Back in the day I had to remove the top myself on my '79. Usually did it once a year. I didn't have a shop or even a covered parking place. So I always took the cap off separately for ease in handling. Front & rear doors, cap, & sides all stored in the breakfast nook of my rent house.
Bought a gauge cluster mid-housing, rear circuit board and 30 AMP gauge from fish4reel. Installed the rest of the gauges from a '79 cluster that PO had installed in my '77. Got all the gages working properly. Rudi's posts on "Cluster, Gauges & Odo meters" was a tremendous help. Thank you!
Thanks for posting this! I performed this test last night and all was good. I will say that my first attempt was with a "used" 9V battery. The test light lit-up (but dim) and did not blink. I then used a fresh 9V and the test light blinked just as in the video for both parts of the test.
Thanks for the pic and dimensions. I may be mistaken but this looks like the mounting for a 50 amp gauge. I've read that the 30 amp gauge has a different post to post dimension.
I have a 4th generation cluster in a 1977. (PO had installed a cobbled mess of a 1979 wiring harness along with the '79 cluster) I've replaced the wiring harness with a correct '77 harness.
If I change the amp gauge to a 3rd gen 30 Amp and I change the Coolant Temp sender to a 4th gen should...
1977 is running about 177° (infra red gun) at the freeze plugs when warmed up and idling but the temp gauge slowly moved all the way right as it warmed up. I think the gauge may be from a '79 (the amp meter is). Is the sender from a '79 different than a '77?
thanks
Here are a few pics in case they might help. On my '77 there is a bracket that keeps the return pretty close to the oil filter (same as shown in post #6 above)
I think the voltage regulator is faulty. (I saw a post on the 60 site showing the FSM test.) When tested it had continuity between terminals "F" and "L".
I'll report back after new VR is installed.
I'm using Coolerman's adaptor harness for installing an internally regulated alternator from a later vehicle into my '77. I had the alternator checked at the local Orileys to make sure it was charging.
I've triple-checked the tie-in of the adaptor harness to the factory harness. per...
At idle the battery voltage is around 12.5 V. Increasing RPMs up to around 2K there is no increase in voltage. But the spare, yellow wire (for charging light?) on Coolerman's adapter harness goes from 12.5 V to 13.7V with the same increase in RPMs.
Sorry I didn't mention it is a '77. When I took position it had a cobbled-up '79 wiring harness, including the fuse panel. I bet this is the reason. Looks like I need to source an earlier gauge. Thanks for the info.
Still working on my 10 year (so far) refresh project. If I connect both amp gauge wires together (bypassing the gauge) the motor fires right up. If I hook up the two wires to the gauge the motor will not crank and the amp gauge needle buries to discharge. The gauge also started to smoke...