A 964 Set Made to Read a Volkswagen, and Made Personal
This one came to us from another shop. The van is a 1988 Vanagon that RUF converted to carry a 3.7 liter RS engine, and when RUF built it they fitted a full set of Porsche 964 instruments to it.
A 964 gauge set in a Vanagon looks awesome. It does not read right. The senders were never matched to it, and the information needed to make them agree with the wiring harness was not there, so several of the gauges were reporting something other than what the van was actually doing. The shop also wanted a set that showed the car off rather than one that merely fitted.
What arrived: the speedometer was not working properly and its kilometer scale was wrong. The oil temperature and oil pressure gauges were not calibrated. The tank and oil level gauges worked, but both were going to be replaced by what came next. And the quartz clock had a loose hand, which needed an inner component of the hand replaced before it would snap back on.
The owner flies, and owns several aircraft. Part of the brief was to put some of that into the dashboard.
The Speedometer
Converted to a 120 mph face, with green, yellow and red lines added across the scale to mimic the ground speed gauge in an aircraft.
The Temperature and Pressure Gauge
A new temperature gauge coil, and a custom face with hidden indicators so that only four show.
The Clock
A custom face with a single indicator left live, for the battery, and the rest blanked out. The circuit board was replaced and new components fitted to it.
The Tank and Oil Level Gauge
This one was converted outright. A Vanagon tank is a different depth from a 964 tank, so the gauge needed a new coil before it could read the fuel it was actually sitting above. We printed a new face carrying one of the owner’s tail numbers, and converted the oil level gauge into a voltmeter.
The Tachometer
Rescreened with custom artwork and a custom logo.
Across the Set
Every gauge calibrated, an LED upgrade throughout, and the pointers painted.
The Wiring Diagram
The set went back with a custom wiring diagram showing exactly which pin on each gauge is responsible for what. The shop came to us in part because that information did not exist for a gauge set that was never meant to be in this van. Now it does, and it is theirs.
The van is a Volkswagen and the instruments are Porsche, so this job sits in both halves of the bench: our Volkswagen work and Porsche gauge restoration.
This is one of the jobs that has come through our bench. More on how we approach this work: how we design and screen custom gauge dials. You can also send us an inquiry about your own gauges.