upgraded duster alt, no gas gauge, coolant temp gauge, wipers, or dome light

I cannot think of one or two simple, related problems that will cause all this. I'd say you have some corrosion / other issues

I'd start by pulling the bulkhead connector apart and inspecting it

Pull the fuse box down and inspect it and see where/ where not you have power

Check connectors for "tight" and move them in/ out to "scrub" the connections clean

The dash cluster may have broken/ loose pins on the connector to PC board pins and the pc board may have corrosion/ grounding issues