Gauges, Switches and Plugs

Now that the dash and extension are covered and cut, pestilence
I can start to install the gauges, switches, lights, etc. This was fairly straightforward as I had already determined my layout.

My main concern was whether they all would fit through the openings with padding and vinyl.  Fortunately, they all fit – some a bit tighter than others – but all were installed.  This included installing the heater vents and accessory socket in the dash extension.

Next I started on the wiring.  This ended up being a slow and tedious process.  It did not help that I was not aware of a set of plugs daisy chained together that I could have used for the gauge power, backlights and ground.  I ended up cutting off the plug ends on the gauges and having to solder more than 20 connections to get all this wiring completed.  Oh, well.  As long as they all work, no harm!  I did find out, though, that there was also a set of plugs for the gauge needle lights and grounds, so was able to use this versus again cutting and soldering.

Now I can start working on connecting other items to the gauges and harnesses.  I had to solder ring or blade connectors to many of these to connect them, as well as wire to wire connections.  For the wiper motor I had to add several wires that were not already prepared.  Items that were connected include the oil pressure transducer, water temp sensor, the wiring to the turn signal, hi/low beam, hazard flasher and wiper switches.  I also had to connect more harness wiring including the stereo, heater/defroster and wiper, and add wires for the accessory socket, the clock, seat heaters and multiple grounds.  Last, I connected sender wires to gauges.  Some of these were hard wired to the harness (fuel sender, tach, speedometer, and voltmeter).  The oil pressure transducer and water temp sensor were connected with plugs directly to the gauge.  Once I completed all the connections I could with the dash on the work table, I fastened the dash on the chassis and set the extension below it on the tunnel.

The last things I had to do were connect a few plugs to gauges, connect the ignition wires, headlight harness plug and main to dash harness plugs, and connect the final few wires.  Last I drilled some holes in the chassis frame, cleaned away the powder coating and screwed the grounds onto the frame.

This completed the bulk of the wiring.  All I really need to do now is plug in the stereo and connect speaker wires and connect the seat heater wires.  Then I will build up the plugs for the head and tail lights, etc, and plug them in temporarily and I will be able to connect the battery and test out all the electrical.  Once this testing is finished I will remove some of these items until final assembly.

More photos can be seen in the Gallery.

Accessory plug, Dash, Gauges, Heater vents, heater-defroster, Indicator lights, Switches, Wiring harness

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