Register now to get rid of these ads!

Tech Week; 40 Gauge Cluster Build

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by mj40's, Mar 1, 2012.

  1. dcwest32
    Joined: Jul 11, 2009
    Posts: 57

    dcwest32
    Member

    mj40's great job got any ideas for deluxe gauges? that keeps the orginal plastic face. thanks again for the inlightning ideas....
     
  2. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,459

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    [Quote mj40's] I took my time and traced each connection to determine witch was the sender side and the power side and then marked them for later referance.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2012
  3. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    I did the same thing. I found that most of the gauges had the same common connections but checked them all to make sure. The power side was the easiest to trace because they came from the voltage regulater.
     
  4. wayne-o
    Joined: Jan 22, 2006
    Posts: 284

    wayne-o
    Member

    I did something similiar but used aftermarket mechanical 2-1/8" gauges for the oil pressure and temp. Had to find ones with the correct sweep and made new faces the size of the 40's from aluminum sheet, had to cut down the thickness of the housing. The aftermarket gauges had screw on faces so just screwed on the aluminum sheet. Bought a set of decals from a guy off of evil bay and put on the aluminum then mounted the gauges in the 40 cluster. Look completely stock although the oil pressure reads twice as high (20 on the gauge is actually 40 psi). Used the original speedo with a new decal and original gas gauge with a voltage drop.
     
  5. KWashburn
    Joined: Jul 23, 2006
    Posts: 109

    KWashburn
    Member

    Great write up!
     
  6. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,459

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    I think this answers my question of how you traced them. :) How did you know which leads came from the voltage regulator.

    Do you mean the regulator that drops the voltage to 5.1 ?
     
  7. gregaustex
    Joined: Feb 20, 2009
    Posts: 136

    gregaustex
    Member
    from Austin

    Wow, great work! I admire the scrounging for the gauges and how great it looks installed.
     
  8. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Yes the volt drop regulator. As you can see from the photo there will four leads into the regulator. The side with three leads will be feeding 5.1 volts to the oil, water temp and fuel gauges. The side with a single lead will be 12v coming in to powering the cluster.
    [​IMG]
     
  9. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    The cluster taken out of my black 40 pickup was done the same way. The problem was the builder set two of them back in the cluster to make room for the other two. I had to duck down to look straight into them to see those gauges. I was not comfortable with that. I could have taken the innards out of the gauges and done the same but did not have good faces to replace the aftermarket ones to make them all match.
     
  10. Dr_X
    Joined: Oct 21, 2004
    Posts: 232

    Dr_X
    Member

    Ever think about selling these?
     
  11. Looks neet man
     
  12. Nice work they look great
     
  13. 40FordGuy
    Joined: Mar 24, 2008
    Posts: 2,907

    40FordGuy
    Member

    OUTSTANDING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing,.........

    4TTRUK
     
  14. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member


    I have sold a couple to HAMB friends. The hard part is finding the donor 40 clusters to build. In particular the chrome outer trim ring. They either are beat up from someone trying to remove them or 70+ years of age. They are being reproduced but expensive. Most pickup clusters have painted rings and I had one power coated in extream chrome and it wasn't bad but not chrome. The ones I did for others, the clusters were supplied and I used their rings.
     
  15. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Deluxe gauges are a challange, due to the small window that the faces have to be viewed thru. I have not tackled one of those yet. I have been a 40 guy for 45 years and still think the standard clusters look better. Deluxe and plastic don't seem to go together with me.
     
    bchrismer likes this.
  16. cowboy1
    Joined: Feb 14, 2008
    Posts: 914

    cowboy1
    Member
    from Austin TX

    Looks great!! I saved this thread for future refrence.
     
  17. What sorta mopar did that speedo come outa?
     
  18. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    Yes
    And vintage of the ford gauges please.
     
  19. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Mopar Dusters and I believe the Ford truck gauges were from a early 70's pickup.
     
  20. The LED strip looks ideal to provide even lighting in the cluster; but I must be looking in the wrong places for it. What stores, etc sell it? Thanks.
     
  21. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Last edited: Mar 19, 2012
  22. Thanks for posting the gauge panel tech.
     
  23. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Thanks everyone. I didn't make the top 11 but I had fun doing it and only hope it will help someone out. The talent here is outrageous and over the top.
     
  24. DAYMN thats so cool, often considered this!
     
  25. It's in my top 5. Thanks again for the post
     
  26. Randy in Oklahoma
    Joined: Sep 18, 2008
    Posts: 301

    Randy in Oklahoma
    Member
    from Oklahoma

    Nice work! Will attempt to duplicate this on my 40 also......
     
  27. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    Anyone here try this yet? Post photos if you have.
     
  28. Excellent work! The ONLY little nit to pick is that I would have painted over the modern symbols for the fuel, oil pressure and such. But that's me!

    Very cool tech!
     
  29. Jedidiah
    Joined: Oct 8, 2008
    Posts: 177

    Jedidiah
    Member
    from Ft Worth

    I haven't tried it yet but definitely will. I move kind of slow but am looking for the gauges as I have time. This was a very good write up. Thanks for all the good information. There is no way I would ever be able to afford (or could justify) sending my cluster off to be rebuilt. It is just too much money. When I do put mine together I will post the pics. Thanks again!
     
  30. I'm actually in the process of building this panel as you descibe right now. I've got 2 gauges in (I'm using some cheap aftermarket gauges I had lying around) and I found the speedo at a swapmeet for $5. Just need to mount the other 2 gauges and set the signal and highbeam lights but I'm not sure what I'll do with the highbeam one as of right now ....

    My only question is mounting the speedo - one pic has it mounted using the original metal housing, the other using black plastic. Any problems with using the metal housing? Do you have any pics of how you attached the plastic mount to the speedo?

    For the gauge mountings, I'm removing them from their original housings and using the actual back plate of the 40 gauges as I have a few non-op original gauges around, insulating them from the housing as you have done ...

    I'll get some pics out as soon as I can .... it's definitely a fun project.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.