Looking good. Mine didn't even have a door pocket so I ordered one from the Bus Depot and added it myself then refinished the panel with SEM products. On your propane system consider a drip leg with a drain plug at the lowest point, I had a liquid buildup in the low spot 2 summers ago that caused a pressure drop and refrigerator problems. I ended up replacing the regulator, rubber lines and adding a brass drip leg. Can't find pics of the drip leg just now but I used a brass pipe nipple with a cap that was tapped for a 1/8" brass pipe plug for a drain.
My 1978 GMC motorhome
- Thread starter Mike_H
- Start date
Got some more pictures of the dash area, from further away so everyone can see the disaster I'm working on, LOL.
And, the refurbished door cards...These were just as broken as the dash is now, at one point.
The angled hole is where my air suspension controls go, and the long, skinny hole is where my map pockets were. These are the new, 3D printed storage cubbies that I made. The one with the two holes in it will be the driver's side that holds the mirror controls. Need to finish up the "bodywork" on them and get them sprayed white like the rest of the panels.
I also found a site that makes reproduction circuit boards for the Speedo and "other" gages (Temp, Fuel, Oil pressure are in a single unit)
https://premiumdashdecals.com/shop/...k-skylark-gs-speedometer-gauge-circuit-board/
https://premiumdashdecals.com/shop/...rally-pack-fuel-oil-temp-gauge-circuit-board/
While not terribly expensive, I eventually want to replace the gages I have with a full complement, including a tach, so I'm going to try my darndest to fix what I have to avoid spending money on something that will not be used in the future. However, Its good to know these exist. I'll monkey with what I have today, and by tonight have a direction.
And, the refurbished door cards...These were just as broken as the dash is now, at one point.
The angled hole is where my air suspension controls go, and the long, skinny hole is where my map pockets were. These are the new, 3D printed storage cubbies that I made. The one with the two holes in it will be the driver's side that holds the mirror controls. Need to finish up the "bodywork" on them and get them sprayed white like the rest of the panels.
I also found a site that makes reproduction circuit boards for the Speedo and "other" gages (Temp, Fuel, Oil pressure are in a single unit)
https://premiumdashdecals.com/shop/...k-skylark-gs-speedometer-gauge-circuit-board/
https://premiumdashdecals.com/shop/...rally-pack-fuel-oil-temp-gauge-circuit-board/
While not terribly expensive, I eventually want to replace the gages I have with a full complement, including a tach, so I'm going to try my darndest to fix what I have to avoid spending money on something that will not be used in the future. However, Its good to know these exist. I'll monkey with what I have today, and by tonight have a direction.
You were not kidding about that dash
I was not. Injection Molding for automobile use was kind of in its infancy in the 70's and it shows!
Wiring is my nightmare. I'd rather have Freddy and Michael chasing me through the woods, because I don't think that would be as intimidating.
To me, its strangely satisfying. It makes me focus and and pay attention to a particular circuit or wire and that helps me and my ADHD brain.
I get that from the mechanical parts. I enjoy disassembling, cleaning and reassembling things like guns, engines etc., but the wiring just overwhelms me. I can do simple wiring, but I still don't like it. I should probably sit down one day and just try to figure out the basics. Maybe that will knock some of the intimidation off.
After I stripped, laid out, and checked EVERY SINGLE CIRCUIT of my jeep harness when I did the auto swap, electrical doesn't scare me anymore, LOL. It really never has, but that project really helped me. I had to learn how to read the diagrams and schematics. Looking at the whole, it seems like a giant bowl of spaghetti, but when you shift your focus from the mass of wires to what that particular connector or circuit is actually doing, the mystery falls away.
My first foray into this type of work was repairing the dash in my old boat. That was a nightmare...The factory used one harness from 20' up to about 27 feet. I had a 21 foot, so all that extra wiring was rolled up under the dash. It was a mess...I shortened some of the wires, but a lot of that mess got wrapped back up and ziptied back in place. If I knew then what I know now, that project would have gone a lot more smoothly.
