Re: NJ Suburban
 

It would certainly be easier to install the wiring before any of the dash components were installed. ie: Inst cluster, heater controls, radio, etc....

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Got it. The issue going around in the noggin here is that the truck hasn't been painted yet. On one hand it would be great to have the entire truck painted body color before doing the work under the dash. It's too cold to paint now so I'm trying to find things to work on during the winter. The inside of the truck has been painted already.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

That certainly limits you a little bit but I would just finish out the inside then. I have the same thing going on with my '70 Short Bed and I have been putting the interior parts in it.

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Paul
I would think you would want to completely tape up all the openings before painting the exterior otherwise you will have a lot of over spray inside the cabin area. if you do that you should have no issues with doing the wiring now if the inside is already painted.

Richard

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Thanks Richard! I was bummed that I wouldn't have anything to work on over the winter.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Are you going with a completely stock wiring harness?
If not have you considered using part of an A/C harness along with the bigger A/C blower motor for more heater output? It's just something I've been considering for mine.
It might be a good winter project.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

A few months ago I repaired the original harness using the spare that came with my 68 parts truck to replace any bad sections. When this was my daily driver in the 80's trying to heat the entire truck was as useless as cooking thanksgiving dinner with a match. I used to hang a heavy blanket just behind the rear seat from roof to floor to keep the heat up front. This truck will be a summer driver though when finished so it wont see much need for a heater. Both of my 69 Cougars have rarely had need for the heater in the last 25 years. Thanks for the tip though!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

This weeks project: the cluster. Touched up the chrome with a silver paint pen, repainted the semi black, polished the lens (400-5000 grit then polish) and added a tach from a Camaro as outlined by Grincoloco in the truck forum. All I need is the needle paint and I can pack it up for when it's time to install it!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Looks great! I have a couple I need to do. I have all of the stuff, I just need to get off my duff and do it....

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

That came out awesome! Good work!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

same route I plan on going with. I too have all the stuff but too nervous to tear into it.

gauges look great btw

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Thanks!

It's not a really tough task to install the tach. Grincoloco has some good pics and tips on how to do it. What I had trouble with was cutting out the hole in the back of the gauges for the circuit board backing to stick through. It had to be enlarged a couple times to get the tach in position. Another problem was that the studs on the back of the gauge assembly stick out and interfere with the blue circuit board on the stock assembly. I wound up trimming the studs down even with top of the plastic covered attaching nuts and covered the ends with silicone. Drop me a line if you want any info.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

well I'm going a little further since I'm going ls. I'm doing the s10 speedo swap...the camaro tach...and swapping the ammeter guts to put in a volt meter. and, ditching the circuit board and making a wired harness. lol dreading the entire thing....

Re: NJ Suburban
 

That's a lot of work but all do-able. Take your time and it will work out. Grincoloco has a bit about doing the amp volt swap and it looks pretty straightforward. It might be something to do on my 70 since it may be years before the cluster is installed. Good luck and keep up the progress and updates in your build thread!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

I did the voltmeter conversion with square body guts. It was pretty straightforward and the only real challenge was getting the needle on the shaft in the right place so the meter showed 12 volts with the needle on the center mark of the old ampmeter face.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

How did that work out? Did you come up with away to do it or was it just trail and error.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

I used a variable power supply to get exactly 12.00 volts. Then it took 5 or 6 tries to get the needle in the correct orientation on the shaft. As I didn't see a good way to hold the shaft while pushing the needle on the shaft. I had to redo it as the shaft would move and the needle would not be where I wanted it. It took maybe 15 minutes to make it indicate satisfactory.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

that's great idea

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Tonight's project.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

-
I would like to try the voltmeter conversion on one of mine. I will have to read that again.

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Sandblasted some brackets tonight. Saturday I'll put a coat of epoxy primer on them. Can someone tell me what the L shaped piece is at the top center? My guess is that it supports the hood latch.

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Brackets all painted and stored away!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

I bet you are glad to have that done. That smaller stuff takes a lot of time.

They Look good.

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Thanks Leon. I’m just chipping away at small stuff. They finally broke ground on my pole barn so by summer hopefully the exterior paint can get done. The barn will be 24’ by 40’ with heat and 12’ ceilings.

Paul

Re: NJ Suburban
 

That is just about the ideal size. My shop is 30 x 40 and I can get 3 vehicles abreast with narrow shelves on both sides, and plenty of room to walk between them.

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

It’s been a while since I looked at your build thread. You are doing great work! I love the tach upgrade. Congrats on building a shop!

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Finally some room to work!

Paul

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Looks good Paul. Now get to work..... :).. j/k

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Leon I've got lots of work lined up before digging into the suburban again. Both Cougars have things to fix and my 97 Silverado needs to have a frame patch welded in before it breaks in half. It's amazing to be able to look at it from more than 4 feet away!

Paul

Re: NJ Suburban
 

I heard that. I just finished patching up two, and I need to put some new brake lines on the '03 Suburban.

Just wait a few years and you will be looking at stuff from 4 feet again.... :lol:.. They fill up fast.

LockDoc

Re: NJ Suburban
 

Just checking in. Not getting notifications about posts on threads I was subscribed to has caused me to lose track of some folks and their projects.

I hope all is well.