Congrats Darren, smiles per gallon!
Well deserved.
Well deserved.
Thanks Steve.. I was doing my best to avoid watching the Leafs game lol.Wow, quite the difference! Nice work.
Thanks Steve.. I was doing my best to avoid watching the Leafs game lol.
Hmmm.. house renos .. you just reminded me about my honey do list.. lol.I'm in the middle of redoing bathroom, Leafs looked poor again.
Nice job, ida been sweating bullets doing that lol .
Beautiful car Darren..well done!!This weekend I was finally able to take the first ride in the Cuda since I started the "mini" resto, She ran great just need to finish up the cluster but that will be a winter project.. thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement...
View attachment 1715230415
Hey guys.
Hope all is well, it's been awhile since I posted or even worked on the barracuda, I'm in the process of doing my cluster, it's been a part for 4 years, I'm going to have some questions on exactly how to put back together lol.
I bought a new bezel (from a FABO member) I believe it is from PG classic, I'm also installing a IVR3 limiter and tachometer kit from Real Time Engineering.
I'm also installing Crackbacked's headlight relay kit and wire around in the near future.
View attachment 1715727869
Hey Darren,
Looks like you're off to a great start ! My suggestions, use leds instead of the old bulbs. They will last much longer and be brighter. Tape the chrome parts of the Bezel so they don't get scratched when putting it back in the dash frame. Check the clips in the dash frame and make sure they are not stripped out. If they wont take a screw when you are reassembling, you will end up taking the whole dash apart again to replace them. If the interior is already in the car, take off the steering wheel, and drop the steering wheel column. Also take out the screw that holds the fusebox in place and leave it loose. It will be much easier to install the cluster wiring . I found it easier to connect the headlight switch to the wiring harness and install it after the cluster is in place. Same with the wiper switch. A little modification I made was to replace the screws that hold the heater controls to the cluster with 1/4-20 studs instead. Its much easier to put a nut and washer on the stud instead of trying to thread the screw into the diecast cluster housing to hold the heater controls in place. Before you put the cluster in place, use a 12volt source (old car battery ?) to test all the lights and the gauges.
When reassembling the Bezel, first clean and wax the clear lenses, make sure all the blue light housings are in place and are tight and not leaking light. These blue tubes get quite dirty so clean them well. Also, get a 50watt pencil type soldering iron with a spade type tip. You will need this to melt the tops of the plastic studs when re-assembling the plastic gauge parts. Wherever a screw threads into the circuit board ,and into the diecast cluster housing, make sure to use the star type washers. They cut into the circuit boards to ensure a good connection. Also make sure the dash frame is well grounded , use a test light probe to check it. Should light brightly if the ground is good. Also, if you can find one, get a bezel nut install tool for the nuts that hold in the wiper and headlight switch. Not necessarily needed but its very easy to let a tool slip and gouge your new cluster. I made one with an old deep socket that I grooved out to fit the nut.
This is all I can think of, maybe others will add to this as well. Wish I'd known all of this before I started as I could have avoided some of the issues I ran into when reassembling my dash cluster. Oh well, maybe it will help you out.
Cheers!!
Thank you for all the info.. it will definitely come on handyHey Darren,
Looks like you're off to a great start ! My suggestions, use leds instead of the old bulbs. They will last much longer and be brighter. Tape the chrome parts of the Bezel so they don't get scratched when putting it back in the dash frame. Check the clips in the dash frame and make sure they are not stripped out. If they wont take a screw when you are reassembling, you will end up taking the whole dash apart again to replace them. If the interior is already in the car, take off the steering wheel, and drop the steering wheel column. Also take out the screw that holds the fusebox in place and leave it loose. It will be much easier to install the cluster wiring . I found it easier to connect the headlight switch to the wiring harness and install it after the cluster is in place. Same with the wiper switch. A little modification I made was to replace the screws that hold the heater controls to the cluster with 1/4-20 studs instead. Its much easier to put a nut and washer on the stud instead of trying to thread the screw into the diecast cluster housing to hold the heater controls in place. Before you put the cluster in place, use a 12volt source (old car battery ?) to test all the lights and the gauges.
When reassembling the Bezel, first clean and wax the clear lenses, make sure all the blue light housings are in place and are tight and not leaking light. These blue tubes get quite dirty so clean them well. Also, get a 50watt pencil type soldering iron with a spade type tip. You will need this to melt the tops of the plastic studs when re-assembling the plastic gauge parts. Wherever a screw threads into the circuit board ,and into the diecast cluster housing, make sure to use the star type washers. They cut into the circuit boards to ensure a good connection. Also make sure the dash frame is well grounded , use a test light probe to check it. Should light brightly if the ground is good. Also, if you can find one, get a bezel nut install tool for the nuts that hold in the wiper and headlight switch. Not necessarily needed but its very easy to let a tool slip and gouge your new cluster. I made one with an old deep socket that I grooved out to fit the nut.
This is all I can think of, maybe others will add to this as well. Wish I'd known all of this before I started as I could have avoided some of the issues I ran into when reassembling my dash cluster. Oh well, maybe it will help you out.
Cheers!!
Yes forsure.. now I have to find the correct connectors. I've been looking locally with no luck. I'll check out Amazon.Glad ya caught the potential problem now! Less stress and work to deal with it now.
Yes forsure.. now I have to find the correct connectors. I've been looking locally with no luck. I'll check out Amazon.
Hi SteveWhich ones? Pico Canada makes most of what you need.
Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals