Time to re-wire

[Don Coatney]

My new toy box arrived today. Was full of popcorn and that is not my favorite packing material.

 

 

 

However upon un-packing I am pleased with what I see so far.

 

 

 

 

 

[Don Coatney]

 

 

[DJ194950]

Santa credit card came early!

 

Looks very nice!

 

Good thing your already into a rewire.

 

Believe you'll love it soon if not already!

 

DJ

[Plymouthy Adams]

^{Lisa bought that for Don...(when you going to tell her Don?)}

[Don Coatney]

When she asks!

[Niel Hoback]

Hey, that's better'n Christmas!

[kented]

Awesome now the car has "0" miles haha  

[Bingster]

I tell you what - take a look at the Grain-It videos on their web site and see how they grain dashes and trim.  It doesn't look that difficult to me, and the results are beautiful.  I hope to do my trim this winter.  I have most of it out and stripped.

[Don Coatney]

The gauges come with complete and well written instructions. I am impresses so far. All sending units and hardware is included. 

 

 

[Don Coatney]

Assembled and wired the gauge cluster today. This is fun work. Got to power up my dads old soldering iron. It works better than anything that can be bought today. My wire pile is getting smaller but not by much.

 

 

[DJ194950]

Appears you went with mechanical speedo. Can't read the instructions myself to know the answer.

 

The easy way if your existing cable is long enough And matches treads/size etc.

 

Your wiring looks good.

I like to put a multi pin plug on the gauge setup to make any later work easier, to remove the whole panel. My choice, but maybe not yours.

 

Enjoy!

 

DJ

Edited September 4, 2014 by DJ194950

[littlemo]

NICE Christmas present Don !!!  Cass, alias littlemo ..

Edited September 5, 2014 by littlemo

[laynrubber]

I wonder about solder connections. In the aviation world, when joining two wires we use crimp connectors and heat shrink. From my college days we were instructed never to use solder as that makes a rigid connection in a flexiable wire. The result could be a break where flex meets rigid. This is just what I have been taught. I know i have repaired enough soldered joints on little relays where the flex meets rigid.

Not to cast a shadow of doubt over your project but anyone else have input ?

[Mark Haymond]

Don's beautiful gauge connections should be fine. Despite his dual carbs and other engine improvements his dash will not be subject to high frequency airframe vibrations, electronic interference, or wild temperature swings common to aircraft. His twelve volt operational environment will be closer to a farm tractor (sorry Don) and should be good for the life of the vehicle. My two cents.

[TodFitch]

I wonder about solder connections. In the aviation world, when joining two wires we use crimp connectors and heat shrink. From my college days we were instructed never to use solder as that makes a rigid connection in a flexiable wire. The result could be a break where flex meets rigid. This is just what I have been taught. I know i have repaired enough soldered joints on little relays where the flex meets rigid.

Not to cast a shadow of doubt over your project but anyone else have input ?

All this is true… As long as your crimping is done correctly with the right tools and dies properly calibrated so that the crimp is tight enough to make it a good air tight connection but not so tight as to damage the wire strands and weaken it. In the home garage setup like most of us have, the crimps are nowhere near that quality.

 

I find it easier to get a durable connection by soldering. To avoid fatigue where the solder has stiffened the wire, it is usually pretty easy to secure the wire against movement with proper routing and clamping.

[Young Ed]

I would think the majority of the connections in a car would be at the end where a terminal of some sort is soldered on and then physically attached to something. So almost by default most of them are secured. For the record I rewired both my car and truck and soldered every joint.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Young Ed

[Don Coatney]

I did crimp the spade connections for the gauges. All else is soldered.

[Don Coatney]

New dash cluster power up test. Nice to have a bench power supply. All lit up for night driving. Note the volt meter.

 

 

 

[Don Coatney]

Installed the new electronic oil pressure and temperature sending units.

 

[Don Coatney]

I completed a power up bench test on the new gasoline gauge. Looks like it will work well.

 

 

[bobjob55]

I have read every post ..boy ,,you can sure learn a lot ...and I have been a mechanic for over 45 years now .. I thought that I would have to go to some junkyard and grab another wire harness ,,or 2 ...time is money ,, and I'm running out of both .......

[Don Coatney]

Some days luck is on your side. Removed the headlight switch with an assist from Young Ed on knob removal. Discovered that a prior owner had used pliers to remove the bezel and scared it. While going through my stash of parts looking for bullet connectors (that I found) I also found a better headlight switch bezel. Not a perfect match but better. Also installed new wires to the start button.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Merle Coggins]

Don't ya love it when a plan comes together?

 

By the way... are you a Brewer's Fan? And the Royals too?

[Don Coatney]

 

 

By the way... are you a Brewer's Fan? And the Royals too?

Neither, I am a Cracker Jack fan   My wife now opens every bag and hides the prize before she gives the bag to me as she got tired of peeling stickers I have hidden all over the house.

 

[meadowbrook]

as a kid Don had a shocking introduction to basic electricity......

And he was grounded....