My Father-in-law has one of those imported Asian 4 wheelers. Its a TGB (Taiwan Golden Bee). He calls it the Taiwan Garbage Buggy. Damn thing is capable as all get out, never gets stuck and is really good on gas. The problem is the electrical...It currently won't start, due to something not being satisfied in the safety circuits, I believe. I've looked at it, but the wire colors don't match the service manual I found and its kind of a guessing game when it comes to some of those CDI boxes. I've got half a notion to rip all the BS out of it, put a pertronix pick up on it and make it run like an old lawn mower. Its a carbureted, single cylinder, 425 CC engine. Then I can rebuilt the lighting and starting circuits, get rid of the stupid safeties and the thing will run forever.
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SUCCESS!!! I played around with the gages tonight, and I think I fixed em! I measured the pins that were broken last night, and they were about 0.090" in diameter. All day today, I've been thinking about stuff that was about that size. Went to ace, looking for some 2-56 screws...They had them, but poor selection and they were EXPENSIVE. They only had stainless, and wanted like 0.50 each...which is dumb. Plus, I wasn't sure what kind of clearance I had for screw heads. I scrapped that idea...and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Why not use some solid strand copper wire? Something like a single line out of a 3 conductor piece of romex. It just so happened that I had a small piece of Romex left over from running power to my pool. It was 8/2, with a 10 ga solid ground conductor. Well, 10 Ga solid wire is about 0.095" Ø. It was perfect. Couple minutes with a file and the wire spinning in my drill and I had the wire sized.
First I had to knock out the old, broken crimp. This is one of the broken terminals.
Once the holes were opened up, I fit the new piece of copper. In this picture, I had already soldered one in. That was the test piece, and I was a little sloppy with my solder (as you'll probably see in subsequent pics). Its cleaned up now. Notice the shiny stuff...That is "sticky flux." It helps hold components in place when you're soldering, as well as protecting the joint from oxidizing.
Two Pins, Soldered (yeah, the first is a mess)
And Finished. All told, I fixed three pins on the speedometer and two more on the other gage (fuel, Temp, Oil press)
As much testing as I can do out of the coach, It appears these will work just fine now. The real test will be when I go work on it tomorrow and try plugging them in. Will need to see how the fit feels and if the connector fits easily. Trying to keep the pins straight up and down was challenging.
First I had to knock out the old, broken crimp. This is one of the broken terminals.
Once the holes were opened up, I fit the new piece of copper. In this picture, I had already soldered one in. That was the test piece, and I was a little sloppy with my solder (as you'll probably see in subsequent pics). Its cleaned up now. Notice the shiny stuff...That is "sticky flux." It helps hold components in place when you're soldering, as well as protecting the joint from oxidizing.
Two Pins, Soldered (yeah, the first is a mess)
And Finished. All told, I fixed three pins on the speedometer and two more on the other gage (fuel, Temp, Oil press)
As much testing as I can do out of the coach, It appears these will work just fine now. The real test will be when I go work on it tomorrow and try plugging them in. Will need to see how the fit feels and if the connector fits easily. Trying to keep the pins straight up and down was challenging.
Not as much done today. I was busy all day, but kinda spinning my wheels. This morning, I took the gages apart. A friend mentioned that my method would work, but since the board only had copper traces on one side, the pines were only really attached to that trace and the only thing keeping them ON the board was the adhesion of the trace (which is almost nothing), and the friction of the slight press fit between the phenolic and Copper. So, I made some "washers" out of copper, drilled a 3/32 hole in them, and soldered some backers to the pins. That will stop the pins from pulling through if I ever decide to remove the connector harness again. I've made up new curse words reviewing the electrical work done from Previous Owners in this coach, so I wanted to make sure that I am a better steward.
After that, I went to the storage location, and tried the gages there. Good news! The connectors plugged in. I'm convinced they will work. Next, I used some ABS pipe cement and started piecing my dash supports back together.
