OK, here she is. 81 J-10 Laredo Build

[Kirk]

I really really like your truck. Great thread.

[Mars]

Thanks man!

I've got the cluster out of it right now chasing a no charge issue.
While I have it out I'm going to do the bypass and retofit for the sunpro voltmeter.
I'll post some pics when it's done.

[Strode]

Thanks man!

I've got the cluster out of it right now chasing a no charge issue.
While I have it out I'm going to do the bypass and retofit for the sunpro voltmeter.
I'll post some pics when it's done.

On the voltmeter conversion: On some of the threads I researched, they show having to drill a little into the contacts of the circuit board.

I was able to get it to line up good without having to drill into the leaded printed lines (whatever they're called)

[Mars]

On the voltmeter conversion: On some of the threads I researched, they show having to drill a little into the contacts of the circuit board.

I was able to get it to line up good without having to drill into the leaded printed lines (whatever they're called)

Same here! Took about 20 minutes? I think it would be just about the biggest pain in the a.. if I didnt have a dremel.

I took pictures of that and some other things I've been doing the last few days.

[Mars]

WHEN ANGRY BEAVERS ATTACK!!

Or.. When PO's have sawsalls..
I brought the jeep home last week to be able to tinker in peace away from the shop, and with a sudden rise in thievery and vandalism there was no freakin way I was leaving the jeep down there after all the time and effort I've poured into it.

So first order of buisiness was to get the dash together.
The original dash was hacked out to put a flat faced tape deck in.
The hack job was so bad they removed the ash try to use the stud back there to hang little brackets and whatnot to keep the tape deck from falling out.

This is after I got the ash tray bracket back in and got my first REALLY good look at the hole.

Yeah.. only a sawsall tears like that.. nice job hilljack.

I don't consider myself much of a fabricator but sometimes desperation is the mother of invention.

and..


I wasnt really sure how much I would need, mainly going by the eyeball I got in the other picture.

And here's where I try to set my dash on fire!!


It's rough, it's ugly and that's okay. It's a temp fix till either I man up and weld it in proper or find a new dash to replace this abortion.


It's solid and as right as I can make it without watching my jeep go poof.

And once it's all buttoned up it doesnt look too hateful


A wet rag and some paint would probably go a long way there, but not right now.

After these pics were taken I went and pulled the blower motor loose and headed over to the car wash.
Managed to work the hose of the vacuum down into the heaterbox and across the core. Seems like it did the trick! It sucked all manner of fluff, acorns and leaves out. The diverter door works now and I re-installed the blower before I dropped the hood and had heat!

Went to start the jeep and it just clicked.

[Mars]

After getting a jump the jeep fired right up and home I went.
As I drove the lights got dimmer and dimmer and at the very last as I pulled into the driveway I hit the brake pedal and the radio would black out.
But the jeep was running like a champ!
In fact I let it run and there wasnt even enough juice in the battery to kick the dome light on.. SO..

I have a problem I think

I made a post a few days ago and one of the suggested issues was the voltmeter.

I looked up the tech archive and did a little reading.

Now the article was very specific about the type of sunpro to get.

I drove to Advance, O-reilly, KOI and finally Autozone ( that was almost across town ) until I finally found the right unit. Everyone but Autozone had the kind that swept up and over the exact opposite of the one pictured.

So I would suggest that if you have put it off you may wanna at least get the gauge since it looks like Sunpro is changing the design. Heck for 13 bucks, get two.





Let the games begin!

Not gonna say much, just let the pics do the talkin.

[Mars]

More..





And since the plastic bezels were falling out of the cluster I broke out ye olde soldering iron and welded them back into place.

Finished product.



Now lets hope it works!
And since it's raining right now I guess I get to wait and see.

Mike

[Strode]

Suddenly, I feel better about my own welding prowess........ I guess we're in the function>form camp.

Looks good. I like your approach, fixing things as they come up, and enjoying it in the meantime. And getting compliments.

Hope you get the battery thing figured out quick. It's a good time to check/replace the little vacuum heater hoses while you have that out.

When you hook up the lines to the voltmeter, both the red and the yellow go to the positive terminal, right? (I haven't hooked mine up yet....)

[JeepBountyHunter]

That things is pristine, at least so considered around here.
Very nice!

[OutrageGIS]

Nice work!

Love the ammeter mod! Just bypassed mine so far but you've got me thinking... Nice work!

[Mars]

Love the ammeter mod! Just bypassed mine so far but you've got me thinking... Nice work!

Yeah, I would suggest at the very least getting the voltmeter so if they do up and discontinue that style youre not S.O.L.

[OutrageGIS]

Thanks for the heads up! Just checked the AZ app on my phone & my local store has the CP7985 in stock - I'll pick up one tomorrow.

Not a huge fan of AZ parts but they DO have the best iphone app of all the big box shops in my town. Bypass the person at the counter and just give them the part number when you walk up. Learned the hard way to look their parts over REALLY good before installing them - put new (not rebuilt!) driveaxels in the wife's focus wagon a couple of months ago. Passenger side (long one) is only held in by a carrier bearing secured by a strap to the subframe. This bearing is firmly pressed onto the axle. I tapped the bearing with a drift to ensure it was fully seated before installing it, and the car drove well for a whole week. Wife drove 200 miles to visit her mom, got there ok and on a short trip (thankfully) later that day the car loses all power and strands them. I drop what I'm doing (not a good time) and head down there in the jeep ($120 in gas) tow the car to her moms house and tear into it. The carrier bearing slipped out and turns out to be super loose on the axle (I only tapped it to ensure it was seated, shoulda tugged on it too I guess) , allowing it to pull out of the diff and dump all the tranny fluid. The moral of the story is that from AZ, or any other mega parts house, look for things that you wouldn't normally expect to have too. Worked out ok - iphone app showed an axle at the local AZ by mother in laws - even open early on sunday! They gave me the new axle and threw in $40 worth of tranny fluid to help with my gas cost. Still a pain and avoidable if I'd just looked a little closer...

Anyway - does the dash light illuminate the voltmeter as before? The best part of the ammeter bypass is that when you unhook it, the needle is always in the middle. Kinda of like fixing a check engine light by putting electrical tape over it! I gotta get on this - thanks for the great pics.

[Mars]

Getting parts from autozone is kinda like eating out of a gas station; get the stuff already sealed before it reaches the station, and you should be good.

Also the mod does not affect dash lights unless you grind into a lead or something but if you look at my pics or the tech archive pics of the original poster you'll see that you shouldnt need to.
But while you have it apart you may as well replace your cluster lights and replace the vacuum lines for your heater.

And actually now that you mention it, with my old voltmeter removed it's still cocked toward the charged side hehe That's amc accuracy for ya.

Now with this mod how they have you wire it the voltmeter is going to be active at all times. But the OP states that the gauge only pulls about as much as the memory on the radio or the clock so it's a non issue.
You will also need to create a new wire from the output of the alternator to the battery side of the solenoid.

Just a heads up.
I've yet to re-install everything and I'll let ya know when I do.
And if youre worried about doing it you can always drop by and we can knock it out here.

Mike

[Mars]

Got the cluster back in last night, the voltmeter works great!
I also had time to test my other gauges and they all work!
Found that my dash lights and signals were missing a ground resulting in a disco effect when the headlights were on. Got that resolved.

And now it's just running the wire from the output of the alternator to the battery side of the solenoid and working on the gauge senders to see if I cant get some input/output in the dash.

Mike

[91blaze]

Hey I'm doing the voltmeter mod like you did, is there some special way to get the trim ring off the voltmeter? I've tried prying it off with pliers and a screwdriver, but nothing will work.