73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Electrical => Topic started by: Custom_10 on October 29, 2011, 04:02:46 pm
-
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?
-
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.
-
Being a 79 you can use anything from 78-up, but you need to verify the pinouts, and you will need new sending units.
-
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.
-
Thanks for all the info, much appreciated ! :)
-
+1 for redundancy. Two is one, and 1 is none. Add aftermarket gauges to the setup. Capt is working on the pillar pods...