Driver on a budget.

[TchncnDen]

Sometimes being incredibily cheap bites you in the ass and sometimes it works out better than expected. With all the extra wires coming out of the PCM I figured there must be some way to make a factory instrument cluster work and after some digging I found out there is. I scored this siverado instrument panel off ebay for $40 dollars shipped. It was so cheap because the mileage/gear selector area wouldn't light up. I knew this had to be an easy fix, and sure enough it was! I also ordered a sunpro fuel sending unit with the same ohm values as stock, even the fuel gauge will work for less than $20. The message center sends out the security warning which is a shame because I will have to block that out when I make my dash panel (unless anyone knows how to turn that off). That means I'll also lose my low fuel and battery warning. Not a big deal but those would have been cool. I also made a fitting to run my steam pipe in the heater hose line by drilling and tapping a 3" brass nipple for a 1/4" barb. I screwed it in just far enough to grab so as to not block any flow and then soldered it so it doesn't leak.

All bodywork is done. I will do my final prime this weekend, try to get the jambs painted and maybe come up with some kind of temporary exhaust until I can get the real thing.