The instrument cluster that came with the wiring harness my wife is using for her truck had the idiot lights up top instead of the gauges, it disintegrated when it was pulled out. We have four cabs from 1978, but all of them have the gauges up top instead of the idiot lights.

My question is... Will Econoline van instrument clusters from the 80's work with the 1978 harness if we can find one with the warning lamps up top like the one that it broken?

 

1975-1979 Ford Bronco and F Series Truck Instrument Cluster Backing Plate-Broncograveyard.com
They all break new replacement.

 

Appreciate the link. I'm looking for a more immediate solution as I would like to drive this truck this week.

 

1981: FoMoCo came out with hard plastic instrument cluster backs for Econolines.

These were also the "service part replacements" for 1975/79 F100/350, 1975/80 Econoline & 1978/79 Bronco's that came with POS composition cluster backs that can TURN TO DUST before your very eyes!

E1PZ-10848-A .. Hard Plastic Cluster Back-Use with Oil/Amp GAUGES / Obsolete

1981/91 Econoline, retrofit: 1975/79 F100/350; 1975/80 Econoline; 1978/79 Bronco.
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E1PZ-10848-B .. Hard Plastic Cluster Back-Use with Oil/Amp WARNING LAMPS / Obsolete

1981/86 Econoline (no warning lamps after 1986), retrofit: 1975/79 F100/350; 1975/80 Econoline / 1978/79 Bronco.

At one time, Carpenter had 100's of each NOS

Printed circuit board used with Oil/Amp GAUGES same: 1976/79 F100/350; 1976/91 Econoline; 1978/79 Bronco.

Printed circuit board used with Oil/Amp WARNING LAMPS: 1976/78 only. 1979 F100/350 & Bronco, 1979/86 Econoline is different.

 

Thank you very much sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar!

 

Additional printed circuit board info edited into my previous post.

 

Are the printed circuits reusable? The one on the cluster back we have is still intact.

 

Yes, but you have to use the correct type for your application.

 

The situation is our 73's wiring was horrific, so we swapped out the harness with the one form my 78' that is in very good shape. The instrument cluster we are using is the one that came out of the truck the harness came out of, as we quickly learned the other four clusters were different sizes from the 78' with warning lamps.

Appreciate all the help. If the van has the proper cluster, I will post the new install.