Voltmeter Mod for Mopars

Posted By: Cudajon

Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 02:27 AM

For a long time I've wanted to remove the Amp meter from the circuit on my 'Cuda but the thought of hanging a voltmeter under the dash and having a dead gage in my instrument cluster did not appeal to me. Following is my mods to the instrument cluster to remove the amp meter from the line and replace it with a fully functional Voltmeter. Located in the archives are the instructions for taking the amp meter out of the line and making a good connection so I will not rehash those instructions. First I needed a voltmeter that had the needle on top like the amp meter and read the voltage under neath. Summit has a Sunpro Mter ACP7985 that did this.
Sunpro ACP7985

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 02:33 AM

By carfully uncrimping around the gage you can seperate the gage. Carefully remove the gage from the sunpro case and put the red tag back in place on the two studs to indicate (+) and (-). Now for the fun. Remove the instrument cluster from the car, I mark the wires to indicate Temp, Oil and fuel. You'll notice removed the steering wheel, it makes it so much easier, anyway the spring had come loose from the steering wheek lock and I needed to repaint the column anyway.
Instrument cluster removed

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 02:37 AM

Next I removed the Amp meter from the Instrument cluster. By the way the voltage regulator you see there is an electronic one, I followed the instructions in the archive, gages are rock solid.

Back of cluster.

Heres the amp gage out of the Instrument cluster.

Amp Gage

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 02:44 AM

Next I removed the face plate from the voltmeter and did a test fit in the instrument cluster. Notice the resister and Poteniometer at the bottom, that was hitting the instrument case. That would be a no no. So I double nutted the post the resistor was conneted to and very slowly turned it CCW looking at it to spread the resistor from the pot. Then I carefully bent the pot over toward the rear to give me about 1/8" clearence.
Voltmeter in Instrument cluster.

Now I found something really interesting the faceplate bolt holes were almost identical so I could use either the old face plate, which would look stock, or the new faceplate from Sunpro. I decided I wanted the new faceplate but you could go either way. To use the Sunpro faceplate you have to cut off some of it.

Modified Voltmeter faceplate

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 02:56 AM

The voltmeter come with some inulation grommets to keep it from shortin out, I had to use a rattail file to open up the stud mounting holes, this allowed me to mount the voltmeter sure that it would not short out against the cluster.
Back of voltmeter mounted

The negative wire I grounded to the back of the instrument cluster. I mad up a short wire with a plug in terminal and ran it from the positive post to a wiring block that was hot when the key was in either run or accesories. Then I performed the mod to directly connect the positive leads that used to go to the ampmeter. I tested the voltmeter before putting it back in the dash with a known power source and a Flug voltmeter. The gage can be adjusted for accuracy by adjusting the pot on the gage, mine proved to be dead on as it was mounted.

Completed gage.

Well there you go, now I have a working voltmeter in my intrument cluster and have gotten rid of a potential problem with the old Amp gage. Anybody need an Amp gage for a 'Cuda? I have now rebuilt the Tach, Clock, Voltmeter, voltage regulator, and replace the temp gage with a perfect match out of a 86 dodge van.

Posted By: JDMopar

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 03:37 AM

Good job!

Posted By: chargervert

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 04:21 AM

I thought Red Line Guage would convert your ammeter to a voltmeter for about a hundred bucks,and it will look and function as original?

Posted By: MoparMarq

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 06:15 AM

Nice job. I went with original faceplate on mine when I did the '72 RR. The advantage of yours is the direct reading on the gauge for voltage. Mine I'll have to develop some experience with, to determine what location between "D(ischarge)" and "C(harge)" is normal.

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 04:53 PM

Chargervert, cost me $15.00 and time.

Posted By: shawge

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 05:37 PM

Very nice job. I'm going to copy this.

Posted By: Black_Bee

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 05:42 PM

Quote:

Chargervert, cost me $15.00 and time.

You did a great job! I have been thinking about doing the same thing with my '69 Super Bee, so this gives me some motivation.

Posted By: '84 D150 Shorty

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 05:52 PM

Very sweet!

I love covert upgrades like that!

Posted By: Sinitro

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 09:01 PM

Quote:

For a long time I've wanted to remove the Amp meter from the circuit on my 'Cuda but the thought of hanging a voltmeter under the dash and having a dead gage in my instrument cluster did not appeal to me. Following is my mods to the instrument cluster to remove the amp meter from the line and replace it with a fully functional Voltmeter. Located in the archives are the instructions for taking the amp meter out of the line and making a good connection so I will not rehash those instructions. First I needed a voltmeter that had the needle on top like the amp meter and read the voltage under neath. Summit has a Sunpro Mter ACP7985 that did this.

