I'm bumping this mainly to make it easier to find. Looks like I will be switching 17/18 back to where they were originally, then swapping 14/15, and keeping my orginal dash plaque. The woodgrain is peeling a little, but far less than the one from either the bronco or 83 F100. Besides, my truck has dealer added air, so the vents are a bit different.

Now, I just gotta see about dimming down the high beam indicator.......

 

I used paint or liquid electrical tape or some such on the bulb behind the HVAC controls:

 

Now that sounds like an idea. Dunno why I didn't thunk of it......

 

Awesome ctu, thanks alot.

Just wondering, what are the certain harnesses ill need to grab just to be able to throw in my gauges and not change anything else? Because wont i be able to take out the main one from the gauges and switch it from the other trucks and not have to dick with all the other trucks wiring?

Btw, i already had pulled the floor lights from my donor as i thought they would be a neat add on. Isnt that just a plug and play?

Thanks alot man i really appreciate it.

 

Btw, here are my gauges i just finished painting! I feel they turned out real well.

 

FnF, I know you have a lot of time invested in making those guages look that good. Perhaps a simpler solution would be to swap the individual guages into your light cluster, and wire the tach seperately.
You'd still have the oil/alt lights, but the rest should be "plug n play" into your cluster.
Speedo, direct swap. Tach will bolt right in, just need to wire it, simple task. Fuel/temp guages also direct swap, if I recall correctly.
I know you'd rather have the oil/alt guages, but with the wiring harness swap needed to make them work, it's not something you want to rush.

 

High Mount Third Brake Lights weren't put on Ford trucks until 93.I don't think the cab light harness is any different,I think the one in my truck is from an 84 or 85.The Dome/Map and Cargo Light harness is a plug and play swap.I don't know if the 87+ harnesses are the same though.



In 1980,Customs did not come with a PS dome light switch,unless they had the light group.Ranger-Ranger Lariat all had the PS light switch standard.I imagine it's the same 82-86 since all they really did was rename the trim levels.It's a plug and play swap,the harness is there,just hook the switch up to the harness and thread it in.It's that easy.


FNF,if you have the underdash courtesy lights from the donor truck,then it should also have glovebox,ashtray,dome/map,cargo light,headlamp on warning buzzer,and Underhood lights.All of these are Plug and Play,and are definitely worth it.The Underdash lights are awesome at night.My truck originally didn't have the light group,but I added everything except the underhood light.The hardest part is cutting the hole in the cab for the cargo light.And fishing the harness through the B-Pillar.But if you make a Template for the cargo light,it goes pretty easy.

 

All you need for the tach to work in your truck (unless it's an '80) is the tach and the circuit paper. Remove the circuit paper, install the tach and the "tach" circuit paper, and reinstall the cluster. It's as easy as that. I just did it in my 84 with thye help of some of the guys here. EASY mod.
Can't help you with the floor lights-maybe someone else will chime in.

 

He wants more than the tach, he wants full gauges instead of just idiot lights.

 

I don't think you're getting it...

Idiot lights or gauges, they are both integral in the START/CHARGE/RUN circuitry
and involve components from the fuse block to the ignition switch to the gauge cluster
to the battery/alternator/regulator. All this stuff is *integral* to the MAIN harness, there
are no separate harnesses one can merely swap out to "throw in" gauges.

Your question is like asking:

"I have two TVs, a small one and a big one. They both show black & white pictures
but the small one also shows color. What components can I remove from the small
one that make it show color and how can I install 'em into the big one?"

Nobody is going to help you with that, it's just toooooo involved. Same with hacking a
system set up for idiot lights and converting it to gauges, that change is just tooooo
involved. The best thing to do is just swap out the main harnesses + any add-on ones,
and figure out all the other issues along the way.

BTW I thought of some other things that might cause issues - under-hood electric
engine controls & solenoids and, for that matter, computers. Neither my 1981 nor the
1982 donor have a computer nor any of those under-hood doodads so it was a
non-issue for me, it's prolly not the case for you.

