Printed circuit board and autometer gauges

[GUITAR1989]

Hey guys hows it going I have another question for some of you more experienced folks. im swapping out my gauges for a set of autometer traditional chromes and i was wondering a few things about the install. first off can you fill me in on the  printed circuit board. what does it controll...dash lights, gauges, turn signals, a/c, stereo? im just wondering because the factory gauges plugged right into it and im not quite sure how to go about putting the new ones in. ive seen circuit boards with no gauge spots printed into them. am i going to need to get one of the gaugless printed circuit board and wire up the autometers seprate? im just wondering cause if the original printed circuit board can be used with the autometers it would really save my wallet from a beating..a new gaugless circuit board would be around 85-90$ and im hurting for cash right now.
Thanks again for your time guys youre allways a ton of help and its greatly appreciated

[beastie_3]

I bypassed the circuit board and tied the autometer gauges into the wires before the stock plug.

[Swims350]

you won't even need the board if you do all new gauges would you? If so why? also how can you put in the small gauges on the side and still use the ones in the middle meaning speedo and fuel gauge stock ones with aftermarket others?

[beastie_3]

The light blueish plastic panel that the circuit board attaches to is in the way anyways. It has to be cut to make room for the gauges. I havent had any problems with fitting all the gauges in the same spots. The 4 autometer gauges to the left are 2 5/8 size and I have a speedo and tach that are 5 inches and none touch each other. All I had to do was enlarge the holes to the correct size.

[GUITAR1989]

ahh right on..so if i trash the printed circuit i just need to manually wire up the gauges...will i need to wire up anything else or does that printed circuit just controll the gauges? thats what i was trying to ask like do the headlights. taillights, whipers, cigarette lighter, stereo, a/c..will any of that stuff need to be wired up manually also? thanks for your help by the way guys sry about the confusion

[beastie_3]

You will need new lights for high beam indicator, turn signal indicators, etc. You can find some small LEDs and mount them on the instrument panel. They get wired up the same way.

Cig lighter, headlight switch, wiper switch etc is not controlled by that harness.

[GUITAR1989]

so i cut out the area that was getting in the way of the autometers and took the printed circuit off...im gonna be using my stock speedo for a while untill i can save up some cash for a nice 5" one and the stock gas gauge is just there to fill in the spot.

Its looking pretty good but im stuck since i removed the printed circuit i need to find out how to wire all the gauges and lights up to ^this thing ^ does anybody know where i can find a color code for a 74 c10 that will tell me what each of these wires are. also how should i go about it. should i take the wires out of the holder and wire them directly to the gauges or is there some kind of double sided holder i can wire the gauges and those wires to so i can disconnect them if  ever need to get back there. also if you know what this thing is that im calling a holder please correct me lmao

[beastie_3]

There is a wiring diagram in the tech section of this forum.

What I did was used a T connector for each wire. The back of the T connector accepts a male quick connect so you can simply remove it if you need to. I went further and used a flat 4 trailer plug so all I have to do is disconnect the plug and presto, all the wires are free. Ill try to get links of what Im talking about.

[beastie_3]

T connector
http://www.connectorsupply.com/catalog/terminals-connectors-tap-connectors-c-54_65.html?osCsid=e9bnovbgf5te9l597ilidbagd6

male quick connector
http://www.connectorsupply.com/catalog/non-insulated-male-quick-disconnect-p-311.html?osCsid=e9bnovbgf5te9l597ilidbagd6

flat 4 plug
http://www.connectorsupply.com/catalog/flat-way-connector-12-403-p-100.html?osCsid=e9bnovbgf5te9l597ilidbagd6

For the flat 4, i had more than 4 wires so I used two sets. When I wired them, I had one set one way, and the other set the other way so there was only one way to plug them in. Example: on the gauge side, i had one female flat 4, and one male flat 4.

[GUITAR1989]

Thank you so much man. Thats just the kinda set up i was looking to do but i didnt know the names of any of the components. I really appreciate your help.

[GUITAR1989]

hey beastie do you know the color code for that plug that goes into the printed circuit? im tracing all the wires right now but just thought id ask

[beastie_3]

hey beastie do you know the color code for that plug that goes into the printed circuit? im tracing all the wires right now but just thought id ask

Try this:

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=11766.0

[GUITAR1989]

Ahhh i didnt see that the printed circuit board was labled in the diagrams..nice

[84chevysilverado]

when i installed my autometer gauges i left the printed circut in so i wouldnt have to rewire my signal lights

[Swims350]

how can you install the aftermarket gauges without taking the circuit board out? I find that interesting and ask because I'd like to do it sometime maybe. I use mech. gauges though do the electrical ones make the difference in being able to leave it in or not? I think it'd be nice to put in the aftermarket volt, temp, and oil pressure, but leave the brake light and turn signals for sure and speedo/ fuel gauge for now, maybe changing them later.