But by now, you're an expert at getting that cluster in/out........ LOL

 

In total,i've removed the cluster in my truck about 7 times.I've removed gauges about 3 or 4 times.I really hate to take out the cluster,because i'm always afraid of messing up the contact strips at the plug-in.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheKirbyMan

...so I'm kinda getting tired of doing it over and over again...lol

This is the primary reason why I just leave the dash pad & cluster trim off, it
makes it MUCH easier to get at the guts of the truck (I kinda-sorta put it all
together for the pictures but it didn't stay that way for long and my truck is
ugly as sin, anyhow, and this doesn't make it look any worse and is, in fact,
complementary to its junkyard-ish looks IMHO).

For example, just a few weeks ago (it's getting warmer outside) I spliced in a
factory-colored wire that lights up the BRAKE lamp when the parking brake is
applied; that feature hadn't made it to trucks yet in 1981 so I first replaced the
pedal assembly with one with a switch (did that about 2-3 years ago, just now
got this far with it).

I'm hoping this summer I can wire in the bucket seats I got from a cash-for-
clunkers Grand Cherokee. I usually feel like I shouldn't mess with the seats
until I first deal with the rusted-out rocker panels but I'm too anxious, I
guess....

 

I didn't wanna put my new interior in until I took care of my rust issues,but I too got anxious.Oh well,i've had the interior out so many times it'll probably take me half an hour to an hour to have it entirely out.

 

Okay yall, so i just got done reading this whole article including the several yall posted throughout the thread and now i got some questions on doing my gauges.

What the setup is- I have a 1981 ford f-100 that originally had the idiot lights and no tach in it.

Now i have a 1985 f-250 pickup as a parts truck that i had pulled the gauge cluster and redone (cleaned up/painted and such). An the plan was to swap in this cluster that has all 4 gauges and has the tach in it.

Anyways through this article or any others ive read yall havent mentioned anything on what someone will have to do to put in gauges for a non gauge truck.

So i was hoping i could get some help here on what my steps and things i should/need to do. Any and all help is welcomed, btw i can get wiring harnesses and such from my parts truck if they will swap from my 85 to the 81 i will be driving.

Thanks alot folks! Very interested in what to do as i need to finish this before i can finish my interior of the truck (almost everything is prep'd and painted and sitting in shed waiting to get put back in!).

 

Because it's a pain in the *** and takes too long to write up in one shot.

I said something to this effect some time ago:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ml#post7648851
There are lots of threads with different pieces of this stuff in it.

Getting most everything working is pretty straight forward EXCEPT FOR the ammeter;
that wiring has got a shunt built into it to keep from causing electrical fires and it's all
part of the START/CHARGE/RUN circuit (which means its part of the charging
system, and screw-ups here can have really BAD effects).

There are, um, I think four fewer wires in the non-gauge cluster than the other, and the
primary connectors on the backs of the clusters reflects this. You'd need to remove
each wire from the old connector (with idiot lights) and install it into its proper place
into the other one. The factory wiring diagram makes this pretty easy.

The tach, I'm sure you've read about in the archives (if not, then search).

The ammeter stuff, though, the wiring is wholly different - from the gauge to the
voltage regulator to the alternator. You'll need to cross the green/red stripe and
red/green stripe (I think that's what they are but it's been several years and I could be
wrong) wires at the cluster that used to go to the idiot light, then figure out how to
change the wiring and add in the ammeter shunt & circuitry (which might involve
removing those green & red wires, I honestly don't remember).

My best advice is to just replace the entire harness, much simpler (which I ultimately
did).

 

BTW the voltage regulators of the two configurations are different, too.

 

I agree 100%.Is it both the dash and charging harnesses,or just the charging,or even the charging/engine/dash harnesses?

 

It's everything under the dash and under the hood and half of what can be in the cab. It won't
include from the cab's interior lamp rearward to the tail lights, nor would it include power
windows/doors/mirrors or AC or cruise control as all that stuff uses add-on harnesses.

 

I agree, with Ctubutis, and fordzilla80. Replacing the main underdash harness, and the engine and altenator harness from a truck with gauges is the only safe way to put guages and tach in a truck that had idiot lights originally. The wiring is just too different, and if you mess up the altenator wiring it will cause a fire. The charge gauge is only rated for around 5 amps, and there is a potential to put the full 60 amps of altenator charge through the gauge if it's wired up without the shunt. I've seen the gauge melt from this mistake.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks alot fellas.

Sooo how hard is it too remove the wiring harness's from my 85 and switch em into my 81? Is it basically just a matter of disconnecting and pulling them out?

 

WOW! It really is as simple as moving wires 17 & 18, to use an 81-86 cluster in an 80. Conviently labeled right on top of the plug in, no less.
The 85 cluster had a broke shift indicator cable, while my truck had a good cable. Turns out, the reason my shift indicator didn't work, was the needle part had been removed from the moving part, and placed back in wrong. Swapped the cable, and now I have a tach, trip reset speedo, and a working shift indicator. Also intermittant wipers, but that's from another thread.......

