67-72 Electric speedo

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

Wow Dan, that really looks good, but you're going to have to stop, you're making me look bad!

I also thought of making the face out of metal, but didn't have a way to cut out the odometer opening neatly enough. The up side to doing it is you could eliminate the trip odometer and ot would make things a little easier. One tip ill give you though, if you do it, the metal will need to be really thin. If its too thick, the odometer will be too far from the face of the speedo and won't look right. When I first started trying things I tried to use the original face, but since it kind of tapers in around the odometer opening, it just didn't look right.

Keep up the good work, and later this week I should have some more progress and some more pics of the process to post.

I was thinking I could make a steel face to attach the decal to but now that I look at it it would be a PITA. I was thinking of eliminating the clear plastic and the black face but it would not be very easy due to the thickness of the clear plastic. The depth would be out of place as you said. arrrrrgh well for now I will go forward with the S10 clear plastic and black face. How do you re-attach the face with the decal? glue??

[ChevyCruizer]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

How do you re-attach the face with the decal? glue??

I think he is reusing the two tiny screws from the C10 speedo.

If you do end up making some of those plates please add me to the list. I picked up the S10 cluster/parts but am on the next list to get the "kit" from ls1nova71

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by ChevyCruizer

I think he is reusing the two tiny screws from the C10 speedo.

I only put the 2 screws back in the face for cosmetic reasons. I think it looks better, and there are two white dots on the face where they go. I just drilled the holes small enough so that the screws screw into the face, but are not actually holding anything.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by chevytrucking

I've been trying to figure out exactly what type signal is coming directly off the VSS on the tailshaft and I came across this:

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...roduct_id=126/

Looks to me like this device would make this swap work without a pcm/ecm and it's only $89. Is so, it should work with any electronic trans with no computer. Anybody have any first hand experience with this?

I'm really trying to find a way to make this work!

I don't know if that will work or not. I actually have a Dakota Digital SGI-5, but it's a B and not a C, which I think is the older version and doesn't have a place for the sensor ground wire, but I could check it out sometime and let you know what happens.

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

I was thinking I could make a steel face to attach the decal to but now that I look at it it would be a PITA. I was thinking of eliminating the clear plastic and the black face but it would not be very easy due to the thickness of the clear plastic. The depth would be out of place as you said. arrrrrgh well for now I will go forward with the S10 clear plastic and black face. How do you re-attach the face with the decal? glue??

I like the idea of the metal face and eliminating the clear plastic part since you could do away with the trip odometer. I do see how it would be hard to attach though. THe spacing could be achieved by putting some small spacers behind the face and then use two small screws to hold it to the speedo part. It could work, but not sure if the two dots where the original screws go would line up with them, but I think they would be pretty close.

As for how I put the S-10 face back on the clear plastic, if you don't touch the back side alot, it will be sticky enough to just stick back on. At least the ones I've done have worked out that way. You could put some glue on it or a few pieces of good quality tape on the edges since you can't see them once it's assembled. The tape I use for such things is the aluminum tape for sealing HVAC duct work in houses, which I'm sure you're familiar with!

Also, don't worry about the "hijack", this thread is just information and your additions I think people will find helpful.

[ls1nova71]

Here's the problem with the trip odometer. The re-set knob is just a touch too short. It's about 1-15/16" long, and needs to be close to 2-1/4". To remedy this I cut the knob and lengthened it with a small screw. You probably don't need a screw to do it, since you'll never really be putting much pressure on it, you could probably just drill it, put a short piece of a nail or something in it and glue it back together, but I had the stuff lying around and it's what I used.

These are the part's I used. A small drill bit, a 4-40 tap, and screw. Then I cut the knob off and sanded the end where I was going to be drilling the hole in it.



Drilled the hole in the end about 3/8" deep. I used a drill, but you could also put the bit in an X-Acto knife. Drilling plastic is really pretty easy, just make sure it's centered the best you can.



This is what it looks like drilled.



Then I put the tap in a pair of Vice Grips and tapped the hole.



Then the screw will screw into it.



Drill and tap the other end, cut the head of the screw off and thread each end in.





Later, after I've adjusted it to the length I want, I'll put some glue in them so it won't thread out, but odds are it wouldn't move anyway. You can also see that I didn't get the bottom part exactly centered, it's not a big deal, since you can just thread it in or out a bit to get it where you want it.

[ls1nova71]

Next is the needle. You'll need both the S-10 and your original needles. Start by bending the four tabs up on your original needle and remove the mounting part.



