I'm currently working on a swap project which is nothing too special. Though I wanted to come up with a tach solution that didn't involve an over priced JDM piece that read in kilometers, or an even more ridiculously priced UKDM cluster. I was watching a best motoring video of all things and there was a CRX with a great appropriately sized tach. After several attempts at pausing the video I found it was made by a company called ULTRA. In any case the measurements work out well enough with some fettling to mount it into a stock 88-89 EF cluster.


Here's the tach just out of the box. It had to be ordered from Japan and unfortunately the installation instructions are in Japanese only.



This is just a rough fit and hoping all will fit. I was able to get basic dims from the website I ordered the piece from but there was no real knowing until it arrived. The bezel and glass that came with the gauge unfortunately would not fit so I came up with a solution that I think will work out just fine. Also because the tach will be enclosed within the cluster I'm not overly concerned with having it covered. Also I thought there might be an issue of glare because of the remaining factory lighting.






The tach is only about 1 1/4 inches deep so it is a happy but snug fit within the stock plastic. The rear plug on that side had to be removed and will be refitted externally. Thankfully with the circuit board out back being flexible it will fit without issue. I still need to find a permanent mounting solution for the unit but for now am happy with the fit and finish and feel like it is an ideal solution. I will post the completed product as well as my rear plug modification. There are a considerable amount of hours involved in this so far and in reality purchasing a JDM model would probably be more cost effective if man hours were considered. Having said that though I think this is way more badass than most other options I've seen. Obviously some of the work on the carbon fiber surround and the modifications necessary to the factory bezel are amateur at best but look fantastic at an arms length beneath the shadow of the cluster cover or whatever it's called.

 

that is very cool. Post rear pics

Are you going to make it level?
Or will you clock it like the old porsches had so the red line was at the 12 O' clock position.

 

that does look nice, I can appreciate the effort that went into this

little propane torch or lighter action over the edges you cut will restore the finish a bit, get rid of the sanding marks

 

Completed and reassembled.



I had to add a center bulb to light the fuel and temp gauge because the size of the tach wouldn't allow for the bulb that originally lit those two gauges.





This is the rear of the cluster all wired up. I was able to steal power and tach signal from the stock cluster board so there won't need to be additional wiring. I also left some length on the tach harness and boxed all the tach parts that were not used so that in the event that this car is totaled or otherwise, we can use the tach in another application easily. Also as I'm sure you can tell the plug socket that was originally flush mounted had to be cut out and mounted outside to accommodate the Ultra tach. Also you can see where I was able to mount the new bulb that lights the two center gauges. This setup has already been tested and plugs in just fine. Thankfully the cluster uses this flexible board so moving the socket was relatively easy.

 

Looks nice! Just wondering have you heard of the omni power tach? It's supposed to fit right into the stock tach location and has an 11k redline.

 

I haven't heard of that one, worth looking into I suppose.

 

Install looks great. Good stuff.

 

There's a cleaner version already available. I just ordered mine yesterday and it should arrive in a couple days. It's plug n play with built in shift light (where arrow points)

 

Full cluster

 

Looks great, but why would they show it with an auto? That's like wearing a belt and suspenders.