[amaurer]

Originally Posted by thecrazygreek

I found a set of other guages if you want to go cheap on this mod. I havent tested them, but they "seemed" ok.

The best part is they cost $16.99 at Harbor Frieght.

hmm, wow - will have to see what the mounting pattern is like on the back.

Too bad the faces are ugly as sin, but good price.

[FJFOOL]

SWEET !! I'll be down for some mechanicals in the future !

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by amaurer

...

I'll include instructions for where/how to install a radioshack potentiometer/rheostat to dim the wire. I don't plan to include one with the kit, however, because my simple brain has enough configurations/complexities to deal with at the moment.

However, my impression sitting in the truck was that it was not too bright, or obtrusive in any way.

Couldn't we just use the dimmer provisions already in place for dash light? On my '78 I just use the headlight knob...

[Poser]

Any way you can make the rope light glow green?

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by PabloCruise

Couldn't we just use the dimmer provisions already in place for dash light? On my '78 I just use the headlight knob...

My own truck is not gifted with such a knob (and it shocks me that Toyota felt it was necessary to dim the dash lights!) but in general, yes, if your truck has a dimmer it will dim the EL wire. It'll behave a little "weird" (e.g. not be variable all the way to zero - at some point it will just shut off instead of getting dimmer), but it should work.

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by Poser

Any way you can make the rope light glow green?

Yep, the rope comes in many colors. I didn't think to ask if people wanted something other than white - but yes, green is available.

[PabloCruise]

Is the El wire expected to live as long as an LED?

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by Poser

Any way you can make the rope light glow green?

I need hot pink!!!

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by PabloCruise

Is the El wire expected to live as long as an LED?

The EL wire is the same stuff as almost every OEM manufacturer uses for the popular "white" gauge faces nowadays, but the honest truth is that nothing lasts as long as an LED.

After 5000 hours the wire will be half as bright as it was when new. (For comparison, a typical incandescent bulb burns out after ~2000 hours.) The wire will never "die", but it will continue to dim with time, and will linger on for a VERY long time after that first 5000 hours.

[2fpower]

If you end up making one in green, I would like to see a pic of that....

Thanks,

Oh, and excellent idea and brilliant work. I bow to your work.

k

[merbesfield]

Very nice. I will probably order one eventually. Good work.

[amaurer]

Just a note to everyone who ordered, thanks for your patience, all orders are shipping out today except BELMONT's, who's paint is drying and will ship tomorrow..

I sent a set of brackets out early to one customer by request, his experience with my instructions was... well, he thought they sucked. If you haven't yet, head to my website and check them out (they're online only, not in the box) - I HIGHLY recommend reading the whole thing before you start bending things, it will give you a better idea of the finished shapes and where everything fits: http://cruiseruser.com/instructions.pdf

I don't have time before you guys start digging it, or enough feedback, to fix whatever might be deficient with my instructions, so if you have any trouble when bending/installing/anything, just email me or send a PM, you'll probably never have to wait more than an hour for a reply.

Now that everything is built, here are a few tips/notes that may or may not be properly elucidated in the instructions:

• If you're using the barrel connector, note that it will be quite a tight fit, but don't worry, it WILL go in - I tested every harness in my own truck.
• There is a label on the harness that says "Connector tab goes between red wires" - this cryptic message means, when you plug the barrel connector in, make sure that the "key" on the center of the truck's connector points between-ish the two red wires in the new cluster harness.
• In the instructions, I use "early" and "late" clusters sorta loosely. To clarify, when bending the gauge mask, if your cluster does NOT have turn signals in the speedometer, follow the "Early" instructions. When you get to installation, it will be obvious based on the construction of your cluster which path to follow.
• If you jerk the headlights on and off very quickly repeatedly (like I was doing to test the harnesses), the EL backlight may start flashing or turn off. Your headlamp relay causes a little voltage pulse when it opens and closes, which can disrupt the EL wire driver - if that happens, just turn the lights off and on again.

Thanks guys!

[Vitesse_6]

[joeyg1973]

*said with a lisp*

Can I get fuchsia? I just love me some fuchsia!

[Vitesse_6]

Mine just arrived!
Packaged very well, A very nicely put together package.
I know whats going to keep me busy for a day or so.
Many thanks!