The black lines in this picture are glue joints that are already cured and thankfully holding pretty well. The theory behind using ABS cement is that its designed to use solvent to melt the two pieces together. I wanted to rebuild a single piece, and once that is done, I will reinforce the structure with some aluminum or something. Not quite sure yet how I'm doing it. Fiberglass is an option as well. I also used a heat gun to straighten out some of the structure that has warped over time. Heat the plastic until flexible, clamp it to something flat, let it cool. Thermoplastics like ABS will take a "set" in the new arrangement. Not much memory.
The section with Blue tape on it is the missing piece that I re-created. First, I got as much assembled as I could, and took some measurements. I used some clamps and blocks to Hold the gap to the proper amount. Then I used a piece of cardboard to trace the opening left by the missing piece. Overall, It was a piece just under 3" long
Then I used the picture above and imported the picture into my modeling program and scaled it to size. I used my spline tool to trace the outline and convert the cardboard picture to a sketch in digital space. Once I had a closed sketch, I made a 3D model.
I used that 3d model to create a part file to send to my printer and after a couple hours, I had a new plastic part to pretty closely fit the missing piece in the dash surround. Once the glue is dry, I'll get a picture of the overall fit. It will be easy to see, since its gray, not brown like the surrounding area. Its not perfect, but its pretty good...close enough that I can make up some ABS putty with acetone and plastic to fill the gaps. The one little bit of concern I have is that the ABS filament I have here didn't feed properly in my printer (it was from a Stratasys commercial machine), so I used ASA. They are almost the same material, so I'm thinking the solvent base should work the same, but I'm not 100% sure on that. If it doesn't work, I'll have to order some ABS filament for my printer.
Tomorrow will be mounting the single DIN, 7" Screen Android radio in place of the old Clarion two post model, and hopefully figuring out how to support the plastic surround better. I also have to refinish the front signal buckets, finish the smoothing the new cubbies for the side panels, and shorten, then install the connector bodies on my mirror harnesses.
After that, I went to the storage location, and tried the gages there. Good news! The connectors plugged in. I'm convinced they will work. Next, I used some ABS pipe cement and started piecing my dash supports back together.
The black lines in this picture are glue joints that are already cured and thankfully holding pretty well. The theory behind using ABS cement is that its designed to use solvent to melt the two pieces together. I wanted to rebuild a single piece, and once that is done, I will reinforce the structure with some aluminum or something. Not quite sure yet how I'm doing it. Fiberglass is an option as well. I also used a heat gun to straighten out some of the structure that has warped over time. Heat the plastic until flexible, clamp it to something flat, let it cool. Thermoplastics like ABS will take a "set" in the new arrangement. Not much memory.
The section with Blue tape on it is the missing piece that I re-created. First, I got as much assembled as I could, and took some measurements. I used some clamps and blocks to Hold the gap to the proper amount. Then I used a piece of cardboard to trace the opening left by the missing piece. Overall, It was a piece just under 3" long
Then I used the picture above and imported the picture into my modeling program and scaled it to size. I used my spline tool to trace the outline and convert the cardboard picture to a sketch in digital space. Once I had a closed sketch, I made a 3D model.
I used that 3d model to create a part file to send to my printer and after a couple hours, I had a new plastic part to pretty closely fit the missing piece in the dash surround. Once the glue is dry, I'll get a picture of the overall fit. It will be easy to see, since its gray, not brown like the surrounding area. Its not perfect, but its pretty good...close enough that I can make up some ABS putty with acetone and plastic to fill the gaps. The one little bit of concern I have is that the ABS filament I have here didn't feed properly in my printer (it was from a Stratasys commercial machine), so I used ASA. They are almost the same material, so I'm thinking the solvent base should work the same, but I'm not 100% sure on that. If it doesn't work, I'll have to order some ABS filament for my printer.
Tomorrow will be mounting the single DIN, 7" Screen Android radio in place of the old Clarion two post model, and hopefully figuring out how to support the plastic surround better. I also have to refinish the front signal buckets, finish the smoothing the new cubbies for the side panels, and shorten, then install the connector bodies on my mirror harnesses.
Mike, I have said it (or something similar) before, but not for awhile: The various things you have gotten into on this project are impressive in their variety, your attention to detail and your endurance. If I ever even started on something like this, I probably would have bailed a while ago. Strong work!
