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Anyone done this? Any tips? I'm sick of not having gauges. I'm ditching the MDC and going to analog gauges, and having custom dash bezel plates made. Anyone know a source for the factory switches and circuit breakers? I feel pretty confident that I'm going to break one.
Here's a nice writeup I found from the MC forum on MDC delete: https://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk...ad.php?t=61353
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Febuild. LOL Can a moderator fix the subject please?
Fixed it for you.
I have bypassed the MDC on my 2000 Launch, the link you have is what I used. Not a hard job. I went with Chesapeake Farina boat gauges. Have not had a problem since - Glad to get rid of the MDC.
In terms of relays and fuses I bought the ones I needed at Great Lake Skipper and Ebay.
I am also looking for the "bezel plate" let me know if you have a place to make one.
Thanks. Bought the gauges today, and made CAD templates for the dash panels to be CNC cut by a local plastic shop. I think they can engrave or print the switch labels as well.
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I will share the .dxf file if anyone wants it. I traced the old panels on paper, scanned the tracings, pasted the scans into AutoCAD, traced the images in CAD, and deleted the scan images. I then printed them out in full scale, and laid the old panels over the printouts. I made a few final adjustments, and they are just about identical now. I also deleted the holes for the MDC speedo adjusters and a couple other holes that weren't being used anymore.
I got the gauges in quickly. Very nice set, and much nicer than the OEM ones. Getting the dash panels cut has been the slow part - took over a week just to get quotes. I have to buy an entire 4x8 sheet of 3/16" ABS material to cut mine, and I'm thinking about having the rest of the sheet cut up into dash inserts as well. Would anyone be interested in buying a set for their boat? I'm not sure how long Supra used this dash, but they should fit a few other years.
Well, the dash panels are taking forever, and the water is starting to warm up here in TX. It's not totally the plastic shop's fault - I found a different material I wanted to use instead. It should be here this week, and then hopefully I'll have the panels done next week. I can get 3 sets cut from the sheet of material, so let me know if you're interested in buying one.
I am going through the wiring now, and I have to say the factory wiring is at best unimpressive IMO. There are blade connectors ganged together up to like 5 deep for the illumination on the switches, and the factory option heater and trim tab were tied in using quick splices! :mad: Also, the motor harness comes up the left side of the dash like it would on any inboard, splits up under the dash, and the tach/temp/oil pressure signal wires go down the gunnel to the the MDC next to the gas tank, and then the MDC signals go back up to the dash. The fuel level signal comes from the fuel tank to the dash, ties into the MDC harness, and back to the back of the boat to the MDC. There is probably 300' of unneeded wiring and 50 avoidable (and corroding) terminals in this "wiring harness". The MDC was clearly an afterthought from the start.
Finally done. The bezel panels I had made were a little off in a couple spots, but not enough to not work. I replaced all the switches and circuit breakers, and replaced the original trim tab switch with one that matches all the other switches. Gauges all work perfectly. I stuck one of the old speedos back in because the new gauge set only comes with one speedo, but I wanted places for 2 since I might install PerfectPass down the road. McGill is the manufacturer of the switches, and I got them all from Great Lakes Skipper. I was able to clean up the wiring quite a bit too, but it's still not awesome.
I have 2 sets of extra bezel panels if anyone is interested in them. They can be massaged by sanding a couple edges and corners to fit perfectly. I just didn't want to take my dash back apart after I found the minor fitment issues.
All told, it ended up costing about $550, and took about 5 hours of my time. One could get it done for under $200 if they reused the old bezel panels and switches.
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Looks great. where did you get the dash decals?
Thanks. The plastics supplier that cut the panels engraved the labels in the material. I wasn't sure how the engraving would come out, so I only had one set engraved. It came out better than I expected.
would you mind sending me the template file?
Thanks
Sent.
If anyone is interested in the 2 spare sets I had cut, $80 shipped for Supra forum members. I'll be putting them on ebay for $100 soon.
Whats the possibility you still have a spare set of the plastic bezel plates for sale? If not, do you still have the CAD file available to share with me? Looking to replace mine... Thanks in advance.
I doubt you still have any spare sets but do you have the bezel templete you used to have them cut?
Thanks for any help!!
Caseyt, did you have any luck replacing your bezel plates?