Install of Mac's big dash
Mac McNeil at
www.custominstrumentpanels.com
offers several really nice dash packages for the GMC (other coaches too but we
don't really care about those-- sorry). Over the years, his dash packages
have been updated and refined to the point that if you are interested in
updating the original GMC dash gauge compliment and style, his stuff is by far
your best choice. There are others out there & I'm not meaning to down
them but Mac has been going these things for a long time and really has it down.
We will be installing his "Mac daddy" (no pun intended) top of the line dash kit
into Susan from Everet's 78 Royale. No, its not a :wham bam" install but
remember, "If its worth doing, its probably not that easy". This adage
holds true here. The dash is beautiful
,
it affords you space for all kinds of accessories, AV equipment and stuff like
that but there is a price. This is not an "easy" install. You must
be committed to follow through with the kit and once you start--- there is no
turning back-- you'll see what I mean.
First a few tips:
o DO NOT rig the wiring, do a proper connection on every wire.
o DO NOT use "scotch-locs" for connections-- they stink and will cause trouble down the road.
o Stay on task and follow Macs detailed instruction sheet step by step-- I do.
o Manually trace each circuit as you connect it to be sure there were no wiring mistakes
o Take your time and do not rig something for today, human nature tells us you my not go back and wire the circuit correctly.
o Create "service loop" wiring slack to make it easy to service the circuits in the future.
o Do everything (the whole dash) when you install this kit or you will never finish it. Again human nature tells us to do a job completely or do not attempt it at all. Around here, "you rig it-- you die!".
o Let Mac vinyl cover the dash base, they do a great job-- its costs but it turns out best that way.
o Rewire ALL after market circuits to be sure they are done properly. Hook up to nasty wiring and thats the best your circuit will be!
OK, enough of all of that, we are all grown men here and if you choose to do something other than follow these tips, don't go "bitchen" to me or Mac-- maybe that BBQ grill will go together no matter how bad you screw it up but this dash will not!
I hate people that start off an explaination on how to do something with "It's easy"-- hey, if it is so easy, you are saying I must be an IDOIT!!!!! I mean why should I need a lamebrain like you to show me something if I'm so smart--- right! No, I don't want someone to talk down to me and point out the gaping hole in my head, I want competant instruction on a complex procedure made more understandable by years of hands on experience----- right???
Well then, refinishing the dash adding one of Mac's custom gauge kits --- is not easy, there are many important steps if the end goal is to make the finish look factory. I have messed with enough of them to give you some very good "don'ts" in doing the work. The "Do's" you decide on will give the job your personal custom touch-- be sure that touch does not compromise the overall appearance. Details are meaningful so don't just do the hard stuff & leave off the details-- you'll hate your work later.
Step 1: I always vasilate until
I open the box
The box is a pretty big one with piles of wires, switches & loose parts,
don't use a knife on the box-- open it carefully then pull out all the
insulation packing. COOL---
The first look at one of Macs handiworks always brings up a few defining words.
He does good work, now its your turn to add more quality work because there is
still time to screw up a nice piece of work like this. Check to be sure
you have all the sensors, wiring and most important Macs custom made instruction
manual. There is a number in your book, your dash is on record with Mac so
if you ever need a replacement part or anything, he will know what parts your
dash was built with. This is why I say, he does a great job, now please
don't mess it up with sub standard work.
I put the dash aside and start in on the
dash.
Buds dash isn't that bad, I mean he has it the color of his new interior and it
all works, that makes it a good dash--- right? Look a bit closer, the dash
cover is a bit funky
and the cracks ina missing pieces tend to give it that "damaged goods" look
. This is an early 73 coach thus sporting one of the rare first design
glove box doors, and whats with the pig skin vinyl glued to its front
,
thats all gotta go.
OK, its all gone
.
Now I've got the gobbs-a-goo on the pass. pad to deal with and so the tear down
begins.
Betcha you've pealed an apple before trying
to leave one long piece of skin--- right? And if the apple is ripe and
your knife sharp, you can do it. Well, you have to find fun when you can
and I like trying to cut out the entire dash cluster and remove it all in one
piece. Just like an apple, if the dash is not too weathered and the blade
on the air saw is fresh, it can happen.
Hey, hey, that crack in the top left corner was there! Many of you guys
should be jealous, this dash is in pretty good shape-- there are no cracks in
the main panel where the defroster holes are and the pad is not pealed off.
