Backlit Gauges

dcioccarelli

Dominic Cioccarelli
Hi all,

I was checking out the Polish equivalent of eBay (allegro.pl) and came across these very interesting backlit gauges:

https://allegro.pl/oferta/fiat-x1-9-x19-tarcze-licznika-indiglo-moman-x-1-9-9052101371


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I'll have to check out that site. I love similar resources from other countries. Poland has an amazing automotive scene. There are quite a number of outstanding builders there, and the work they do is simply amazing. I guess it's one of those places with long cold winters and heated workshops. Plus excellent work ethic and attention to detail.

In fact one of our members (Stan) from Poland makes great Fiat, Abarth, X1/9, and many more, stainless keychains:
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/stainless-keychains-fiat-x19-abarth-lancia-etc.30372/
 
Stan, if you're reading this, I'd like to buy 5 complete sets if we can sort out a USD price for them. (and the price doesn't get crazy expensive)
Best I've seen... Would ne nice if he made MPH as well.
 
Stan, if you're reading this, I'd like to buy 5 complete sets if we can sort out a USD price for them. (and the price doesn't get crazy expensive)
Best I've seen... Would ne nice if he made MPH as well.

Hi Bob,

as luck would have it I'm actually in Poland at the moment. So if you are serious I can manage the forwarding.

Cheers,
Dom.
 
if we can sort out a USD price for them
Ya Bob, that is where I ran into a roadblock. Also with the shipping. As far as I can tell there isn't a English version of the site. Sure, you can have Google translate the words. But that does not offer any info on buying or shipping for US customers. There is a feature where you can sell items in English (and that does not necessarily mean the USA), but not buy things (as far as I could find). So they might not offer sales to the US? I've found that the case with similar sites from Brazil and other countries.

Perhaps if anyone here is fluent in Polish they can read the details better and find out more on this? Ian?
 
Hi Dom,
If there's any way to get these folks to post them on eBay, that would likely be easiest, as they have translated funds and they're likely to get lots of orders. If they post in their native language and ship world-wide, that would work best. Please menage the forwarding if you can do it. Thanks in advance!
 
The exchange rate is roughly 4 to 1, so about $80 USD for a set. Not bad. Any idea what the technology is behind them?
The web site hints at the light source being electroluminescent sheets. It also says you need to buy the high voltage inverter separately. Also note that there is an oil pressure dial, but no voltmeter dial.
 
That technology of illumination is becoming very popular for high tech items. Hopefully that means it is a good thing. But the need of an inverter of some sort is interesting; I haven't see that with other applications of this type of illumination display.
 
Hey Dom, I just posted a related comment at the same time as your post. Are you fluent in Polish by chance? Do you know more about the site?

Hey Jeff,

no, unfortunately my Polish is rubbish. My wife is Polish and I tried to learn with the kids when they were small but by about the age of 1 they had overtaken me :(. Unfortunately there are not as many Fiats in Poland as you would have found before: more newer BMWs and Audis. But you will see the occasional 126p, which is even becoming trendy again amongst some younger people.

If you need any help with anything, let me know and I can ask my wife. Otherwise I typically rely on Google translate (which is actually getting very good).

In terms of the site, Poland is one of the few countries where eBay didn't dominate the local market, so they have Allegro as a local alternative.

As for the price: it would certainly seem cheaper to buy it here and ship it rather than ordering direct from the US (especially in bulk).

BTW: I've never seen an X1/9 speedo that reads to 260 (the version that they show above typically stops at 200). So obviously intended for either optimistic drivers or heavily tweaked cars ;)
 
There have been a couple comments about these gauges that bring up a good point. The listing depicts gauges with readings outside of our normal gauges, or functions that we do not have. So will these gauges even work in our US spec cars?
 
Probably not but imagine a group buy where he made a run that do work for our antiquated Imperial markings...
 
However it's not just the marking, the senders also may not be compatible?

Hi Jeff,

if you compare with the standard Euro speedo, you can see that the 200 kph is in the same position, so it shouldn't be an issue: they have simply "extended" the scale. In reality, as the gauge will keep going around proportionally to the speed of the cable, this will probably work if the car could actually go that fast.


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