Aftermarket cluster
Thread Starter
|
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,244
Likes: 40
Aftermarket cluster
I don't trust the stock cluster in my 84 Ford. How hard would it be to swap out to autometer guages or another more modern kind? Presently, my coolant guage does not move at all.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,091
Likes: 3
From: Suffolk, VA USA
There have been several guys on here that have gone the aftermarket gauge route, usually by cutting a new flat panel and placing it over the exisitng gauge bezel opening. The results look pretty good, but in order to mount the new flat panel they've had to cover almost the whole width of the dash. For a non-AC truck it seems to work fine, but it looks like it might be trouble with an AC dash. I think if you look up Brewtl you'll see some nice pictures of a well-done job.
I opted to go a different route. My observation is that the printed circuits on the back of the dash clusters break down over time where the copper circuits begin to seperate from the plastic, shift around, and cause bad connections, particularly where the wiring harness connects to the cluster. I eliminated the printed circuit and hard wired the cluster together. As part of the project I aslo replaced the Instrument Voltage Regulator with this unit.
Ford Mustang Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator 5v - eBay (item 280572904155 end time Jan-06-11 17:51:35 PST)
It took a few small rolls of different colored wires, ring terminals, some soldering supplies and skills, a couple of multipi-pin disconnect plugs from Radio Shack, and about 6 hours of time to plan the job and rewire both the cluster and the truck harness. But it really wasn't very hard to do and I'm extremely pleased with the performance of the gauge cluster. The hardest part of the whole job was soldering wires onto the all the light bulb connectors, but it was very doable. The new IVR is adjustable, so I was able to tune the gauges to the specific accuracy I was looking for. It sounds like a lot of work, but I would have had to do most of it to add aftermarket gauges anyway. And it sure was a whole lot cheaper while maintaining a cleaner factory look. I wish I had thought to take pictures, but I may need to go into the dash to convert the emissions light to a check engine (I did a previous mass air conversion). If I do it soon I'll take some pictures of the cluster.
I opted to go a different route. My observation is that the printed circuits on the back of the dash clusters break down over time where the copper circuits begin to seperate from the plastic, shift around, and cause bad connections, particularly where the wiring harness connects to the cluster. I eliminated the printed circuit and hard wired the cluster together. As part of the project I aslo replaced the Instrument Voltage Regulator with this unit.
Ford Mustang Instrument Cluster Voltage Regulator 5v - eBay (item 280572904155 end time Jan-06-11 17:51:35 PST)
It took a few small rolls of different colored wires, ring terminals, some soldering supplies and skills, a couple of multipi-pin disconnect plugs from Radio Shack, and about 6 hours of time to plan the job and rewire both the cluster and the truck harness. But it really wasn't very hard to do and I'm extremely pleased with the performance of the gauge cluster. The hardest part of the whole job was soldering wires onto the all the light bulb connectors, but it was very doable. The new IVR is adjustable, so I was able to tune the gauges to the specific accuracy I was looking for. It sounds like a lot of work, but I would have had to do most of it to add aftermarket gauges anyway. And it sure was a whole lot cheaper while maintaining a cleaner factory look. I wish I had thought to take pictures, but I may need to go into the dash to convert the emissions light to a check engine (I did a previous mass air conversion). If I do it soon I'll take some pictures of the cluster.
Freshman User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
77429highboy
1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
10
Jul 13, 2011 05:13 AM
rockcrawler_101
1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
6
Jul 4, 2011 10:31 PM
mrgn_mtt
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
10
Dec 1, 2010 05:17 AM
Blaine
1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks
7
Nov 19, 2003 12:49 PM
