Author Topic: 2 quick and easy questions.....  (Read 4996 times)

Offline BIG CHEVY

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2 quick and easy questions.....
« on: October 28, 2011, 08:02:03 PM »
Question 1.......i have the interior lights that only come on in the floorboards when u turn the headlight switch all the way counterclockwise.....no door activation.   I want to run a light over my head to come on with the floorboard lights. Is it possible to run wires thru the top of the door and roof? Is it hollow? Are the risers beside the windshield hollow? Is it possible to make em door activated?

Question 2......my guages are dim when lit. I dont think they actually malfunction...they are just dim. Can these be made brighter? Clean bulbs? Buy brighter bulbs?

Offline bake74

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2011, 10:37:55 PM »
     Answere to #1:  If you have a older truck like mine, I do not believe the pillers are hollow, and the roof is not ( 1 piece ), the headliner hid the wires for dome lights.  If it was me and not planing on putting a head liner on, I would run the wire on the floor, behind the seat and up around the window as best you could ( if you plan on putting in on top and middle of rear window ).  Yes you can make all the light activated by the doors, you just need to install the door switches and wire them up to activate by headlight switch, and/or door.
     Answere #2:  I took my gage cluster out and all my light had build up on the metal backing that slide into the circuit panel.  Cleaned them all up with some red brillo pads and now they are bright.  Also there are led light bulbs for our gage clusters,  below is a link to a thread in interiors talking about led gage lights , people say they make your dash brighter, some say too brite, but you can always dim them.

     http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php/topic,17046.msg134852.html#msg134852
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 10:40:31 PM by bake74 »
#1: The easiest and most obvious solution to any problem is 99% of the time correct.
#2: There is no such thing as impossible, it just takes longer.
  74 k10, 77k10    Tom

Offline BIG CHEVY

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2011, 12:42:32 AM »
my roof is all metal. i think it was born that way. painted same as my other metal in the interior. sounds like 2 pieces of metal but i was thinking maybe there is insulation or something in there. thought maybe i could go under carpet and seat, then enter the wall somewhere behind me....around the back glass and out of a hole i can cut dead in the middle of roof close to glass. if the pillar idea wouldnt work. i cant risk cutting into it if anyone already knows it is undoable. is it undoable?

Offline BIG CHEVY

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2011, 12:43:40 AM »
its a 79 k-10 in the profile pic.

Offline 1980c10

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2011, 01:12:48 AM »
I am going to eventually do the same to my truck. My plan is to look at one at the salvage yard, that way I can remove it and look to see exactly how they are installed and maybe even take some measurents if needed.

Offline 1980c10

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2011, 01:17:51 AM »
Forgot this question had two parts. I replaced the lense on my guage cluster. It looked clear even out of the truck but when cleaning it I had a white rag behind it and you could see the lense was very yellow where the guages are covered, maybe due to the sun and age. Replacing that made them appear brighter also made the guages look brand new.

Offline Captkaos

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2011, 01:40:31 AM »
The dome light wiring goes up the rear pillar on trucks that had them.

Offline thirsty

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Re: 2 quick and easy questions.....
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2011, 01:32:16 PM »
The dome light wiring goes up the rear pillar on trucks that had them.
X2

This would be a fairly easy upgrade if you got one out of a scrap yard and got the measurements for the hole that you need to cut into your roof.
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