There are days, trust me. It’s like a combination of the worst parts of remodeling a house and restoring a classic car.
Got a few things done today. Modified the dash for the single din radio. Took a bit of careful trimming and welding, but everything fits well.
The circle to the right of the stereo will get a new USB charger instead of the cigarette lighter the factory installed. @psrivats turned me on to cool gear out of Florida. I got a 75 watt charger from them, and a dual port dash mount.
The dash structure is coming along. Here is the piece i made, glued in. I’ve also slopped some extra material in to fill the gaps. I’ll need to clean it up a bit when it’s all cured.
I spent a fair bit of time today researching and hunting for old parts on EBay. My mirror project required I tap into the from signal /parking lights. The mirrors have side mounted directional in them and the easiest way to get that is to slice into the signal wire up front. The harness runs right by the mirror mount. Anyway, pulling the housings revealed a lot of corrosion…so I was planning on cleaning them up. Just for kicks, I typed the part number into eBay search and for all kinds of NOS assemblies. They were ~200 bucks…so no dice. A couple clicks through the “related listings” though and I found a set for 40 dollars with 32 minutes to go in the auction. I popped a bid in and won them at 40! That saved me a few hours of clean up.
The second eBay find was the mounting panel for my HVAC control. I have a couple broken mounting tabs. Was going to try and use the printer again to make something, but with a little bit more GM cross platform parts shopping, I found a guy selling the exact part I need, which really surprised me, since most people sell the whole HVAC control for about 150-200 dollars. I got this part for 15.
Last bit of figuring I did today was comping up with a replacement for the fiber optic ribbon that illuminates the switch tags in the dash. I’m going to try using some Electroluminescent wire. It’s wire that emits a glow, like neon, but it’s not a” light source “ per se. The kits I found on Amazon use two AA batteries and a transformer to convert the voltage to 90v AC, but very low current. I bought a 5 foot long kit and a 12v Dc to3.1v DC step down transformer, so I don’t need the batteries or switch. I’ll wire the transformer into the headlight circuit so that it comes on with the lights and illuminates the tags. Or, that’s the plan, anyway. First time playing with this technology…so I went cheap. If it works, I’ll develop the thought further and buy higher quality parts.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FB6SMFV?tag=wranglerorg-20
The circle to the right of the stereo will get a new USB charger instead of the cigarette lighter the factory installed. @psrivats turned me on to cool gear out of Florida. I got a 75 watt charger from them, and a dual port dash mount.
The dash structure is coming along. Here is the piece i made, glued in. I’ve also slopped some extra material in to fill the gaps. I’ll need to clean it up a bit when it’s all cured.
I spent a fair bit of time today researching and hunting for old parts on EBay. My mirror project required I tap into the from signal /parking lights. The mirrors have side mounted directional in them and the easiest way to get that is to slice into the signal wire up front. The harness runs right by the mirror mount. Anyway, pulling the housings revealed a lot of corrosion…so I was planning on cleaning them up. Just for kicks, I typed the part number into eBay search and for all kinds of NOS assemblies. They were ~200 bucks…so no dice. A couple clicks through the “related listings” though and I found a set for 40 dollars with 32 minutes to go in the auction. I popped a bid in and won them at 40! That saved me a few hours of clean up.
The second eBay find was the mounting panel for my HVAC control. I have a couple broken mounting tabs. Was going to try and use the printer again to make something, but with a little bit more GM cross platform parts shopping, I found a guy selling the exact part I need, which really surprised me, since most people sell the whole HVAC control for about 150-200 dollars. I got this part for 15.
