dashboard work

[kpcsgasp]

2 questions where's a good place to gat a tilt coulmun without taking a second mortgage. and second car is about 90% complete but dash needs attention. I had to run a seperate ground wire to get the temp gauge to work. the amp gauge and dash lights are still MIA. the mylar circuit run behind the gauges look every bit of it's 50 years old. How hard is it to swap out? anyone done this before? While I'm thinking of it would it be smart to replace the amp gauge with a volt gauge?

[cbolt]

I've done that work several times on the circuit board and recommend you replace any gauges while you are in there if needed. The main thing is to take your time and be very careful. A lot of those 1/4" fasteners are screwed into the plastic housing and the plastic is likely to be brittle from age. Not sure about the wisdom behind a amp to volt gauge swap, but someone will chime in soon I bet. 

 

You can remove the cluster without removing the entire dash if you are careful. What I do is lower the steering column and allow the steering wheel to rest of the drivers seat, undo all the fasteners, speedo cable, clock feed, and printed circuit electrical connector. There are seven 7/16" bolts holding the dash to the car and with those removed you should be able to move the whole thing towards the rear of the vehicle far enough to pop the cluster out. I have posted instructions about this in the past I think, but if you need me to provide step by step instructions let me know. It is an intimidating job but not difficult. As luck would have it I am doing that exact thing today to remove my ashtray since that stupid thing simply will not come out without removing the diverter box or moving the dash forward enough to pull it out the top. 

[Brew]

It is a time consuming task. I pulled my whole dash out to take care of rust &  a fried printed circuit board. I also got rid of the clock. You can get LED light bulbs for the dash / gauges & replace all those as well. Like cbolt said, take your time. I too am unclear if the change in gauge is advisable.

[Dtret]

Old and new cluster. Volt gauge added to new in gen light spot. Switched from idiot lights to gauges. All it needs is source off cluster to read volts 

 

[kpcsgasp]

On 8/21/2021 at 3:00 AM, cbolt said:

I've done that work several times on the circuit board and recommend you replace any gauges while you are in there if needed. The main thing is to take your time and be very careful. A lot of those 1/4" fasteners are screwed into the plastic housing and the plastic is likely to be brittle from age. Not sure about the wisdom behind a amp to volt gauge swap, but someone will chime in soon I bet. 

 

You can remove the cluster without removing the entire dash if you are careful. What I do is lower the steering column and allow the steering wheel to rest of the drivers seat, undo all the fasteners, speedo cable, clock feed, and printed circuit electrical connector. There are seven 7/16" bolts holding the dash to the car and with those removed you should be able to move the whole thing towards the rear of the vehicle far enough to pop the cluster out. I have posted instructions about this in the past I think, but if you need me to provide step by step instructions let me know. It is an intimidating job but not difficult. As luck would have it I am doing that exact thing today to remove my ashtray since that stupid thing simply will not come out without removing the diverter box or moving the dash forward enough to pull it out the top. 

if you have them available I'd appreciate the help. I have seen the Dakota Dash replacement package. Do you know how difficult that is to install. Since the car is mostly # matching (except for the engine block) will it affect the value?

[Dtret]

It won’t affect the value if you don’t sell it. Lol. Just keep the original in the box. A lot of people want the upgrade to modern technology 

[Leghome]

My son in-law and I installed a Dakota Digital cluster in my 72 and I love it. You can set the odometer to match what it shows now. There is some wiring involved as I used the turn signal and bright indicators where they were located originally and put the control box on top of the glove box and also ran the Dakota Digital Cruise Control thru the control box.

[RON T]

Replaced the circuit board in my 71. Just dropped the steering column , pulled dash toward seat. No big deal if you don’t rush it. Replaced the clock while I was in there. Decided against a volt meter. If you have amps, you have volts. ⚡️.

[cbolt]

Here is a link to a thread that discusses a lot about removing the gauge pod without taking the entire dash out. I am a bit busy to post step by step instructions at this time as I have family stuff to deal with but if you still need a hand shoot me a pm and i will walk you though the process when the dust finally settles.