Ammeter to Voltmeter Stock look options?

[msg]

After putting the voltmeter on the plate it attaches to to compare its height to the gauge next to it looked like it was going to be a little tall. I may be fine, but I went ahead and cut some of the backing off the voltmeter to help it sit more evenly. I did this on both posts. There is only so much you can remove because there is a portion of the voltmeter that I kept just above the metal plate it mounts to so the wire doesnt contact it. Working with this gauge and all those hairlike thin wires made me nervous. Take it slow. Then paint up the needle before you mount it up to the faceplate.

[msg]

I wanted to reuse the screws vs epoxying the plate in case in all of this modifying I messed it up and needed to get the faceplate back off. So used the voltmeter template to see where I should drill the holes. If I had cut the voltmeters black faceplate more evenly I would have not been off a few degrees.

[msg]

The next issue was the posts were different lengths and spaced differently. The rubber backing original part wouldnt slide over the posts so that needed to be dremeled out on the left and right a bit to get the part to slide over the posts. Beware that stuff stinks when drilled. It lingered around in the garage for some time. Taking it outside to do this is recommended. Then I tried taking the wiring harness and see if it would attach without altering anything and it did but wouldnt fully seat/click. I figured to try and make it easier to install by dremeling the wiring prongs and bit so they could move into the same positions indented on the rubber backing plate. It worked better that way. I also used a small wire wheel on the dremel to clean up the metal prongs. You can see how much I ground off to widen the post hole so it could align better.

[msg]

The height of the 2 gauges were a little closer after all that, then I tested the gauge with a 12 volts battery and it was still working. After following the Astronauts thread on the cluster redo and getting the decals from LMC I put it all back together and its waiting to hopefully get placed in the dash some day soon. Still havent wired up the truck and many other things to do first.

[roll_the_dice]

Great write up MSG...I did this same swap, but can't get mine to work correctly. How are you going to wire the volt meter with your AAW harness? Are you going to use a unused 12v source for the hot and then ground it on the other post?

[msg]

So far the harness is still in the unopened box. I need to crack it open and see what they show. If its not clear in the instructions Id have to give them a call and see. I'll let you know what I find out. Todays mission is clean up a quadrajet thats been sitting up for 5 years or more.

[cwcarpenter98]

That's a good lookin' cluster. Good job!

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by msg

So far the harness is still in the unopened box. I need to crack it open and see what they show. If its not clear in the instructions Id have to give them a call and see. I'll let you know what I find out. Todays mission is clean up a quadrajet thats been sitting up for 5 years or more.

Thanks, should be easy...but the easy things aren't.

[nsb29]

You did a little neater job on yours than I did LOL you can use any hot lead with ignition On Look at the back of my panel I used AAW all of those pink leads are hot with ignition on and then ground the other one to the case

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by nsb29

You did a little neater job on yours than I did LOL you can use any hot lead with ignition On Look at the back of my panel I used AAW all of those pink leads are hot with ignition on and then ground the other one to the case

Thanks! I will do it.

He did a neater job than I did as well.

[nsb29]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Thanks! I will do it.

He did a neater job than I did as well.

Yeah I kind of screwed my decal up so I just cut the bottom part of it off You can’t see it when it’s together I also cleaned up the back bundled the wires into a harness once I new the capris speedometer was working

[msg]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

That's a good lookin' cluster. Good job!

Thanks bud! I had hopes of having a tach and vac on it but that will have to be a future upgrade. Im happy to finally have it done, I even changed out the tandem lock spot for the parking brake mod that should be fun that Jocko came up with.

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Thanks, should be easy...but the easy things aren't.

I know, I thought buying some decals and popping them on would go smooth but the 1st decal set from LMC was ruined by the very bag they shipped it in. Had to wait a while for another one to get sent.

Originally Posted by nsb29

You did a little neater job on yours than I did LOL you can use any hot lead with ignition On Look at the back of my panel I used AAW all of those pink leads are hot with ignition on and then ground the other one to the case

Thanks for the tip on the wiring and the voltmeter part to begin with, really happy it looks stock like!