Instruments Pt. 7

The instrument lights are pretty crude little lamp holders that snap into the back of the instrument cans. They were grungy, and one of the hot wires had broken off the internal lamp contact, but they were otherwise undamaged. These aren't really designed to be repaired, and replacements aren't all that expensive. On the other hand, it appeared that I could bring these back to life with an hour or two of attention, and I'd save 20 dollars. Besides, judging from experience, the replacements would likely be of lower quality than the originals.

The most challenging part was to pry open the tiny hot contacts so I could re-crimp and solder the wires to them. Then I balsted and painted the holders and put them all back together. I put real solder-on bullets on the ground wires instead of those tacky little quasi bullets that the bare wire just wraps around. Also extended the heat shrink up farther toward the instrument.

The instrument mounting bracket is fastened to the steering top lug with two resilient "Metalastic" rubber bushes to isolate vibration. The bushes are pressed into housings on the bracket. They have to go in far enough so that when mounted, the bracket is held away from the top lug.

The finished instrument cluster: