Gauge question

[Custom_10]

79 step side-I am doing what I can myself on the restoration but am no electrician. I have the 4 warning lights [idiot lights]at the left of the dash bezel and am going to change them to the factory dial gauges or possibly custom dial gauges.  The brake warning light I will probably leave as is.  The wiring now is just for the warning lights so will I need to run new wires?

[zieg85]

I would like to make a suggestion that I am doing in my 86C10 build.  98% of the trucks out there have the stock gauges that most of the times are somewhat accurate at best.   I am waiting on the site owners pillar pod offerings and saving up for a good set of mechanical gauges and keep the stock indicator lights as well.  That way if a problem crops up chances are you will notice a bright red light come on while you may not notice a temperature gauge pegged before it is to late or a serious drop in oil pressure.  My $.02. 

If you decide to go with the stock set up you will need the associated under dash wiring to do it right from what I remember reading but I can't recall if the under hood wiring to the sensors have the same ends on it or not.

[Captkaos]

Being a 79 you can use anything from 78-up, but you need to verify the pinouts, and you will need new sending units.

[paniolo]

Having lights AND gauges is the best.  Sometimes you aren't looking at a gauge just when something bad happens ... a red light on the dash gets your attention fast.

If you do go with gauges only, you need to put a resistance wire in the alternator circuit.  The light has all the resistance you need so your truck did not come with a resistance wire stock. 

[Custom_10]

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated !   

[Grim 82]

+1 for redundancy. Two is one, and 1 is none. Add aftermarket gauges to the setup. Capt is working on the pillar pods...