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Converting a "Battery Gauge" to "Volt Meter" |
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With dash removed to replace dash pads I decided to repair/upgrade/convert various items. Some of them were: Service Wiper Motor |
| My battery gauge worked but I prefer a Volt Meter. Why? Not
for discussion or defense here I just prefer
JJ The conversion is fairly simple and straight forward "If you already have the cluster out and on a workbench" To start with you will need a Volt Meter from a 78-82 Vette. I got mine off of Ebay for about $25 +shipping, |
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After research/experimentation with the gauge I determined that only 1 wire is need - a switched 12 volt as the gauge is grounded through the cluster. But the original resistor is needed to make gauge work. |
| If you lay the gauges side-by-side you will see the are similar (see below). The cans are the same size but the mounting holes are off a little so you need to swap the internal electrical components. |
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After painting the next thing was to reconnect the base with the can with very small rivets. They are aluminum and soft BUT I didn't have correct tools and wanted to avoid damage to the face of the gauge so I cut a small block of wood to hold rivet in place and drilled some holes to accommodate the pointer shaft. I then put epoxy on the back side of the rivets and with the wood block in place applied pressure to hold in place. |
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I was also installing in white face gauge overlays from http://www.whitegauges.net These are not 100% perfect but are great & cheap for a DRIVER and look great from a normal distance but it you get your nose close to the dash you will see imperfections. |
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Next item is to properly install pointer (needle). I had been testing and gotten good at getting it correctly installed. I had a spare 12v battery along with a 9v battery on the work bench and by hooking up one then the other to insure I had it placed correctly. In photo below the battery was reading 12.48 volts. |
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Now just install gauge back in the cluster and hook up 12v switched wire. |
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More how to's: Article on how to install BLUE LED idiot light which displays when voltage drops below 11.5 volts Article on Pluggable C2 Corvette Dash Cluster Harness Article on WhiteFace Gauge Overlays
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