IMHO the best thing you can do is COMPARE the wiring harnesses of the two trucks
to get an idea of how complicated this swap will be, then prepare accordingly. All this
little stuff involving various lamps is pretty trivial and easy, should be plug & play.
During this process, you might also learn to recognize the wiring colors and get an
idea of what colors serve what purposes, that'd be a good learning experience for ya.

 

It's not that simple. The cluster back plastic is different for trucks with gauges with trucks with idiot lamps. The main harness plugs into the cluster back where the tach would go on trucks with idiot lamps. They did that on purpose to make this as hard as they could so fires wouldnt erupt from improper swaps. He really needs to swap the whole main and altenator harness to make this work safely.

 

Correct, the whole main harness and altenator harness has to be swapped as there are at least 15 different circut paths between the two harnesses.

All the main harnesses are different for each year, but some are more compatible than others. The most compatible are as follows.

1980: One Year Only due to fuse panel and cluster wiring differences.
1981-1982: These two years are pretty easily swapped.
1983: One Year Only due to circut and connector differences. May have trouble connecting optional electronics.
1984: One Year Only due to many different circut changes.
1985-1986: etc... etc...

So you pretty much have to get the same year main harness otherwise you may have to drill holes in the firewall, rewire certain components that don't match. Swap connectors or plugs etc...

 

Oops. Shame on me for not paying attention to his earlier post. My apologies.

 

Correct. Federally mandated by the FMVSS, for the 1993 model year.

The Cab light harness plugs into a connector stuffed into the bottom corner of the driver's side "B" pillar. You might need to remove the plastic trim to see it. The dome, map and cargo lights are prewired to this plug. You will need the optional harness that goes up the "B" pillar to the dome lamps area. You will also need to cut a hole in the back of the cab for the cargo lamp.

This Cab Dome/map/cargo light harness extention is the same 1980-1991. 1992 is a one year wonder for the harness and has a different connector. Cargo and map lights and housings are virtually identical 1980-1992, with only the bulbs changing in the dome/map housing between the years.


1980-1981 Customs, and 1982-1986 base models did not come with a passenger dome lamp switch standard. It came optionally with the courtesy lamp group. However it is prewired in, you just have to add one. These dome lamp switches fit 1973-1996 F-series, lots of cars and trucks, and are still avaliable from Ford brand new. When new they are unadjusted and long, and when you first close the door, it adjusts itself to the proper length.

1980-1981 Ranger, Ranger XLT and Ranger Lariat, and 1982-1986 XL, XLT and XLT Lariat came standard with the switch.

Be aware that the courtesy lamp group wiring under the dash is different for the following years, and needs to be within the compatible year range or changing plugs and rewiring will be needed.

1980-1982: Plug and Play. Uses two seperate connectors, one for the clock and one for the headlamp on buzzer and courtesy lamps, glove box, underdash, ash tray. Uses seperate headlamp on warning buzzers and seat belt buzzers. Headlamp warning buzzer is wired into the courtesy lamp harness.

1983: One Year wonder. Uses one connector for the clock and courtesy lamp harnesses, still has seperate seat belt and headlamp on warning buzzers. Headlamp warning buzzer connector is still in the courtesy lamp harness.

1984-1986: Plug and play. Uses one connector for the clock and courtesy lamp harnesses. It also has a combination seat belt and headlamp on warning buzzer that is wired in the main harness and is no longer part of the courtesy lamp harness.

The courtesy lamp group harness also has provisions for the optional factory clock. There were two different types used. These also have to be used within the proper year range to be plug and play, otherwise rewiring will be needed.

1980-1982
1983-1986

If you use the old harness as a wire runner, you can install the new one pretty easily. Use the cargo/dome lamp harness out of a 1980-1991, but use the Cargo lamp housing out of a 1992, as the 1992 has a better gasket.

The truck is prewired for the underhood lamp as well, just need the lamp and short harness extention that goes under the hood.



Hope this helps.

 

You can do that with trucks with gauges, but not with idiot lamps, the cluster back and connector are different.