This will make a nice looking refitted dash.
Man did Bud like velcro
There were 34 sections of sticky, gooey velcro holding down the dash cover, it
never had a chance to move! Each piece had to be removed then the glue
cleaned off as well-- took some time but hey, it had to be done.
So how far down do you go?
Actually, you see here the start of the build up. The steering column has
been prepped and painted, the front area has been back painted black & I'm now
ready to stretch the vinyl over the pass. side pad. The vents will all be
replaced, those were torn out. Actually, wiring could happen next and it
may looking at the weather rolling in today.
Next step is to wire the new dash harness to
the original wiring. Rake out any and all add on wiring, if they are
things you want you can rewire them later. The main goal here is to get
rid of any funky wired circuits, install only quality wiring so you have hopes
of not having "ghosts in the machine" aft the new dash is in. Clean,
proper wiring that is easy to trace and easy to fix if needed. Use extra
wire length (called a service loop) to make it easy to wire now and to trace and
repair later.
Here you can see that we can actually lay the dash panel on the floor with it
plugged in. This allows you to check things out while looking at the back
of the panel--- no crawling up under the dash later to see something. You
will have circuit wires for stuff like tach, trans temp, oil temp, etc. that do
not correspond to any of the original wiring, run them through the fire wall to
the left where the steering column goes through labeling each one. Let
them hang out of the front of the coach, you can wire them in later.
Make each connection good, a quality connection is your best insurance for no
future problems (RIG NOTHING).
With all the original harness wired and the new circuits plumbed for future hook up, you are ready to refinish the rest of the dash. I mean whats the use in having a cool new gauge cluster if the rest of the dash looks like --- well, you know what I mean.
I clean up and black out the forward edge of the dash. If there are cracks up there, the black paint will mask them to a large extent. I use a "SEM" brand called "trim black", it is a satin finish laquer based self etching paint-- works great.
With the front edge refinished, the pass. pad
is next. Screw down, repair and clean prep the pad getting it ready for a
new vinyl covering.
I use a thermo-plastic welder (very hot heat gun using air pressure)
My blue welder has been a trusted friend for over 10 years, the last time it was
used one of my guys pulled the air away before the element coold down and burned
it out. The new orange one is from Harbor Freight-- I usually do not use
that sort of place to buy tools but for this purpose, their plastic welder is an
exact copy of my older high dollar one. The tool is used to heat up the
new vinyl making it soft & pliable for the stretch on the pass. pad. With
the pad taped off as above spray contact adhesive on the repaired original pad
and then lay over the new vinyl heating and stretching it into place.
Sounds easy-- right? Well, I will tell you it does take some practice.
If you intend to do this yourself, expect some learning work before you tackle
the final job.
Trim & tuck the edges of the vinyl to finish off the recovered pad. Next,
bag off the new pad, prep the surface and color dye the side panels to match the
new pad. Takes a bit of taping around the panels and of course the new
pad, take your time.
Now its time for the new panel, measure out
and cut holes for the forward hold down screws, remove the 4 bolts holding the
steering column, pull the column down and fit in the new dash panel.
Sounds easy but this to will take you some time and a bit of fitting. "It
almost fits perfect", which work in that phrase my give you trouble.
Almost does not count-- cept in horse shoes and hand grenades so you will need
to work through the "glitches", but the end goal is worth the labor
Here is the dash, refinished, colored with the new panel in place. Now we
are finally ready to talk about gauges and final wiring. There is a
steering column lowering kit you will need to now install (if you did this
before, you know why I waited until not to install it), the column will need to
be moveable to to sneak the new dash panel behind it.
Now is the time to touch up ant cosmetic issues of the dash, from here we will be wiring and installing delicate panels.
Now it all starts to come together, we see the possibilities of installing the gauge clusters now? You MUST look at anything you plan to do right to go this way. You have to put your head down and start at the beginning and give it hell till you're done-- well anyway, thats how I look at projects like this.
All that time will now hopefully pay off. The prewired harness should reach the hole where it will be connected, the panel is secure so now its time to act like it's always been there.
First is the lower left panel containing:
headlight control, wipers, fuel tanks & battery boost.
Mac really does a great job on prewiring and mounting these panels, the wiper
control bracket will need some furthers tweeking & as usual, the headlight
switch nut was frozer so I had to pull out an extra gorilla (ie. bigger hammer
AKA "BLBNFBSD" tool (thats Big, Long, Bent, Nasty, Flat Blade Screw Driver to
you professionals), Nathan knows which one I'm talking about. Anyway, it
finally gave up so I added it to the new panel.
