73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Interior & Equipment => Instrumentation => Topic started by: Kody021 on June 20, 2008, 03:48:28 pm
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What is the simplest way to do this? On the back of the gauges there is just two bolts to hold them in place. Would it be easiest to just make some small straps that butt up against the back of the bezel, or is there a better way? The gauges I have are all electric Procomp Ultra-Lite 5" Tach, 5" Speedo, 2 1/16" Volt, 2 1/16" Fuel, 2 1/16" Temp, 2 1/16" Oil Pressure, and 2 1/16" Clock. I don't plan on using the clock since there is not enough room. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!
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Chris(Site owner/moderator Capt) has a Very Detailed write-up with pics by Jeff(Bigblock73) over on 73-87.com
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/gauge_surface.htm
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Thanks man that was greatly appreciated!!! Hope I can return the favor sometime!
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I'm a little unclear about the Painless harness he's talking about- is there a harnes that will plug directly into the factory guage harness? A part # would be great, I want to do this, but was hoping I could buy a harness instead of cutting factory wires or running all new wires for senders and such..
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No, it won't plug in, you have to cut the wires on the factory harness.
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ok, so what is the benefit of buying the painless harness- i guess i'm still just confused how it makes things any easier. got a schematic of which wires go to what? :)
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The painless harness has a plug that you can tie into with connectors for all the autometer gauges which just plug into the gauges. Otherwise you have to crimp a bunch of blade terminals on the wires.
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Thanks man that was greatly appreciated!!! Hope I can return the favor sometime!
No Worries Bro, Always Happy to Help when I can.... We all have various areas of knowledge/experiences to share in some way...
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I have both the 73-87 complete truck wiring harness, so adding the univ gauge wiring harness was a no brainer. Like Chris said, much easier to wire...and remove all the gauges easier if I need to remove them by simply un-plugging them.
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So how do you go about wiring up the high beam and most importantly the turn signals???
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So how do you go about wiring up the high beam and most importantly the turn signals???
Well if you are following the write up, the Turn Signals still use the Factory locations and wiring... For Highbeams, you easily add a single Radio Led that you can mount anywhere on the dash.....
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So how do you go about wiring up the high beam and most importantly the turn signals???
Well if you are following the write up, the Turn Signals still use the Factory locations and wiring... For Highbeams, you easily add a single Radio Led that you can mount anywhere on the dash.....
Not very clear
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Sorry Mike,just follow the way Jeff did his Cluster, to keep his Factory Turn Signal Locations(So no cutting or changing the locations needed)..
Jeff's Cluster Write up is found here:
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/gauge_surface.htm
Then you can simply add a Single LED Light that you can find at your local Radio Shack for the Highbeam Indicator... Just cut the Wires from your old Highbeam Indictor light socket, and connect a small LED in its place,then simply drill a Hole on your new cluster where you want it....
If you want Custom Turn Signals to match the LED Highbeam indicator, you simply cut and splice LEDs in place of the Turn Signal Bulb Sockets as well.... You may also need to get a Special Light Flasher to get them to work properly though(For Turn Signals/Hazzards only, as the Highbeam indicator only comes on with the switch, and isn't needed to flash) ....
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pardon my ignorance here- but does anyone have a schematic of wire colors for which guages from the factory to make splicing easier? i haven't pulled the cluster out to look at the wires- so i'm just trying to get all the info i can before i pull it all apart and start cutting.
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Sorry Mike,just follow the way Jeff did his Cluster, to keep his Factory Turn Signal Locations(So no cutting or changing the locations needed)..
Jeff's Cluster Write up is found here:
http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/gauge_surface.htm
Then you can simply add a Single LED Light that you can find at your local Radio Shack for the Highbeam Indicator... Just cut the Wires from your old Highbeam Indictor light socket, and connect a small LED in its place,then simply drill a Hole on your new cluster where you want it....
If you want Custom Turn Signals to match the LED Highbeam indicator, you simply cut and splice LEDs in place of the Turn Signal Bulb Sockets as well.... You may also need to get a Special Light Flasher to get them to work properly though(For Turn Signals/Hazzards only, as the Highbeam indicator only comes on with the switch, and isn't needed to flash) ....
So somehow for the blinkers you splice into the factory ribbon?
