Custom Dash For My Fairmont Squire

Gotta tell ya that rewiring under the dash does not tolerate any blonde moments. Especially when you try to use accessories that changed wiring colours between models and years.

The old days of RED is POS and BLACK is NEG are gone. That would be too logical, too easy.

I took my door speakers out when I did the resto, and now I wanna put them back in. The Ford Amplifier comes from a 1984 Cougar, which offered the Premium Sound system with 6 speakers. Fairmonts only came with 4, but room for 6. The Amp takes up the middle front speaker, but there's two dash speakers, two door speakers and two rear speakers.

The Amplifier on the other hand is a 17 wire monstrosity. Got it figured out. And found enough wire from the donor car to match up the circuits.

More later. Rain coming.

 

Gonna go play with the wiring. I'm labelling all the dash connectors so I can merge the 1984 equipment with the 1979 system, and then repair it whereever I am. See ya later folks.

 

The SWMBO got me sidetracked. We're applying for a Home Reno forgiveable loan ($16,000 of which is forgiveable) and we got the forms in yesterday's mail. Since I'm the official English fine-print whiz, I had to dot the eyes and cross the tees. Doesn't help that we've got a 60% chance of rain, and the weather geeks (I think the use a roulette wheel) don't agree when the rain will start. Crap!

I need three solid days to get this done right. Bah humbug.

 

SS, that Tech article just got updated, with even better detailed pics and notes!

EDIT: Your next link was the one that was updated (this one). With the notes and pics on both, you can't go wrong.
http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7944

That has got to be the best Sticky on refreshing these Ford dashes!
http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8144

Even down to cleaning the light sockets and circuit film.

 

I was just checking if you were getting this thread update. Those links from SS are outstanding. The vinegar trick cleans up the circuit board as well as the lamp sockets.

I have to recharge the camera tomorrow and take some pics.

 

I need a morality check guys. Those two links to repairing that Ford Pickup Truck dash is Excellent. Great pics, enough comment to 'get' it. I don't wanna take credit for knocking him off, but I'm tempted to do one on the Fairmont/Mustang dash swap that I'm doing, because almost all the Fords since the late 70's to today have these plastic clusters and the printed circuit film. He did a really low-level (lots of attention to small details) job from cleaning the bulb holders to refinishing the cluster frame and painting the needles. I may want the LED bulbs later, but I want to see this Mustang dash lit up after I refinish the frame with his recommend for the Gloss White Krylon Fusion paint. The Mustang bulb filters are a bright red, but I may go back to the Fairmont Blue filters. The only thing about the LED bulbs is that they need a different signal flasher for the Turn/Hazard flashers. They use the same bulb holders.

I'm taking pics anyway, so I can reassemble it properly.

I downloaded both of his tech articles and made them into a WORD Doc. But his is GOOD. Maybe I could upload it instead. The steps are the same for any of the Fords within the range.

Comments?

 

I just resized the pics in the MS-Word document of his 2 threads. I kept the links to the articles as well and the links to the LED kits. Basically the kit comes with adapters for the Ford bulb holders and some extra bits. I think the special low-watt flashers are extra.

Can't upload it. File Format not valid. Resizing the pics brought it down from 10 MB to 4.9 MB. (Big), so I'll post my own Step-By-Step, as I move along.

 

Cleaning up the instrument cluster

I don't know when Ford started to use this Cluster Enclosure (CE) system, but it's at least back to the early 70's and still used today. The dash lights and voltages (Instrument Voltage Regulator - IVR) might be different, but that's not what I'm concerned with right now. FYI, the 1978 to 1988 Fox cars use a 5 volt IVR, and they currently sell for $30 to $70 (higher quality than the other aftermarket unit). When the fuel gauge isn't showing the proper level, this can be one of the demons. They look like this:


The LH side is from my 1979 Fairmont and the RH unit is from the 1984 Mustang. They mount on the back of the plastic enclosure with one 1/4" hex screw. They connect to the system with a section of the Printed Circuit Film (PCF). To remove them use a pocket knife blade and gently pry each connector up, using the IVR's frame for leverage. GENTLY!

The PCF is held to the back of the CE with the Bulb Holders (BH), Gauge mounting nuts with springy contact tabs and cast plastic pins in the CE surface. Whatever you do, do this sitting down and gently loosen and remove the gauge nuts (8 millimeter socket - preferably deeper is better) and push the gauge studs down, just enough to gently pry or lift the PCF free and clear from each one, with a thin pocket knife blade. Also do the same at each of the cast plastic pins.

On the 1978 to 1981 Fairmont dashes with idiot lights the Speedo and Fuel gauge/clock dial panels (clear lense can be removed with a 1/4" socket. On the Mustangs, they are 'welded' plastic 'rivets' which you could drill out and replace with real countersunk screws (shorter the better). The Mustang lens is available to replace the old ones, but you can polish them.

You can also make a new one from Lexan or thin (3/32") plexiglass. There's an even better plastic lexan type with a real glass surface that you could also use. It's coated with real glass on both sides, and doesn't scratch as easy as the stock styrene plastic lens. If you decide to make your own replacement(s)m make a cardboard template and leave the protective film on to trace and machine/cut/drill and polish the edges and holes (tripmeter, tach switch or clock options and the mounting holes). Might cost $10 for the lens material and a few hours of quiet time to machine it, versus $90 for a new one with freight and taxes. (hey, I'm frugal. )

The paint I used to refresh the inside of the cluster frame is Krylon (for Plastic) Glossy White. Here's the Mustang frame (top) and my Fairmont frame (untouched with 30 years of dust and smoke stains):

Krylon Paint:


Mustang and Fairmont CEs:


The lights will reflect better than stock. the CE's stock colour is sort of a dirty ivory white plastic resin colour.

