ST200 Clubman Tachometer - Tech

Now pull the tach back out and remove the cover so you can drill your spots. Make sure the circuit board is out of the way before you start drilling! I used a very small drill bit to start the holes since I wasn't sure if the placement would clear the circuit board or not. It's a good idea for you to do the same since there is some guess-and-check involved in this install.

As you can see I had to clock my holes a little bit clockwise to clear the circuit board but in doing so I found a location where I didn't have to pierce any portion of circuit board. You may have to drill your board but just make sure you aren't going through any metal portion and you're in the clear. Next I cut away some sections of plastic that were interfering with the tach's body.

I continued to remove three of the protruding pegs where I am going to run hardware so that the bolt heads aren't limiting the mounting depth.

Now carefully lower the tach into your desired position. Make sure you don't move the tach around as you want two clean dots like I have in the second picture.

Once the holes are drilled move back to the back side of the cluster and realign the circuit board. Check where the holes come through and make sure they aren't directly below any metal portions of your circuit board - if they are you're going to have to move the mounting points until they're clear. As you can see in the second picture I'm pointing to where the upper hole lined up, it was right on the circuit and I had to relocate my holes. Once I found the right position I used a larger bit to open them up all the way.

Here is the hardware that is going to be used to connect the tach wiring directly into the circuit board. You can pick these up at most any hardware store: (3) 4mmX7 nuts, (3) 4mmX7 bolts and (3) 4mm washers.

With the tach in place use the supplied washers and 7mm lock nuts to secure the tach to the cluster. I had to leave the lower corner of the circuit board disconnected to secure the lower stud, but the top stud went right through an already existing hole - score! (That's what she said.)

Here's a look at the back side of the cluster with all the hardware in. Starting at the center top position and going clockwise we have the upper tach stud, positive terminal, Ignitor terminal, bottom stud and ground terminal. Now it's time to connect the wires to the eye connectors.

Last but not least you'll need to decide where you want to install your switch. I decided to use the vacant plate on the left side of the EG dash under the dimmer switch. I removed the plate for drilling and installation because it's a lot easier to work on a table than crawling around inside a car.

Now insert the stripped wires into their corresponding connectors. As per STACK's supplied instruction manual we know that the orange wire goes to the Ignitor signal. Then the red wire goes to positive and the black to negative (duh). Since the terminals were already secured to the cluster, I couldn't fit the crimping tool I have in there so I just used a dull set of side cutters. If you decide to use side cutters just be careful not to over do it and cut through the connector!

Cut the wires to a reasonable length and strip the ends. We'll only be cutting the orange, red and black wires for now. Using an appropriate wire stripper (whatever you've got laying around can make due), strip the ends of the wires that will be going into the connectors.

When we flip the cluster back over we get a glimpse of the progress we've made. Looks pretty dope huh!? Well we're not done yet but we're on the home stretch!

Here's a look at all the wires mated to the connectors. Make sure to do a quick pull test to insure that they are properly secured.

On one side of the switch we have the blue wire coming from the tach and on the other I used some of the left over black wire for the ground side. I decided to solder them in but you can use the supplied spade connectors for this.

Just like the removal process I'm going to skip the actual cluster install - it's just the reverse order of installation anyway. You'll also need to connect the blue wire and find a suitable ground mounting location for the button. I used a vacant hole on the dash frame but anywhere that you can get to bare metal will work. With the cluster plugged in I followed the supplied instruction manual's procedure to set the tach. Hold the button in and turn the key to the ON position but do not start the car. When the needle comes back to a rest at 0 you will press the button one time for each cylinder - in my case I pressed the button four times for the four cylinder engine. The pointer will point to the corresponding number on the dial (in my case 4) to verify your selection. Once you have the cylinders dialed in let off the button for three seconds and it's party time! Holy hell it actually works!

Once everything is installed and you're positive you don't need to make any further adjustments we can glue the clear screen back onto the cover. Using super glue, place a couple dots along the areas where the screen was originally attached and firmly hold the cover in place as it dries. Don't forget to reinstall the cluster bulbs.

On the other end of the black wire I installed the supplied large eye connector for the ground.