Check out Mopar Action, December 2008 issue (Vol 17, Number 5), they did the Ammeter to Voltmeter Conversion.

Just my $0.00..

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/25/10 11:53 PM

Aw shucks and here I thought I had an original idea. Shoulda known better, my wife says I aint had one since she's known me.

Posted By: screamindriver

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/26/10 02:42 AM

Thanks for sharing your pics of the procedure..

...Nice job....That's also a great alternative for the guys that modify their harness to carry the charge load out in the engine bay rendering the ammeter useless in the process...

Posted By: Jwilli500

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/26/10 03:05 AM

Nice work Jack!

Looks good!

Posted By: RodStRace

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 04/23/11 04:15 AM

gotta do this on my a-100!

Posted By: wally426ci

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 06/11/12 05:05 PM

Bookmarking for myself

Posted By: Magnum

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/01/14 07:30 AM

Excellent upgrade.

Posted By: 383man

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/01/14 08:44 AM

Nice work.

I bypassed my amp gauge also and added an aftermarket voltmeter. Ron

Posted By: Steve Bryant

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/01/14 01:27 PM

Excellent, excellent post!

My Sunpro gauge came in yesterday and I already made the few modifications to make it work. My gauges should be back from AutoIntruments in a few weeks (refacing) and I can't wait to bolt everything together and install it.

Posted By: 70duster340

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/03/14 08:51 PM

Think that would work on a 70 Rallye dash in a Duster?

Posted By: cudabitten

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/04/14 03:09 AM

Thanks for sharing. Does anyone have a write for a non-rally dash? Just asking.
By the way I tried to look at the Mopar action article but I could not open the link on their page, guess you need a subscription?

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/04/14 11:18 PM

I'm pretty sure the procedure would work on any old mopar dash. I used a sunpro gauge because it had the correct orientation, but if I had my druthers it would have been an autometer. I don't know what the orientation of the other rallye dashes are so I can't answer that question.

Posted By: 70duster340

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/05/14 05:48 AM

Unfortunately, I believe (without looking at mine), that the ammeter is at the top left in the gauge cluster. So, unless the gauges can be rearranged, I am out of luck.

Posted By: cudabitten

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/06/14 02:23 AM

Quote:

For a long time I've wanted to remove the Amp meter from the circuit on my 'Cuda but the thought of hanging a voltmeter under the dash and having a dead gage in my instrument cluster did not appeal to me. Following is my mods to the instrument cluster to remove the amp meter from the line and replace it with a fully functional Voltmeter. Located in the archives are the instructions for taking the amp meter out of the line and making a good connection so I will not rehash those instructions. First I needed a voltmeter that had the needle on top like the amp meter and read the voltage under neath. Summit has a Sunpro Mter ACP7985 that did this.
Sunpro ACP7985

Did you say there is an article in the archives explaining this? I could not find it.

Posted By: 70duster340

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/06/14 03:38 AM

Is there a voltmeter that is oriented with the numbers at the top of the gauge?

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/06/14 10:35 PM

>Cudabitten, there used to be an article in the archives. I couldn't fine it either. But if you follow my build you will have done it. Since i did this I went to a 120 amp alternator and put relays on my (80watt) headlights and line lock. I fried my dimmer switch because the headlights drew to much power so the need for relays. I also replaced the wiring from the relays on. The mod to the dash worked just fine. All my other lights are LEDS.

Posted By: Cudajon

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/06/14 10:39 PM

>70Duster340 Check the JEGS (Mopar sponsor) catalog. You'll find gauges oriented the way you want.

Posted By: 70duster340

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/07/14 06:01 AM

I will do that, sir. Thanks!

Posted By: cudabitten

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/08/14 04:25 AM

Thanks cudajon. When I took my car apart 6 years ago, I found the heavy 10 gauge black and red wires melted through the bulk head disconnect at the firewall. Then when I got to the dash, I found one of the wires on the ammeter fried. I repaired the wires so I could continue with the restore, and will have it that way when I fire it up for the first time hopefully this year. When I get time I will definitely change the ammeter to a voltmeter. I toggled this thread to my favorites, but I'm sure I will have questions when I get there.
Thanks Again.

Posted By: wally426ci

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/08/14 07:37 PM

This gauge bolted right into my 68 truck gauges after removing the pod and glass

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g2939/overview/

It fit perfectly through the existing holes used for my AMP gauge

Posted By: 70duster340

Re: Voltmeter Mod for Mopars - 08/12/14 04:01 AM

Has anybody ever switched out all the gauges in a Rallye dash gauge pod with modern gauges?