The main panel needs final prewiring
,
the left & right air lines to the dual gauge are connected (be sure youu do a
good job at tightening these connections, you will create a very hard air system
leak to find here). Check all the spade & pin connections, be sure BEFORE
it goes in the dash!
A new hole has to be drilled for the wiper
control cable before the panel is plugged in and secured.
The dash AC / Heat control bolts to its new bazel-- sounds like we finally hit
something easy--- right? No, even though the panel was screwed in place
for shipping, with the control bolted to it, the thing just would not fit.
At times like these, I look to my trust butcher saw
Like Will Smith said in the movie "Independence Day", "Man, I gotta get one ah
these!" For trimming openings and making things fit just right, a air saw
with an 18 tooth blade can be your friend.
Its easiest to install the lower panels first, even though you do have service loops, you have greater acces to them before the top panel is installed. Now we're ready for the main panel. This dash is using a mechanical speedometer which means we still need to plug in the speedo cable as the panel is installed. You will have access through the top right hole because I KNOW you didn't get ahead of me and install it first! Well its OK, if you did I would pull it out, makes your life much easier.
With the panel propped into the hole, all the
connectors, hoses and what not can be checked out before its installed.
Mac labeled the light panel on the back for you to give you a reference in
following circuits. I trace every circuit double checking Mac's work,
sorry man but I just gotta know myself. I can operate every circuit with
the panel laying forward-- what a great trouble shooting tool!
So I flopped the main panel up into place & screwed it in. Oh sure I'll probably need to get back in there once or twice before I'm done but listen-- put the screws in, its a sort of crossing a line when you do that and its now up to your previous prewiring and preparing that will help you to not go back. This also helps you to think clear before you change something, you will need to remove the screws & panel if that happens. This also drives you to prepare well and learn your errors when they happen.
OK, it may still sound weird but thats the mind game I play with myself when installing one of these dashes. I've had people drop by and be impressed at the piles of wiring behind the dash. If you are doing the job, each cluster has its function and every connection and fitting had to be done its best right now. Its not a pile of wires to me!
The top right panel is next. The back up camera wires come in and 2 pair of wires are wired to the 2 acc. switches on the panel. This is what Bud wanted-- 2 pair of wires to the back. In that this is a long stretch, I use 12 ga. wire. If he runs a relay or motor, there may be a resistance/ current issue on smaller gauge wires (Don't un flemsey speaker wire under the coach-- you'll be sorry!
The comes the lower right panel. This
panel holds the original style air control valves and the dash radio. Bud
purchased a very nice Pioneer DIN unit so I had to cut a 2x7" hole to mount the
radio. The air lines were too short to allow them to be relocated. I
was forced to cut the 5 air lines under the hood next to the brake booster and
will extend them. Unfortunately, GM and the UAW did not see the need for
service loops on the air ride system air lines!
With that stress off the panel, it popped right in and the prewired radio
harness mad installing it a snap.
So here you go
(cut-n0paste) Installing one of our new leather/
nickel steering wheels and my job is done here.
Sure I left out many steps, this is not a "blow by bow" install record, that would do you no good, every dash and install will be a little different-- the tips are the things I feel you need. I can't teach you everything about installing one of these dashes-- it took my decades of wiring, burning things up and doing it over to get used to doing it this way. You will need to discover your own strong & weak talents. Wether you are good at it or not, the project deserves what ever time it takes to do it right, remember this when you wire something.
Electro-Level switch rebuild
So for you guys with "Electro-Level & Level II, here is an important step in refinishing your dash-- I mean its nice if it looks good but its gotta work too! OK, you guys with "switches" on your dash, listen to this:
We have to assure the suspension system will work by cleaning the Electro-Level
system control switches
We could simply transfer the switches to the new panel but if the goal is to not
only make the dash look new but also work like new, these Pollock switches need
their point cleaned, this is probably the number one cause of intermittent
system failure. Pull one switch out of the panel, flip it over and pry
back the 4 clips holding the back on
Don't bend them too far, you will be pushing them back in place. Separate
the sections to get to the contact points
Scrape out eh deteriorated foam then dump out the contacts for a look.
Oh yea man, look at the build up on the points-- gotta get those cleaned off
before putting it back together. Do that 2 more times then we're ready to
transfer the flag
.