the way it runs, except if the egr valve sticks, and that is very rare."

[wd] "It won't hurt to wire it in. One comes from the ignition switch (ign.) side to the light and the other to the computer. I put mine under the dash on one of the support aluminum pieces I made. Went to Radio Shack and stuck it in."

[MC] "I only post this reply for those unfortunate to live in an anal State like California with Smog Nazi's, I needed the red check engine light to pass smog inspection, even needed to label it on duct tape "check engine light".. and yes.. the duct tape has been removed"

Smith Gauges

Question: [TT] "I ordered my smiths from Enzo and cant quite figure out how to hook the tachometer up to the MSD box. My tach guage has a six wire harness sticking out of it so those who have the FFR gauge package probably cant help me. According to the directions, the brown/slate wire connects to the tach signal from the msd box. Power goes to the green, the black is ground, and red/white wire is for the gauge light. I have done this and nothing seems to work. Anyone been down this road before? BTW, I drove the big block again in cart form with much more faith in the brakes and with the suspension pretty much aligned, wow, this thing is loud and is pretty scary at 1/4 throttle."

Comments:

[MZ] "Maybe you could try that brown/slate wire on the negative side of the coil. Maybe the MSD signal is not compatible with the Smiths gauge."

You need the Smith's setup that is for the MSD - and they are sold that way. I'm sure Enzo's supplier would stock them so you may be able to work a swap with Enzo. Enzo normally stocks the one for standard coil ignition systems since the majority of his customers were built that way (although the mix is probably shifting now with all the FFRs out there."

[CA] "A little in-line circuit board module exists that will take the MSD signal and make it work on the original Smith Tach. Ask Enzo if he has the part, if not I'm confident that Nosinger will have it... without selling you the whole new tach. The module takes four inputs: 12v, MSD, Ground, and maybe Ign :-) and passes the necessary; Ground, Ignition 12v and tach pulse to the Smith Gauge."

[DB] "I think I have this straight. There is a TAB and TAD (2 of them) solenoid for the air pump. You need to put a generic 10K ohm resistor between the connections for both these solenoids.

Also, I should be able to do the same thing to the EGR solenoid with the 10K resistor.

All this will keep the computer from posting codes.

Is there anything I need to know about the resistors. Anything else I need to tell the guy at radio shack besides 10K ohm."

Comments:

Only other thing is the power rating - 1/2 watt should do just fine - have them in mine and they don't even get warm. Next size down is 1/4 watt and this may be just a little too small, especially with underhood heat.

Don't forget the resistor for the canister vent solenoid. 10K for that one too.

Question: [DF] "I've seen a lot of discussion about using a clock instead of the ammeter from FFR. Has anybody installed something functional like an oil temp gauge (or anything else) and what are your recommendations/problems encountered?"

Comments: 

[TF] "I used AutoMeter Ultralite gauges and have an oil temp gauge for the 5th small gauge.

[JB] "I installed a cheap vacuum gauge from JC Whitney. It matches the FFR supplied bezels perfectly and is easier to install than the Ammeter. I dissected it to paint the needle white for a better match with the Mustang gauges."

Go back to the FFR FAQ