Need photo of rear of gauge cluster - 1971

[mulletmobile]

I previously fixed the wiring (I think I got it right anyhow) for the ammeter and alternator wiring. Now I pulled the gauge cluster and found another issue. Check the photograph and let me know what you think about the photo of the back of my ammeter (lower right corner). The terminals were just covered with electrical tape and left sitting there. Anyone have a photo as I can't seem to find one.

[robroy]

MulletMobile, here's a photo I took of my '72 circuit (with the factory ammeter option). You can click on this photo for a large edition.



I can't remember what plugged in to that mystery area (if anything). I'll browse through some old threads later tonight, and post again if I find anything useful.

[mulletmobile]

Thank you, any help is much appreciated! I know on some of the other Fords of that era they used push on connectors, but for some reason I thought there was a bar or something that went across there.

[robroy]

You're welcome MulletMobile. I found some old diagrams which confirmed that those two posts are for the ammeter, yet that's old news for you. I can see that the far-right post terminates at C-10 pin #17, and the other C-10 pin #1 (the two ammeter pins).

I guess the electrical tape may have been put on there when the sleeves either broke off, or were removed (to make testing easier, maybe).

I'm pretty sure there wasn't anything beyond the plastic sleeves covering those two posts, when I first looked at the back of my truck's circuit.

[mulletmobile]

robroy once again with the save! Great info and much appreciated! I know I have been trying to help with resolutions to questions I have had because if I had them certainly at least 10 others have. I have a friend who is rebuilding his grandfathers '68 (at least I think it is) has also been a great help. I will find some tight fitting vacuum caps to cover them when I get back to it tomorrow.

Now, any thoughts on my gas gauge and none of the dash lights working?

[robroy]

MulletMobile, I can see what looks like a Ford part number on the protective plastic piece, yet I can't actually read the number in either of our photos. If you can read it on your actual part, it may be worth a try to call Green Sales Co., and ask if they have any new old-stock replacements.

If I remember correctly, this is one of the companies which bought a lot of the original Ford replacements parts when Ford cleared out their remaining inventory long ago. And the prices on their new old-stock parts aren't bad at all; they don't seem to be subject to a vintage or scarcity value mark-up. I've bought a few things from them over the years.

Regarding your gauges, it looks like you've discovered the fuel gauge inspection page (yesterday in Fuel gauge). If the information therein doesn't lead to success, maybe starting a new thread specifically for your gauge problem would be an effective way to get help with it (members may not think to look in here for that topic, 'cause of this thread's title).

[mulletmobile]

robroy, I will check them out and see if they have the part. Great info about the possible source for parts. Looks like everything is ok otherwise and the PO maybe just broke the ends of trying to do who knows what. He had some creative ideas on some things! My local mechanic (owns his own shop and hates anything with a computer in it) said he has repaired many truck of this era with the ammeters in them. He said he has seen several with melted down clusters from the ammeter and suggested disconnecting it ASAP. I do not know about that, but I may look into the North Hollywood Speedometer conversion to a voltmeter route I saw elsewhere on the site anyhow.

I did find the page about the fuel gauge tech and will be probably be headed toward that work next week. I want to have a new gasket ready before I go pulling the sender. I do have to clean the contact on the ground and reattach it so I may be able to try that out on Sunday afternoon. If that doesn't solve the issue with the fuel gauge, it will have to wait a couple of weeks due to a list of honey-do's and kids sports. Some get down on old trucks, but I actually like working on this one. Much simpler time, much simpler vehicles that I can do the work on. Plus I don't have to smog it out here in Cali!

My friend was working on a 69 F100 today that was pretty original so I was able to snap some pics for reference. The owner was having him do a complete MSD distributor install and he was just frustrated at the amount of work and money the owner was throwing at it. He said he could get just as much reliability and saved hundreds by installing a Pertronix Ignitor. Made me happy the PO of mine did that conversion already!