Swapping out non working speedo/adding a radio

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Jim 270

Jim 270

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going to be swapping out a non working speedo with a used unit on a 1968 Dart.

Question 1) my gauges other than the speedo work and the used one has gauges with it as well i'd like to just do the speedo swap is this as straight forward as it looks to be (remove the speedo back plate and mount screws).
2) Other than dropping the steering column to get the room to remove/install the cluster and disconnect the battery is there anything else that i should be prepared to do.
3)adding a radio and speaker to a radio delete car using a 68 radio and retrosound dash speaker anyone have any experience with retrosound is it a straight bolt in with regard to the speaker and would the wiring harness have the power/ground wires stubbed at the radio junction or do i have to run my own. Last i have ham hocks for hands should i remove the heater controls to get some room or is there room enough to work there.
Thanks Jim :poke:
 
I have a cuda, so not sure how similar the Dart is. My cuda has an unusual size speaker, 4x10? It is held in place by two special clips/studs. You can't sheet screw them in as the screw will come through to the topside. Make sure you have the correct size speaker and use the original clips. Speakers were originally two wire and ground through the radio. Your original radio will have a green and a black wire paired together for the speaker. The radio will have a connecter with red and orange wires. Red is the hot wire and orange wire is the radio light. Hope this gets you started.
 
If your car still has the radio delete plate, be sure to put it away somewhere safe. They can be hard to find and expensive. I would think the dash harness would have the plugs for a stock radio. If your going aftermarket you will need to run some extra wires unless your just going to use one speaker.
 
MoparMike1974 said:
If your car still has the radio delete plate, be sure to put it away somewhere safe. They can be hard to find and expensive. I would think the dash harness would have the plugs for a stock radio. If your going aftermarket you will need to run some extra wires unless your just going to use one speaker.
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Thanks i will tuck it away on that advise and i will be running the one speaker in the dash should be easy enough. thanks again
 
The factory dash speaker was in a support frame that was held up with 2 of what are called keyhole studs. The keyholes are hidden under the defrost vents. I don't know what you'll find in a radio delete build. Don't know what retrosound provides either. I guess you will find the radio plug in the wiring harness. It might be taped down/away but in the general area somewhere. It will have a red wire and a orange wire. Green and black to speaker come out of the radio. Factory simply switched up the male and female terminals to keep speaker polarity correct. All of it was chassis grounded.
I would clean and lube the speedo cable and clean the square drive input port of a used speedo too. Clean all contact points on circuit boards? As much as 40 bucks for all new high quality bulbs and sockets? The more you do now the less frequently you'll be going back in. It took almost 4 years for my cheap ebay Chinese bulb socket mistake to show itself.
 
I can look at my radio delete 73 dart sport and see if it has the wiring present. Not sure about speaker mtg on dash frame either. I cant imagine there being a different dash frame but then again, if there was no speaker it would show light through the grill and look bad.
 
RedFish said:
The factory dash speaker was in a support frame that was held up with 2 of what are called keyhole studs. The keyholes are hidden under the defrost vents. I don't know what you'll find in a radio delete build. Don't know what retrosound provides either. I guess you will find the radio plug in the wiring harness. It might be taped down/away but in the general area somewhere. It will have a red wire and a orange wire. Green and black to speaker come out of the radio. Factory simply switched up the male and female terminals to keep speaker polarity correct. All of it was chassis grounded.
I would clean and lube the speedo cable and clean the square drive input port of a used speedo too. Clean all contact points on circuit boards? As much as 40 bucks for all new high quality bulbs and sockets? The more you do now the less frequently you'll be going back in. It took almost 4 years for my cheap ebay Chinese bulb socket mistake to show itself.
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Thanks for your help knowing what wires go were will definitely save time. Definitely will clean and lube the cable. Where did you get the sockets and bulbs from and is electrical contact cleaner ok to use on the dash circuit board.:thankyou:
 
MoparMike1974 said:
I can look at my radio delete 73 dart sport and see if it has the wiring present. Not sure about speaker mtg on dash frame either. I cant imagine there being a different dash frame but then again, if there was no speaker it would show light through the grill and look bad.
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Definitely see through the dash grill looks to be a little wiggle room to i hope. Thanks
 
Since cluster is to be removed, the extra work recommended is a good idea. Dashlight bulb holders don't need to be replaced, just the contacts cleaned and bulbs checked. These are old cars, so I recommend a little steel wool on the contacts (2 on each) as I don't think contact cleaner is heavy duty enough. It would be good to check all screws and electrical connections while you 're there.
 
The bulb sockets have 2 tiny tangs that hold them in the board. Their electrical contacts make opposing pressure. Plastic gets brittle with age. They're not all as old as my 67 model. I can't predict when yours may start falling out. Some are a lot more difficult to access from underneath than others.
I searched the web for the best price on Standard brand sockets. Can't recall what vendor I ordered from. Wide range of bulb types and sources. LEDs could last longer than the car.
Clean the board contact points with most anything from a pencil eraser to Maguire's All Metals polish. Every screw that attaches the board to the housing is a ground contact point for bulbs. Gauge mounting studs and nuts are conductors too.
Power screw drivers can damage things. Careful not to overtighten any of it.
 
RedFish said:
The bulb sockets have 2 tiny tangs that hold them in the board. Their electrical contacts make opposing pressure. Plastic gets brittle with age. They're not all as old as my 67 model. I can't predict when yours may start falling out. Some are a lot more difficult to access from underneath than others.
I searched the web for the best price on Standard brand sockets. Can't recall what vendor I ordered from. Wide range of bulb types and sources. LEDs could last longer than the car.
Clean the board contact points with most anything from a pencil eraser to Maguire's All Metals polish. Every screw that attaches the board to the housing is a ground contact point for bulbs. Gauge mounting studs and nuts are conductors too.
Power screw drivers can damage things. Careful not to overtighten any of it.
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Thanks Murray & Redfish on the cleaning tips never knew leds were available i'll check the local stores anything that negates the need to take it apart again is good.
 
When you get to the point where you have to unplug your dash board to get it out be very carful unplugging it. If you break off the pins on the board you are screwed. I took a very thin screw driver and very slowly pried up on the plug one end to the other. Mine did come off with no problem just be careful. I do have a spare dash if needed. You can pull just the speedo out to replace it. My speedo wouldn't go past 60, the needle would stop right at 60, what I found was there is a black tin plate in front of the entire gage cluster and that was hitting the needle preventing it from going and farther than 60 mph. I shimmed it out a little with nylon washers and she now works perfect. Just go slow taking the plugs off and be carful not to break the plastic lock on your speedo cable when you go to take that off. I ended up pulling my bucket seat right out of the car to give me more room to work under the dash to get to the speedo cable.
 
68 Coronet RT said:
When you get to the point where you have to unplug your dash board to get it out be very carful unplugging it. If you break off the pins on the board you are screwed. I took a very thin screw driver and very slowly pried up on the plug one end to the other. Mine did come off with no problem just be careful. I do have a spare dash if needed. You can pull just the speedo out to replace it. My speedo wouldn't go past 60, the needle would stop right at 60, what I found was there is a black tin plate in front of the entire gage cluster and that was hitting the needle preventing it from going and farther than 60 mph. I shimmed it out a little with nylon washers and she now works perfect. Just go slow taking the plugs off and be carful not to break the plastic lock on your speedo cable when you go to take that off. I ended up pulling my bucket seat right out of the car to give me more room to work under the dash to get to the speedo cable.
Click to expand...
These are just the responses i was hoping to receive. Thanks all who replied awesome.:thankyou:
 
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