Cutting the 1973 Duster insterment gauges question??
The round plug that plugs into the circuit board has the wires for dash lights, blinkers, oil light, temp and gas gauges, etc. The Ammeter is also a part with its own bolts. Radiating our from the plug are copper runners, and the bolts or the ammeter. Any of those copper runners you cut, you will loose that function unless you jump it somehow. Another possibility is if you have metal from your new gauge connecting the copper runners, you could create short circuits.
If you look at a wiring diagram, you can see what color wire is for what function.
My 73 Dart has the following, but yours may be different.
Parking brake warning light - Black
Oil warning light - grey
fuel sender - dark blue
highbeam indicator light - red
right turn indicator - tan
left turn indicator - light green
temp gauge - green
dash lights - orange
I ended up replacing my dash with all aftermarket gauges using a stock frame similar to what you are doing.
The round plug that plugs into the circuit board has the wires for dash lights, blinkers, oil light, temp and gas gauges, etc. The Ammeter is also a part with its own bolts. Radiating our from the plug are copper runners, and the bolts or the ammeter. Any of those copper runners you cut, you will loose that function unless you jump it somehow. Another possibility is if you have metal from your new gauge connecting the copper runners, you could create short circuits.
If you look at a wiring diagram, you can see what color wire is for what function.
My 73 Dart has the following, but yours may be different.
Parking brake warning light - Black
Oil warning light - grey
fuel sender - dark blue
highbeam indicator light - red
right turn indicator - tan
left turn indicator - light green
temp gauge - green
dash lights - orange
I ended up replacing my dash with all aftermarket gauges using a stock frame similar to what you are doing.