Right now I am torn though. The 83 I snagged the dash plaque from had several holes in it, from some previous owner. One pair of holes is right next to the little bin, where they mounted a horn button. Do I bite the bullet, and go with a crappy dash plaque, or swap some wires around and go back with my original, after also swapping the high beam indicator.
For now, I only have 2 screws holding the cluster in, and no dash plaque. Wanna make sure the dash lights work well enough, since I didn't take the time to pop off the blue covers. Just dusted off the bulbs, and made sure they looked good. It'll be dark soon, and I'll be able to know if the dash lights will suffice, or if I need to pull it all back apart.

 

Those blue things get cloudy over time; when they're new, you can see through 'em.

 

Yeah. I didn't take the time to do more than remove the clear lens from the cluster and wash it off.
If the lights aren't bright enough, I'll take it back out and remove those covers. Might even take the time to repaint the guage needles while I'm at it.......

 

Pretty much, that's all it is.

BUT

Of course, there's a "but" in a topic like this.

Do they both have the same number of gas tanks? If not, you'll have some figuring out to
do.

If one has AC and the other doesn't, this is easy to deal with as the AC harness is
add-on (same with power doors/windows/mirrors/cruise control/factory CB/etc.).

On my "new" harness from the donor, I took the opportunity to first clean ALL of the
connectors, I primarily used some emery cloth and also sometimes some sort of
electrical contact cleaner that's safe for plastics (some of that stuff will EAT the gray
plastic connectors, found that out the hard way). You can pull out the red tabs from the
gray connectors, then use a dental pick or small screwdriver to GENTLY pry the gray
plastic tabs (holding the metal contact in place) while you GENTLY pull the wire
through.

The headlight connectors might be all goobered up, they might require some additional
care in GENTLY cleaning 'em. (You can probably get replacement plastic connectors
for those you hose up from a junk yard.)

I say GENTLY because this is all 30yo plastic and it's generally fragile at this point.

I also used emery cloth on the cluster's printed circuit.

This is also a great time to sand down all the grounding points on the truck, I used
dielectric grease on connectors exposed to the elements.

IIRC a 10mm ratchet will come in handy, at least that's what I seem to remember
using in the junkyard. You might just want to swap the metal supporting bracket stuff
that has the plastic screwed onto it that, together, makes up the dash (if the colors are
correct) since that might be easier (of course, you'll first need to arrange to be able to
pull the engine compartment stuff through the firewall on both sides).

I kept my old harness so I can use the colored wires for additional splices in the
newly-installed harness.

1985 has a key-in-ignition buzzer, your 1981 doesn't, so you'll have some stuff there to
figure out - my guess is that you'll have one extra wire in the half-moon turn signal
switch connector on the harness side that the mating connector on the 1981 switch
doesn't have. I would imagine this wouldn't be a big deal and you could just leave it as
is but you'll have to see.

Use the regulator from the 1985, I also used the alternator from the donor because I
felt better doing it that way (wires were already connected, they presumably worked
while connected there, they should also work in the different truck).

Radio/stereo plugs are likely different but the color coding is the same (LB/R for
dimmable backlighting, G/Y for always-on 12V, Y/B H (black hash) for switched 12V
power for the radio, black is ground). Speaker wires are another matter, there's lots of
pink & green there.

Great time to add intermittent wipers & a clock if you don't have 'em yet, as well as
under-dash & glove compartment lighting.

Buzzers.... 1981 has two physical buzzers, one for seat belts and one for
headlights-on (optional, might not be installed, but the jack will be there for it). Ford
used a single, combined buzzer in later years, it's located above the glove
compartment and behind the dash. Shouldn't be any problems, just swap all that stuff
over.

Neutral safety switch might be an issue, I don't think 1981 had those (mine doesn't,
though it'd be on the clutch pedal if it existed) so you'll have to try it and see, you
might have to jumper some wires together (I think R/B (red/blue stripe)) but not
positive).

The half-moon connector on the driver's side under the hood, I don't think there were any
issues there even though I have a T18 manual tranny and the donor had an automatic...
My donor was from 1982 and I don't *think* they had neutral safety switches in that year,
either, but I was nevertheless concerned. As it turned out, everything just worked,
including the 4WD lamp. I would match up both sides of that connector and ensure the
wire colors are the same, write back here if problems or questions.

There might be some differences in the wiring to the overhead cab light; in fact, I'm
just about sure there will be.... doesn't 1985 have a 3rd brake light in the center of the
cab? 1981 doesn't, although yours may become the first in the country to have one.

Some variants have a passenger-side door switch that turns on the interior light when
the pass door is opened, others didn't (I think this was some sort of Convenience &
Lighting Group option, it'd include under-dash & glove compartment lighting).

But, it's all pretty straight forward, just take your time and don't rush, ask here if
questions (pix are helpful).