90Mustangfan

I was just wanting to buy a new tach(my stock one is going out), how do they hook up and how hard are they to install?

86HOGT

Three basic hook ups.

1) Battery or Ignition

2) Ground

3) Tach Signal - which I'm not sure what wire it is on the Mustangs, I know it's the "TACH" hookup on Chevy HEI...heheh

4) One more option for back lighting; usually hooks up to dash lights, or just have it on all the time by jooking it up to an ignition source.

Good luck, it's not so hard!

94Cbra

I would sugest a tach mount from UPR Products. www.uprproducts.com . It allows you to mount the tach without drilling holes in the dash or anywhere else. It is very stable and everone I know that has one says its great. Holes in the dash will eventually crack and split over the years, so it would be a worthwhile investment.

4fit?

I was thinking that tach mounting bracket from UPR was only for 94+ cars, not the fox bodies? I could definetely be wrong though.
As far as installation goes, Run one wire to a switched ignition source, one wire to a light source (hint:use one that only comes on when the parking lights and is connected to the interior/dash light. This will enable you to dim the tach light with the rest of the interior lights.), one wire to a ground, and one wire to the signal source. Depending on if you have an aftermarket ignition box or not, the signal wire will either connect to the negative(-) coil wire or plug into the side of your aftermarket box.
Here's a pic of my tach mounted to the dash bezel in my '89. I purchased a strip of aluminum, cut it to length, drilled the appropriate holes, and mounted it on the inside of the dash bezel then put the tach bracket to the dash with the aluminum supporting it from the back. This redispurses the weight and vibration of the tach and I have had no problems with the dash cracking at all.

94Cbra

DOH! I didnt even think about that 4fit!

roundman

I installed my Autometer Monster 5" tach with shift light on the upper right corner of the dash cover on my '88 using 1/4" bolts, nuts and washers rather than the self tapping screws provided in the install kit and it works just fine. install the tach in the mouning bracket and position it on the dash where you want it and mark the location of the bracket with a pencil. then remove the dash cover, remove the tach from the bracket and place the bracket on the dash cover to locate the two holes and mark and drill the holes. drill another hole several inches behind the bracket location for the tach wires to pass through. mount the tach bracket with two bolts using larger washers underneath to distribute the load better. I had to enlarge the holes in the mounting bracket just a bit to use the bolts, but this is easy to do as the bracket is aluminum. install the tach loosely in the bracket and run the wires down through the hole you made for them and then reinstall the dash cover taking care to keep the wires from being pinched, there's plenty of room to do this if you look carefully and route them down properly. once you've got this far, connect the power wire to a power source that's only hot when the key is on, ground the ground wire to a good ground under the dash, hook up the light power wire to the dash light circuit, and run the tach signal wire out through the speedo cable hole to the coil connection. just make sure to consult the installation instructions so you know which color wire goes to which connection. with my Autometer tach, the red wire is tach power, black is ground, white is tach light, and green was tach signal wire. replace the steering shaft cover pieces you removed to get the dash cover off again being careful not to pinch any of the tach wires and make the final adjustment of the tach mounting bracket and tighten it down good and you're in business with a new tach. biggest problem I ran into was figuring out which side of the coil to attached the tach signal wire too as the coil is not marked + or -, so you have to see which terminal makes the tach operate properly over the full range before you make a permanent connection. I finally determined that the coil terminal nearest the fender was the right side on my '88 but it might not be the same on others. And if you're using an MSD or other aftermarket ignition box, you have to hook up the tach signal wire to the terminal provided for it on the ignition box as the tach cannot handle the hotter voltage at the coil terminal. There is a wire with connection already on it provided in the MSD install kit, so this is a piece of cake to do too!