Ohms, Volts, Wires, Electricity and Magic...Ideas and input please.

[JOES66FURY]

Lately there has been more bench building that real building going on at my house. That does not mean I've quit. Between classes and life in general my time is limited.
I need to finish the 1/4 pannel on the pass side, then tackle the front floor boards then move on to the trunk before I jump into the rats nest that is this cars electrical system.
The ultimate goal is to install a bare bones style harness but that'll be a ways down the road.

What I am looking at, shopping for and planning on currently is to install a 4 circuit fuse block and rewire the dash. The speedo is junk and none of the gauges work so, I've been looking at various speedo's and tinkering around with a new gauge panel. I would like them in my line of sight and the hole for the speedo is big enough to get an aftermarket speedo and 3 gauges in there. I also plan on adding a couple indicator lights, one for high/low beam and e-brake.

This will also be something we do to the D100 a little later on so, this will be an experiment.

Can I power all the dash lights off of one circit?
If so, what gauge wire do you suggest I use and why?
What size fuse should I use OR how do I determine which size fuse to run? explain.
Keyed power or battery power with an on/off switch? Run them off the light switch?

Already done one and got a schematic? share it!

As always any info is appreciated.

[squirrel]

Basics....

The fuse is there to protect the wire, the idea is that if a wire gets shorted to ground, the fuse will blow before the wire gets hot enough to damage the insulation. So, the fuse should always be sized to match the wire. Typical automotive use is similar to household sizing, 30 amps for 10 gauge, 20 amps for 14 gauge, 10 amps for 16 gauge.

Usually they don't use smaller wire than that. If you look at dash lights that come with wires attached, the wires are likely smaller than 16 gauge. But the odds of the wire getting shorted at the light is small, so you just connect your 16 gauge wire from the switch/fuse block, to the lights, and don't worry about that.

But where you get the power for the dash lights, usually is the light switch, which usually on a car that old is broken. So if you add a toggle switch to turn on the lights, connect it to a 10 amp fuse, with that 16 gauge wire, and you should be fine. Or, just connect it to the ignition or accessory switched power, and the lights will be on all the time, but only when the car is being driven (you won't forget to turn them off that way). I have the dash lights in my Chevy II wired that way. The problem is that you might see the lights on in the dash, and forget to turn on the headlights.

[JOES66FURY]

Exactly what I was looking for.

I replaces the light switch a while back so tapping into that source should not be an issue but, I will explore all avenues. I'd like to make a tidy panel for everything to mount to. The thought is when I screw up or something goes bad it will be easy to access and repair.

I wish this bipolar weather would get back on its medication so I can get some work done outside.

[BangShift McT]

One element to add: a rheostat for the dash lights. When I put the tach in the Imperial, the first thing that annoyed me was how bright it was..at night, it was visible from a quarter-mile away outside of the car (no kidding, Haley was following me home and saw just the taillights and one green glow.)

[squirrel]

you could stick a resistor in the wire to the tach light, if it's objectionable. I generally use older tachs that have lighting which is just as bad as the original gauge lights, so it's not a problem. Modern LED lit tachs might be tricky, though. so get something older! If it uses an incandescent bulb that you can replace, then put a #53 bulb in it

[68scott385]

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Wi...s=tony+candela
https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Wi...s=tony+candela
https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-El...s=tony+candela

One or more of these may be very helpful.
Or CE Auto Electric Supply on FB.

[silver_bullet]

Found the original wiring diagram... may be of some assistance... otherwise... get the books or go painless...
Here's the link: http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=27

[Deaf Bob]

Wire the dash lights to the rheostat.. Or dimmer on the headlight switch.
The kid has a pod of 3 on his diesel dualie that is on the a-pillar.. At night it blinds you.. He almost ran over a family pushing a stroller and toddler as they did not stop for him, He never saw them and I saw them from the passenger seat.. Those were wired to the on/off switch for the lights.

Like Squirrel, on my 57 the dash mount tach light is just bright enough to see at night

[silver_bullet]

Agreed, I'll make sure that I add an additional rheostat when we add the gauge pods to the bullet! Thanks DB!

[JOES66FURY]

you could stick a resistor in the wire to the tach light, if it's objectionable. I generally use older tachs that have lighting which is just as bad as the original gauge lights, so it's not a problem. Modern LED lit tachs might be tricky, though. so get something older! If it uses an incandescent bulb that you can replace, then put a #53 bulb in it

You'll be happy (or not) to know I got me a new-to-me, jen-you-wine, state of the art, 8000 RPM Sun Super Tac II (with the blue line).

[JOES66FURY]

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Wi...s=tony+candela
https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Wi...s=tony+candela
https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-El...s=tony+candela

One or more of these may be very helpful.
Or CE Auto Electric Supply on FB.

I have the first one...somewhere...inside a 25 foot long shipping container filled to the brim with all the crap from my old house....probably easier to buy a new one...

[squirrel]

NOw that we have the internet, books are over rated