[lone gunman]

sweeeeeeet! mine arrived today too, now to get busy bending it up and assembling it.

Drew it looks great!
thank you!

[BELMONT148]

Just got mine a few minutes ago. All I can say is F-ING SWEET!

I got the works package all installed and it looks great. Can't wait to see it fired up with the lights. You just made all my gauge problems go away.

Thanks again

Jeremy

[merbesfield]

So has anyone driven at night with the EL wire yet to determine if they are too bright or ok?

[merbesfield]

What do you do if the EL wire burns out? How are the EL wires held in place?

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by merbesfield

So has anyone driven at night with the EL wire yet to determine if they are too bright or ok?

Well, I have and think its fine.

Originally Posted by merbesfield

What do you do if the EL wire burns out? How are the EL wires held in place?

See my reply above about the lifetime of the EL wire. If it ever becomes so dim as to be useless, you'll have to pull it off and replace it. Its held on with glue, so using some type of cement (as opposed to superglue or epoxy) is preferable for removability. But, in all honesty, this is not likely to be a big concern.

[nicholastheczar]

Very cool and nice work. Can someone tell me the pros and cons of going mechanical vs. electrical?

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by nicholastheczar

Very cool and nice work. Can someone tell me the pros and cons of going mechanical vs. electrical?

My thoughts exactly! Any help is appreciated!

For starters, what kind of gauges are in my '78 40?

[ken_79-fj40]

Stock gauges in a 78 should be electrical like in my 79. Mechanical gauges are supposed to be more accurate but you have to run tubing into the passenger compartment with oil in it to hook to the gauge. I've never been crazy about this idea, but people have been doing it for decades. Hopefully i'll be ordering one of these kits soon. It would be nice to know if the oil pressure in my recently rebuilt 2F really is dropping slightly under load, and how much. The stock gauge says it is, but I don't trust it a whole lot.

[Blueegg]

Wow, this is on my must have list. Nice web site!

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by ken_79-fj40

Stock gauges in a 78 should be electrical like in my 79. Mechanical gauges are supposed to be more accurate but you have to run tubing into the passenger compartment with oil in it to hook to the gauge. I've never been crazy about this idea, but people have been doing it for decades. Hopefully i'll be ordering one of these kits soon. It would be nice to know if the oil pressure in my recently rebuilt 2F really is dropping slightly under load, and how much. The stock gauge says it is, but I don't trust it a whole lot.

Thank you

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by PabloCruise

Thank you

Lets be clear - Toyota used electrical gauges, however you're free to choose whichever you like. Nothing from the old setup is reused, if you go electrical all new autometer senders are included, so it doesn't matter tha Toyota used electrical.

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by amaurer

Lets be clear - Toyota used electrical gauges, however you're free to choose whichever you like. Nothing from the old setup is reused, if you go electrical all new autometer senders are included, so it doesn't matter tha Toyota used electrical.

Excellent. Are the senders threaded for the same location to replace the factory senders? Doesn't oil pressure come off the filter mount?

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by PabloCruise

Excellent. Are the senders threaded for the same location to replace the factory senders? Doesn't oil pressure come off the filter mount?

The oil pressure senders are 1/8" NPT and will need a NPT-BSPT adapter.

The water temp senders are also NPT, but 1/2" and larger are OK to use with BSPT, with no adapter.

[PabloCruise]

Originally Posted by amaurer

The oil pressure senders are 1/8" NPT and will need a NPT-BSPT adapter.

The water temp senders are also NPT, but 1/2" and larger are OK to use with BSPT, with no adapter.

Hmm, will gauges work with stock senders, or does that defeat the purpose of replacing the gauges?

Does anyone have a pic of the adapters and senders in place? I hate getting too many adapters in place and having a big gangly looking set-up.

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by PabloCruise

Hmm, will gauges work with stock senders, or does that defeat the purpose of replacing the gauges?

Does anyone have a pic of the adapters and senders in place? I hate getting too many adapters in place and having a big gangly looking set-up.

No, the new [electrical] gauges don't work with the stock senders.

The adapter stackup is not extreme. For the oil pressure it adds maybe 0.5" of length to the sender, an example would be:



The water temp doesn't add much length at all, the adapter is a bushing so the threads are internal.