Last bit of figuring I did today was comping up with a replacement for the fiber optic ribbon that illuminates the switch tags in the dash. I’m going to try using some Electroluminescent wire. It’s wire that emits a glow, like neon, but it’s not a” light source “ per se. The kits I found on Amazon use two AA batteries and a transformer to convert the voltage to 90v AC, but very low current. I bought a 5 foot long kit and a 12v Dc to3.1v DC step down transformer, so I don’t need the batteries or switch. I’ll wire the transformer into the headlight circuit so that it comes on with the lights and illuminates the tags. Or, that’s the plan, anyway. First time playing with this technology…so I went cheap. If it works, I’ll develop the thought further and buy higher quality parts.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FB6SMFV?tag=wranglerorg-20
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Well, the dash supports are coming out. Been talking with a guy who makes fiberglass repops and he's gonna hook me up. Sets this part of the project back a little bit, but I can't keep the original one together. It broke again on me a couple days ago. Kind of a bummer, but its the "right" thing to do. I should get it around the turn of the year. In the meantime, I've been working out the little electrical issues I have and finishing up all my additions. So far as I can tell, I've gotten rid of all the terrible splices. Those have all been replaced with crimp style, uninsulated butt connectors and adhesive lined heatshrink.
My mirror project is 100 percent complete. All wires shortened, connections made, and wires routed and tied down. I tested my new electronic flashers (two, because for some reason, the hazards are on a separate relay from the signals) and those are working. They need to be fully installed though. The power and load leads plug right in, but the electronics need a ground. I'll also need to find a place to mount them.
I need to clean up the signal wires running to the front grill. I have a couple new grommets to install and some loom to protect the new wires. My new signal lights should be here late next week. I do need to clean up / replace the terminals for that circuit. They are pretty green and dirty.
I've also been working on the EL wire project. Here is the old fiber optic braid...this picture shows it MUCH brighter than it really is...3 sec exposure! The bright spots are breaks in the fiber.
This is the EL wire I'm replacing it with. Much more consistent light and much brighter (camera had instant exposure).
Unfortunately, I screwed something up modifying it to be "dash Lights" and rendered it inoperable. I took the board out and installed a step down transformer, that had a 12V input and a 3.3V output. I also jumped the power switch, so it would automatically turn on when power was applied to the unit. I had it working, but one of my solder joints wasn't good enough. I tried to fix it, and it wouldn't turn on again. I don't know what I did, but I somehow took out the AC transformer (or its just a shit part). So, I ordered another one. I also found a power supply/AC transformer in one this time, so I can just plug the EL wire into power supply that accept 12 volts, and not worry about modifying a circuit board again.
Finally, I've been working on the Dash Face. This is the "wood grained" faceplate that covers all the inner workings of the dash.
Here you can see it in all its 70's fake woodgrain glory
There are 4 screws across the top of the faceplate. You remove those and pivot the faceplace down toward the floor, and there are 5 little tabs along the bottom to keep it in place (I bet you all know where this is going). Well, to the surprise of no one, those tabs are broken. Not all of them. Thankfully, one was in good enough shape to model it. I created a new one in my modeling software with a 0.500 x 0.750 baseplate and the hook geometry from the original. Here they are, fresh off my printer (printed from ASA filament).
To install them, I copied an idea from Blaine about how he replaces control arm mounts on axles. I used a punch and a matching template that fit on the original hooks.
I traced the template with a series of dimples from the punch, so I could sand the chrome without loosing the position of the hooks. You can see a couple dimples here after sanding
Finally, a little bit of ABS cement and they are "fixed"
And, all 5 of them replaced.
I have a screw hole up top that needs repair, and I'm sure you can see the broken plastic circle there on the lower right. I'll fix those up by hand (just some ABS sheet and standard tools) and this guy will be ready to install.
Finally, I need to work on the radio harness. I have the rear camera installed, and the wire run to the front of the coach. Speakers wires are all set (since I'm not doing anything crazy here). The original 8 track, AM/FM mono or optional stereo only used a ignition source 12V supply, since they didn't have an electronic memory to maintain. The Factory radio power circuit only has a 10 amp fuse on it, but they used 14Ga wire(!) so, that will be plenty big enough for me to use for the new radio (200 W). I'll just have to put a 20 Amp fuse in radio slot and change the call-out. The new radio will also need a constant 12V supply. Somewhere along the line, the factory radio was replaced with a Clarion two post. That used a battery supply 12V as well, which was picked up off the Cig Lighter. I'll probably copy that, though that circuit will be running my new USB power supply instead of a cig lighter. I'm searching for the "correct" terminal to use for the old, factory connector. There is an empty slot, and it would be cool to run the Batt (+) through the original connector. (so if any of you guys who are into old cars, @Squatch or @BlueC, know anything about factory radio connections from the late 70's, lemme know).
