Wiring and Gauge Lite Update

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Long winter up there, eh?

Good job, something I'll never tackle without a giant fire! hahahaha

Thanks for the post.

Great job!

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Originally posted by David B:
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quote:

Originally posted by David B:
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Just wear your sunglasses at night!

"...best laid plans of mice and men..."

Still, a beautiful job.

Awesome project! I'm in the process of removing my dash to replace the heater blower motor, and staring at the myriad of spaghetti wires and all those connections thought to myself I should get some connectors and make the whole assembly unpluggable like you did. Wasn't sure if it would be more work than just labeling and removing each wire and reconnecting it, but I'm running out of time. I have to get the new blower motor installed and the interior back together by tomorrow night or the car won't make it to the Ironstone Concours this weekend.

Very nice and great writeup. What switches are those? Are they available DPDT with center off? Either way, do you have a link to an online supplier or the MFG?

Thanks for the nice comments. Believe me, if I can do it without starting a fire then anyone can.

Although Garth, I'm not sure you can do it a day or two

Richard, I got the switches from Wilkinson but I'm sure they available from other electronics suppliers. There's no pic of them on Wilkinson web site, but call him for details - part # is 1401 (plus number and letter indicating number of positions and ID - eg; fan, light, etc.

14010D, 14012E and 14013C

quote:

Originally posted by rbarkley671:
Very nice and great writeup. What switches are those? Are they available DPDT with center off? Either way, do you have a link to an online supplier or the MFG?

I saw those same rocker switches at a boating supply place here called West Marine. They are a national boating supply chain so there should be in your area. If not, you can pull up their catalog through your Apple or Google App Store for free.

Brilliant idea using LED tape in the tach and speedo! How did you connect the LED tape to the gauge lighting circuit? I just bought 8' of LED tape last weekend to line the inside of my blast cabinet so I can actually see what I'm working on, but I'll have about 4' left over when I'm done. Would love to follow your example and put it in my large gauges too. I already bought LED bulbs for all the gauges and started installing them while things are coming apart.

I used to carry a small flashlight in the car to check my speed when driving at night. Now I can't wait to be able to see my gauges!

Hey Garth,

How did that work out. See any better now?

I just noticed I missed your question. I'm sure you figured it out by now, but LED tape comes with the two poles indicated wherever you can cut. Just solder your lite wires that normally go to the socket holding those old bulbs.

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How did that work out. See any better now?

Well, I shelved the whole heater blower replacement project because I didn't have enough time to add Molex connectors like you did, and I wanted to take the car to the Ironstone Concours. But I did install the cheap LED bulbs I ordered on ebay, and they're great! I can see my tach and speedo for the first time in the 12 years I've owned my car. I installed white bulbs, but they have a blueish tint to them which I don't like. So I ordered a set of green LED bulbs after seeing John Buckman's gauges at night with their green LED's. I just haven't gotten around to installing them yet.

By the way, where did you order your Molex connectors and how much wire did you add under the dash to allow everything to come out? Looks like about a 12-16" pigtail.

Thanks!
Garth