Hi folks,

A funny no spark problem made me download past forum advice and found the problem...a broken NEW wire from dist center to coil top...check those too! I found it when my new tach seemed squirrely, then stopped. As did all engine firing. I thought maybe I did it attaching the tach wire to neg coil post, but no, just defective. Made me think of something I hadn't pondered before though.

I am fixing to change all stock gages in my D100 to a set of new mechanical gages installed in a custom water cut stainless panel that fits into the dashboard gage bezel place. Easy to do on a truck except....If I go ahead with the install I can remove all the old gages OR leave them hooked up but stashed inside the dash. It looks as if removing them all will only entail connecting, from one gage at a time, the wires that now enter and leave each gage. I will run new wires for volts and fuel and plumb up water temp, oil pressure and vac. But even after looking at the wiring diagram I don't know what the effect would be of removing gages and just running straight wires through the circuit places where the water temp, amp, fuel and oil pressure gages now are. Electrically I can't see why there would be a problem, but because the primary ignition comes through the amp gage removing it could be an engine stopping problem, so I better check with those more knowledgeable. Any opinions?

rock
'64d100

If I was going to go through the hassle of building a custom dash and installing new guages, I think I would just complete the whole process and fabricate a new wiring harness to eliminate things like the bulkhead connector, bad grounds, and bad power feeds.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

rock: is your custom gauge cluster going to be made by sick6 (he posts on here but not lately, he's moving in a house I think)?

I ask because he made one for me but mine is plastic and fits inside my dusters stock cluster. turned out nice and I got to put things where I wanted them

I ended up changing the harness because mine was old and corroded

-dave

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what part of "illegal" is so confusing???

Reed and Dusty...thanks guys!
Just another reason I so value the forum, it is like trolling for good experience. I hadn't thought about making a wiring harness and Reed, you are right. My old harness is in good shape as are the dash connectors, but I could easily just make a new one. The trucks have enough volume to put a football in if you lift out the gage panel from the dash and it is there at eye level...lots of room to work in in other words, and darn few wires in reality. I was already running relays for the headlights, horn and a future AC or fan so don't even need those dash connections. I have two or three complete spare harnesses with bulbs and gages and connectors to model from against the wiring diagram...looks pretty simple! (Look at a 60's d100 diagram sometime..)

And Dusty, not being made by Sick6. Wish I'da thought of plastic, darn it! I have just used stainless bolts everywhere and stainless for floor pans and new tranny hump so am in the stainless groove. A good sheet metal shop literally within walking distance of my house has a master sheetmetal guy who likes old vehicle work as a relief from ducts all day. Makes good suggestions too! He is making it with formed angle gage rests so the gages kinda bug out from the panel at just the right angle for easy viewing. He is thinking of getting a slant six after seeing this one!
rock
'64d100

On the amp meter gauge I know for sure you can just remove the wires and connect them to each other, had a few bad gauges in my time and of course you loose alt and few other things when they go bad. I just take the wires off the gauge and connect them to each other and tape them up so they dont gound out. Ran that way for years no problem, as a matter a fact the whole system worked better. as far as the rest of the cuircuts I am not sure.

You want to get with Super6 also. I noticed he has custom dash for his ride. I'm thinking of doing the same to my 85 D100.
Check out the link:
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10351

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85' D100
225cid
A833OD

a prototype of sick6's gauge clusters is here at the bottom of the page:

http://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php ... sc&start=0

thats just a proto in a junk housing. mine was black and different hole locations

-dave

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what part of "illegal" is so confusing???

My '87 D150:



My '78 W100:



In the '87 I completely removed the original cluster, made a backing plate, and completely new harness for the gauges, eliminating the two factory connectors on the rear of the factory cluster.

On the '78, Since I was still utilizing the factory speedometer, I removed the 'guts' of the gauge cluster, excepting the speedometer. I wired the new gauges into the circuit board on the rear of the cluster so I could retain the factory connector.





Reusing the factory connector can be a little more of a pain due to how little space there is available in the cluster. I am not sure if your '64 will be comparable (space-wise) to my '78 or not. I know they are different body styles/generations of trucks, but it seems in general, the older the vehicle, the more room there is, and more simple the electrical system.

In regards to the ammeter, for now I just bolted the ammeter leads together and heavilty insulated the connection with 3 layers of shrink wrap. Eventually, I will eliminate the alternator's output wire running through the firewall, and run it directly to the battery with a dedicated fuse link. Then run a seperate main power wire (again, with fuse link) into the cab to the fuse box.

Aftermarket voltmeters (well, at least autometer's voltmeters) only require two wires, ignition switched power and ground. Whatever source you use for ignition power on the other gauges is what I would use for the voltmeter, to keep wiring more simple. If you have high resistance in the bulkhead connector, it may read low, keep things cleaned up and it should be fairly accurate. Mine reads within .2 volts of what is at the alternator output stud, and I haven't even cleaned up the rats nest of wiring the previous owner of this truck left behind.

-S/6

P.S. I am going to move this to "Other" as it is more gauge/electrical related than engine related.

thats pretty much what mine looks like now, only in a typical a body housing.

I went with black but at the time he was offering different colors. he has a couple basic degsigns but if you know where you really want particular things he'll do it for ya

how much do you think it cost you to do it total?

-dave

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what part of "illegal" is so confusing???

I did the '78 for the cost of the gauges (~$190) and multi-pin electrical connectors (~$10). I just modified the factory dash facia (enlarged the holes for the 2-1/16" gauges, and drilled a new 3-1/2" hole for the tach.)

For the '87, I built my own backing plate to install in place of the factory cluster...out of plywood and some metal bracketry. I covered the plywood with Polar fleece.

-S/6

well, it looks nice. I am not filmiliar with polar fleece. mine is 1/8 thick black acrylic

I paid fifty for mine and he did all of the machining work. I just attached the plate and stuck in the gauges

-dave

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what part of "illegal" is so confusing???

Thanks. Polar fleece is the material a lot of jackets/sweaters/blankets are made of, especially for layered outdoor clothing. Mainly because it breathes, and will still keep you warm when wet. It is basically 'softer' fleece material.

I bought it at a fabric store and recovered my seat, sun visors, steering wheel center, and armrests with it. I had some leftover, so I covered my gauge panel(s) with it to match the rest of the truck.

-S/6