My mirror project is 100 percent complete. All wires shortened, connections made, and wires routed and tied down. I tested my new electronic flashers (two, because for some reason, the hazards are on a separate relay from the signals) and those are working. They need to be fully installed though. The power and load leads plug right in, but the electronics need a ground. I'll also need to find a place to mount them.
I need to clean up the signal wires running to the front grill. I have a couple new grommets to install and some loom to protect the new wires. My new signal lights should be here late next week. I do need to clean up / replace the terminals for that circuit. They are pretty green and dirty.
I've also been working on the EL wire project. Here is the old fiber optic braid...this picture shows it MUCH brighter than it really is...3 sec exposure! The bright spots are breaks in the fiber.
This is the EL wire I'm replacing it with. Much more consistent light and much brighter (camera had instant exposure).
Unfortunately, I screwed something up modifying it to be "dash Lights" and rendered it inoperable. I took the board out and installed a step down transformer, that had a 12V input and a 3.3V output. I also jumped the power switch, so it would automatically turn on when power was applied to the unit. I had it working, but one of my solder joints wasn't good enough. I tried to fix it, and it wouldn't turn on again. I don't know what I did, but I somehow took out the AC transformer (or its just a shit part). So, I ordered another one. I also found a power supply/AC transformer in one this time, so I can just plug the EL wire into power supply that accept 12 volts, and not worry about modifying a circuit board again.
Finally, I've been working on the Dash Face. This is the "wood grained" faceplate that covers all the inner workings of the dash.
Here you can see it in all its 70's fake woodgrain glory
There are 4 screws across the top of the faceplate. You remove those and pivot the faceplace down toward the floor, and there are 5 little tabs along the bottom to keep it in place (I bet you all know where this is going). Well, to the surprise of no one, those tabs are broken. Not all of them. Thankfully, one was in good enough shape to model it. I created a new one in my modeling software with a 0.500 x 0.750 baseplate and the hook geometry from the original. Here they are, fresh off my printer (printed from ASA filament).
To install them, I copied an idea from Blaine about how he replaces control arm mounts on axles. I used a punch and a matching template that fit on the original hooks.
I traced the template with a series of dimples from the punch, so I could sand the chrome without loosing the position of the hooks. You can see a couple dimples here after sanding
Finally, a little bit of ABS cement and they are "fixed"
And, all 5 of them replaced.
I have a screw hole up top that needs repair, and I'm sure you can see the broken plastic circle there on the lower right. I'll fix those up by hand (just some ABS sheet and standard tools) and this guy will be ready to install.
Finally, I need to work on the radio harness. I have the rear camera installed, and the wire run to the front of the coach. Speakers wires are all set (since I'm not doing anything crazy here). The original 8 track, AM/FM mono or optional stereo only used a ignition source 12V supply, since they didn't have an electronic memory to maintain. The Factory radio power circuit only has a 10 amp fuse on it, but they used 14Ga wire(!) so, that will be plenty big enough for me to use for the new radio (200 W). I'll just have to put a 20 Amp fuse in radio slot and change the call-out. The new radio will also need a constant 12V supply. Somewhere along the line, the factory radio was replaced with a Clarion two post. That used a battery supply 12V as well, which was picked up off the Cig Lighter. I'll probably copy that, though that circuit will be running my new USB power supply instead of a cig lighter. I'm searching for the "correct" terminal to use for the old, factory connector. There is an empty slot, and it would be cool to run the Batt (+) through the original connector. (so if any of you guys who are into old cars, @Squatch or @BlueC, know anything about factory radio connections from the late 70's, lemme know).
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Nice work, after seeing a lot of your posts I am floored by your skill level and attention to detail. Your Fox shock rebuild was just another example. Hats off to you sir and I don't know how you find the time.
