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Just like the title says, I need to know how to remove the VDO guages in my '99 Sundowner (without ruining anything). I looked around while I was measuring out the size panel I need to make, and I didn't see anything. before I start prying, I would like to do it right so I don't break anything. I am going to mount the new gauges in blue and black twill carbon fiber. Here are the Faria Chesapeake gauges I'm going to use (I also sprung for the depth gauge with water and air temp):

From memory on my 1999 Sundowner which I sold in 2005, there were 2 screws and some spring clips that the instrument assembly edge was pushed into.

Any idea on how to get to them? I saw on a Vista thread that they removed the compass and there was two nuts you could unscrew, however I wasn't sure if it was the same. I have the plastic wood trim in front of the cluster, and I wasn't sure if that pops off to show screws, if I go in from the compass, or the back of the dash (unlikely). Any more information is helpful!

I'm pretty sure that once the screws were removed, the cluster with its "wood" trim just pulled off. I really don't recall removing the compass.

Where are these screws at, and how do I get to them?

Thanks!

The 2 screws on mine were at the top of the dash an inch or so in front of the clear plastic cover. I believe the were also a couple of clips at the back that were accessible from going under the helm.

Do you have to pull off the plastic trim to get to the screws from the front then?

I just found my old dash in the garage. I was wrong, my new one has visible screws on the top the old one did not. Look under the helm at the dash from the backside, mine had some clips that held it in, once removed the dash came out the front.

Awesome. Thanks!

There are 4 plastic nuts that you unscrew from behind the dash. I was then able to remove the gauge panel. Then the plastic wood trim snaps out. I'll be making a write up of the rest of my gauge install, however I wanted to let people know in case some one searches this thread in the future.

Whatever happened to the update & pictures??

Here you go:


I traced the wood trim to get a starting point for a template. I made about 4 or five before I was satisfied and got the fit I wanted.



Test fitting my last template:



Then you trace the template onto your choice of substrate. I found some carbon fiber 2x2 twill weave with half blue fibers. It looks absolutely awesome with the faria chesapeake white face gauges, but man, drilling the gauge holes was a huge PITA! (And I thought cutting it sucked, make sure to wear a mask, carbon fiber and fiberglass cutting is not good for the lungs) There are tons of wiring diagrams floating around as well. The really fun part is that you get to hold the gauge panel while wiring everything up as well, so have a friend. From what I thought I would have finished in 4 hours after I prepped all the wiring fitting for the gauges, It took me until 2am with an 8 hour time frame to cut the panel, mount the gauges, and hook up the wires. I'm glad I had a friend to help me who was just as eager to go boating the next day as me. Here's the gauges:


*the vinyl was falling some in this picture, I just need to glue it back up, the panel is straight.








In the end this is one of my favorite mods to my boat. It's totally unique and people are shocked when I tell them I did it all myself. I don't know which was worse, cutting the carbon fiber or drilling a new speedo pitot through my hull, but it was well worth the effort. I just could never really boat at ease with a sometimes malfunctioning temp sensor and gas gauge.

I know this is a 5 year old topic but I am going through the VDO gauge issue on my 99 Sundowner 245. I like the idea of going with separate gauges as you have. Did you explore the plug and play dash that was supposedly available from Four Winns? Any idea if they still have these? Rather than mess with the pitot tube arrangement I would probably consider using the GPS speedo from the Chesapeake line. Did you have any issue tying into the wiring harness or the existing sensors and senders? The existing VDO dash has the telltales for all the functions. What happens with these when the conversion is made? Are the wires to those simply capped? Lastly would it be possible to repost the pics from your work? Thanks

To follow up. My oil pressure issues on the VDO gauge turned out to be sue to a bad oil pressure sender. Regardless, I decided to go with the separate Faria gauge replacement others have discussed. It is no longer available from Four Winns, but A&A Marine makes a plug and play version that is still available. For my 99 FW Sundowner, I was quoted a $600.00 price plus shipping. It is setup to use the current paddlewheel driven speedometer.

Got my new dash panel with the separate Faria gauges yesterday. Looks great! Will hold off in installing it until I work through some other minor issues awaiting attention. I did the install of the new gauges. As others have pointed out, there are four plastic wingnuts holding the old panel in and clips holding the trim. Once the nuts are removed and the unit unplugged, it is an easy removal inlcluding the trim which should pop right out. The new unit is indeed a plug and play-at least on my 99 Sundowner