The Fairmont and most non-sporty models have a blue tinted bulb filter. The Mustangs, Capris and probably the XR7 and Cougars came with a Red bulb filter. They snap into the CE. On Fairmonts the clips are in the CE, on Mustangs, they're part of the filter housing (red ones have barbed tabs):


I've still got the Fairmont donor dash, so I have 4 more blue filters. If I like the red ones, I'll leave them. If not, I'll use a dab of clear silicone to bond the blue ones in place.

The Fairmont circuit includes a long resistor near the speedo, probably for the AMP light. The Mustang doesn't use that, otherwise I'd wash it off with vinegar too.

I soaked all the parts (except the resistor and the IVRs) in vinegar, to clean all the contact surfaces of any corrosion, dust, smoke film, greasy paw prints) for about 3 hours. Came out clean and bright:


The little contact arms on the flipside of the bulb holders are probably level to the plastic shell. You want to pry them up GENTLY about 1/16" above the plastic rim, so that they make a good, sure contact with the copper film.

Final notes on this part. I used hot water and a kitchen strainer to clean the vinegar off. If you don't, when they get humid, the vinegar will reactivate and like any acid, the contacts will corrode faster.

I wiped of both sides of the PCF with a soft flannel cloth with vinegar, then with water, then under the tap with warm water (not hot water, because I don't know what Ford used to bond the 3 layers together.)

Memory being what it is, I took a picture of my gauge layout so that they go back in right. On this top one, at the bottom lefthand of the TEMP gauge, is where I'll try to mount my Vacuum gauge:

This is the Left hand face of the cluster:


The speedo and trip meter go in this cavity:


The only thing missing is the voltmeter, so far. I'm trying to find a Ford Voltmeter to swap out the AMP gauge electronics. If not, it will go next to the clock on the Passenger side dash panel.

 

Cool stuff Norm

You mite like the red dash, our 85 Stang has red and I like it. It's not your every day thing.

 

That's what I'm thinking too. I wish I could have the nice Purple lighting from the old Imperials (1957 to 1962), but red might do the trick.

Now I've got a real rarity. A Fairmont fuel gauge with the optional clock. The clock needs a new mechanism, but it's repairable. Oh yeah and a 120MPH/180 KMH speedo. Apparently they are in demand on some F/Z sites. Might pay for the LED kit.

Anyway, I can start reassembling everything and finish the car wiring.

 

Mustang Dash with Tailgate Warning

Mustang dashes don't include the Liftgate Ajar warning light, until now. I measured the space required to install the vacuum gauge where the Mustang dash has its column of idiot lights, but it wouldn't go. Then I remembered this warning light. I've closed it before thinking it was secure and the light told me otherwise, so its worth having it. The Mustang cluster doesn't have any circuits for it, but I had an old heater control pigtail that fits in the cluster sockets.

On the Fairmont, the warning lens is part of the speedo dial. I still had the donor unit, so I scooped it (it pops out) and trimmed it to fit in the Mustang display:



Goes in here:


I used the pencil iron to unweld/reweld the lens panel:


I used a boxcutter knife to do the final trimming on top of the existing Check Oil lens and carefully heated the edges flush with the original lenses. I figured I'd leave the Shift lens, in case I change to a standard trans.

Refreshing the printed circuit film is a careful job. I used a soft flannel rag just damp with warm water and wiped off the old dust and smoke film (rinsed often) on both sides, then a used a pencil eraser to clean up the oxidized bulb contact cutouts and gauge mounting perforations.



Also checked all the small bulbs and heaved the duds, after washing them in vinegar too. The socket tabs came clean and dried over night, so I checked each one and closed up the slip-in contacts and checked that they made good contact after installing them over the printed circuit film.

I'll test the cluster with the battery tomorrow for the bulbs.

Next step is fitting the voltmeter, vacuum gauge and clock.

 

From the 1978 to 1988 Mustangs, all the standard buzzers and relays are on a metal bar with a twist type mount system. They mount above the glovebox, right where I want to put the voltmeter, vacuum gauge and the square Cougar clock.

So I found a perfect place to remount the metal mounting bar on the Driver's side. between the column and the emergency brake, above the fuse box.

Just had to move two connectors, after removing the tape from the harness. Cut, solder, heat shrink tubes, retape. I took pictures, but I'll do better descriptive.

The thing is that customizing the dash doesn't require major surgery, AND I did it in such a way that I could restore the original setup and wiring. That was the biggest obstacle. I don't have to carve up the defroster ducts. just the walnut panel over the glovebox (dremel work). So far, so good.

 

Great play by plays, Norm

 

You know how hard it is to get the harness back in. With this change, I moved 9 wires out of it, making it more compact by a 1/4" off the diameter and flexible. Plus now I can reach all the relays and flashers to change them without bleeding.

 

I'll be at it in another hour, so here's what I moved yesterday. Ford issued Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooter Manuals (EVTM) for each model - maybe they still do - showing where harnesses go and the connector ID or location, along with color coded wiring diagrams. The shop manuals didn't have full wiring diagrams or function information from fuse through relays, sensors, buzzers, devices, etc.)

Here's the backside of the passenger dash from the EVTM:


Here's the octupus:


Same octopus with the mounting bar:


I'll take pics today of the new location today and the octopus after the diet.

Anyway the gauges and clock can now go in here:


Top panels are mine (AC vents). The lower ones are from the donor car. That's where the gauges and clock go.