Then cut the black part off the S-10 needle, and trim it up so it will fit in the original needle.





Then you'll need to epoxy the black part in the original needle. I used body filler because it sets up quick, and I had some. Mixed some up and put a little in the needle, then put the black part in it.



Then put a little more on it to cover it the rest of the way up. Make sure it's centered and straight up, you don't want it leaning at all.



Then when it started to set up, but before it was completely hardened, I took a razor blade and trimmed it flat.



Then it fell out! LOL! No problem though, a little super glue and it was good to go. I also bent the tabs back over.



Now you'll find that it's a little too long, and the needle is too far off the face. Pull it back off and trim it down a bit. I did it a little at a time with a razor blade. Don't do alot at once, since if you cut it too short, you'll have to start over.



This is a little better.



Now you can put the needle on, and make sure everythings lining up. If it's right, through the entire sweep, the needle will be right at the edge of the line on the speedo face.







Should look like this. At this point it's just down to wiring. I use sockets for the lights from the junk yard. They are the same sockets that 67-72 trucks have on the heater controls, and use the same bulbs. they ground through the base, so you only need to run the power wires to them.






As for the rest of the wiring, use your old printed circuit as a guide, it will show you what wires on the gauges need power, and which ones go to the senders. I also usually go to the junk yard and get a connector to wire into it so that you can un plug the whole cluster to remove it. If anyone has any questions on wiring just ask and I'll get back with you.

[ls1nova71]

I forgot about the high beam indicator, but there's a pic on page 1 of this thread. It's a 12v LED I bought at Radio Shack. it has a small nut that threads on it so you can bolt it in a hole. I made a bracket that bolts to one of the screws that holds the speedo part in. I also ended up putting a piece of window tint under the face, between it and the clear plastic part, to keep it from appearing to glow when the dash lights are on. The dash lights will light up the clear and the indicator will be white. putting the window tint darkens it so you don't see it, but it's not so dark that the LED doesn't show through.

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

I forgot about the high beam indicator, but there's a pic on page 1 of this thread. It's a 12v LED I bought at Radio Shack. it has a small nut that threads on it so you can bolt it in a hole. I made a bracket that bolts to one of the screws that holds the speedo part in. I also ended up putting a piece of window tint under the face, between it and the clear plastic part, to keep it from appearing to glow when the dash lights are on. The dash lights will light up the clear and the indicator will be white. putting the window tint darkens it so you don't see it, but it's not so dark that the LED doesn't show through.

Hey Eric, two questions: since you mounted the high beam indicator to one of the speedo attachment bosses, does this mean you only used the other two bosses to attach the speedo to the plate? To clarify, there are only 3 attach points to secure the clear plastic speedo plate to the metal plate, so was the upper attach point omitted so the light bracket could be used there?

Also, I noticed you added two of the single wire lights between the 2 sets of small gauges, does this make a noticeable difference in gauge brightness?

Thanks!

[Steve Cole]

Hey Eric, never mind the first question, I took a different approach by counter boring the plastic piece so the LED sits flush with the surface of the plastic piece, then ran the nut and lock washer down on the backside. I think it will work pretty good but if it ever fails, I'm screwed. Lol.

[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

As for how I put the S-10 face back on the clear plastic, if you don't touch the back side alot, it will be sticky enough to just stick back on. At least the ones I've done have worked out that way. You could put some glue on it or a few pieces of good quality tape on the edges since you can't see them once it's assembled. The tape I use for such things is the aluminum tape for sealing HVAC duct work in houses, which I'm sure you're familiar with!

Also, don't worry about the "hijack", this thread is just information and your additions I think people will find helpful.

Okay thanks I see, it should stick back on just fine then. That foil tape will cut you up

Q: does the needle have to sit up higher that the stock needle? Just wondering if I couldnt just bore out the stock needle hole to fit or would it be too short?

I am almost done with the mounting plate but have a bit to go on the rear cover box. Those pesky light bulbs make it difficult. I may make another one and just use LEDs to backlight it like the one you used for the high beam indicator. I think that would give me a bit more wiggle room for the rear cover box.

Here are some pics of the almost finished plate and my progress.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

Q: does the needle have to sit up higher that the stock needle? Just wondering if I couldnt just bore out the stock needle hole to fit or would it be too short?

The needle doesn't need to be any higher than the stock needle, but it does need to press onto the shaft snugly. (is that a word?) I guess if you have a drill bit that small you could drill it out to fit, but damn, that would be a really small drill bit!