In case you haven't thought of it, when I did my dash and other plastic trims like the pillar trims I applied pieces of sound deadening mat to the backs to eliminate vibrations as I had some annoying noises while driving. I also inserted some latex tubing into the door weatherstrip to tighten it up and eliminate a loud wind noise I had. Both of these seemed to help, we can hear the radio at normal levels and talk normally now when driving highway speeds.
In case you haven't thought of it, when I did my dash and other plastic trims like the pillar trims I applied pieces of sound deadening mat to the backs to eliminate vibrations as I had some annoying noises while driving. I also inserted some latex tubing into the door weatherstrip to tighten it up and eliminate a loud wind noise I had. Both of these seemed to help, we can hear the radio at normal levels and talk normally now when driving highway speeds.
Thanks for the kind words!
Sounds deadening is a good tip, and one I’ve already been working on. Under the dash tho isn’t something I’d thought of…but I will now!
Since I have decided to replace the dash supports...I'm fighting hard to not go off the deep end and replace the dash now too...I kinda know what I want to do, based on the old Trans-Am Territory Motorhome that Hagerty did an article on recently.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/autom...ut-a-firebird-on-an-rv-to-mark-its-territory/
In it, they mentioned that the builder installed a trans am gage package. When I saw the pic, I KNEW that was what I wanted to do. It looks period correct, and gives me most of the data that I've been wanting (mostly a tach, but I really want a trans temp gage too.)
Obviously, I'm going to deviate a bit, since I'm running in dash nav/back-up camera, but the rest is pretty spot on. I'm not a huge fan of the steering wheel, I like more of the Buick GNX style (I also have a soft spot in my heart for G-bodies). Still three spoke, but no holes. The factory used flat stock, three spoke
Some nice Repo/upgrades are out there, like this one. Get the right center cap, and I think this could look pretty good in there.
And Trans Am Gage cluster are surpisingly reasonable on Ebay...For example...This one is only 125 bucks. They are all mechanical, so I'm not too worried about getting a "dud."
Couple add on's for less than 100
And the only additional gage that I would want is trans temp...That would have to tuck in somewhere. Those are the plans anyway. I'm starting by replacing the awful wood with some engine tool vinyl wrap.
I think the dash mod is going to have to wait at this point...I can spend a TON of time working on this, while the rest of the moho just sits and wastes away. "Bike Shedding" I think is the term here, LOL. In fact, posting here is probably a form of bike shedding too.
And with that, my 3d Printer just finished, so I guess I better get to getting on.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/autom...ut-a-firebird-on-an-rv-to-mark-its-territory/
In it, they mentioned that the builder installed a trans am gage package. When I saw the pic, I KNEW that was what I wanted to do. It looks period correct, and gives me most of the data that I've been wanting (mostly a tach, but I really want a trans temp gage too.)
Obviously, I'm going to deviate a bit, since I'm running in dash nav/back-up camera, but the rest is pretty spot on. I'm not a huge fan of the steering wheel, I like more of the Buick GNX style (I also have a soft spot in my heart for G-bodies). Still three spoke, but no holes. The factory used flat stock, three spoke
Some nice Repo/upgrades are out there, like this one. Get the right center cap, and I think this could look pretty good in there.
And Trans Am Gage cluster are surpisingly reasonable on Ebay...For example...This one is only 125 bucks. They are all mechanical, so I'm not too worried about getting a "dud."
Couple add on's for less than 100
And the only additional gage that I would want is trans temp...That would have to tuck in somewhere. Those are the plans anyway. I'm starting by replacing the awful wood with some engine tool vinyl wrap.
I think the dash mod is going to have to wait at this point...I can spend a TON of time working on this, while the rest of the moho just sits and wastes away. "Bike Shedding" I think is the term here, LOL. In fact, posting here is probably a form of bike shedding too.
And with that, my 3d Printer just finished, so I guess I better get to getting on.
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Bikeshedding and a T/A gauge cluster in a motorhome. What a great post!