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You cut off the push in plug for the cluster and tap into the wiring at the plug.... You are trashing the whole printed circuit with this mod..
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You cut off the push in plug for the cluster and tap into the wiring at the plug.... You are trashing the whole printed circuit with this mod..
Okay Thanks!
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Guys,
Just getting caught up on the posts and ran across this one. Couple of quick questions:
- The link for the Painless Wiring isn't coming up properly; does any one have a part # that I can search their site for?
- Also where can I source the Aluminum Bezel for this? Does Chris carry these?
Thanks.
Chkdsk.
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I have the aluminum bezel overlay here:
http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=7&Category_Code=7G
Painless' website search must be messed up, but the PN's you are looking for are #30301 - For cable driven speedometer.
#30302 - For electric speedometer.
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(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w58/Kody021/photo.jpg)
Just Finished It!!!!!
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there ya go!
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did you use the 2 and 1/16 gauge or did you have to get 2 and 5/8 ?
i want to do the same but i want to use cobalt guages and i dont thing they offer them in 2 5/8 ???
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Sorry I did use 2 5/8, because the 2 1/16 were to small. I had to sand a little out of the dash to put th gauges in, but it wasn't really that hard.
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(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w58/Kody021/photo.jpg)
Just Finished It!!!!!
Very nice! But i wonder... this may sound like a dumb question but i am a not to short of a guy so it may affect me. Does the fact that those are not going to be recessed (sunk into) the bezel like the factory ones hinder the visibility of them in any way? They are just flush with the bezel instead of sunk in and tilted slightly up. Are you going to have to sorta tilt your head down to see them now, or will it be like the factory ones where you can just glance at them?
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You cut off the push in plug for the cluster and tap into the wiring at the plug.... You are trashing the whole printed circuit with this mod..
Okay Thanks!
Let me know when your done with yours................. So You can do mine.
Finda a tranny yet?
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Question the Speedo's I am finding have a 5/8 thread not the GM connection do you buy a new cable (custom) or is there a adapter ?
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autometer makes a cable i think its $50
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Very nice! But i wonder... this may sound like a dumb question but i am a not to short of a guy so it may affect me. Does the fact that those are not going to be recessed (sunk into) the bezel like the factory ones hinder the visibility of them in any way? They are just flush with the bezel instead of sunk in and tilted slightly up. Are you going to have to sorta tilt your head down to see them now, or will it be like the factory ones where you can just glance at them?
I have this mod and it doesn't bother me one bit whatsoever that they aren't recessed into the bezel / and or angled upward. The sheer size of the gauges compensates for any inconvenience the angle change might make if you ask me.
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If you've got one post a pic of the back side as well.
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If you've got one post a pic of the back side as well.
Well, my setup isn't exactly what the guys have described here. I did use the aluminum bezel sold here to house the gauges, but the back side is a gutted factory cluster housing with part of the printed circuit still used. I did that because I wanted to use the little turn signal areas with the arrows, and the bulb housings were practically impossible to just solder connections on to or something. Now in hindsight, it would have been much easier to just use some little green LED's from an auto parts store.
You have several easy options for the accessory lights, you can buy LED's in green, blue, and red. I used a blue one for the high beam indicator. Several of the other option lights I've ditched altogether.
Most of my wiring is direct to the fuse block. I rebuilt my entire wire harness and did this project during the rebuild.
The wires are pretty simple actually. LOTS of them for bulb power (very low amp draw) and then I branched a bus connection for all the power for the gauges individually. Ground is obviously, a piece of cake. Other than that, its just the connections for all the sender wires.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Highpsi/K-10%20Truck/Gauges/Cwires6.jpg)
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Highpsi/K-10%20Truck/Gauges/Cwires2.jpg)
This was where I soldered wires right onto the printed circuit. Again, pretty silly in the long run when you can simply buy some LED's, although this was as cheap as cheap gets!
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Highpsi/K-10%20Truck/Gauges/Cwires3.jpg)
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Thanks Cruzin! How did you guys keep the gauges in the holes. I saw on a previous post where someone wired them in place and just wondered if there is another way.
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The gauges have mounting brackets on them. You put it through the hole and tighten the bracket to the back side.
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So is there a schematic for the factory instrument plug somewhere?
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Haynes manuals have them in there.