Installing Rallye Dash in a '74 duster issues

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Sorry to throw your name out there for that. I just remember you were talking about a gauge calibration unit to check them a few months back, and figured you were still doing that service. Too bad, you did great work. Well at least your here to help with all of your knowledge for us guys that are looking for advise. There is a thread on here with a how-to on converting a ammeter to voltmeter conversion. Also might want to look in the thread "rani I'm calling you out". Sorry it's too hard to copy and paste the thread with an I pad.
 
I wanna say that using the brake-lite indicator is all messed up. Firstly you will have to be an electronic genius to still keep the proper function of that light. And next, you will not see that light way down there in the darkness of that behind the steering wheel pit, and thirdly, have you seen the er.... brightness, of that red lens? I had to sand mine down to half thickness, and put the brightest 194-type bulb in there, that was listed in the catalog, to just see it to pass the safety test up here.
Naw, a better idea, I think, is to buy a tach with a built in shift-lite.At least I thought so, and that is what I did.And don't think as a streeter that you need a 16 inch 12teen thousand rpm Monster tach with 6 lites hanging off the side. As a streeter you need no tach at all. Think about it. You are geared for probably 50 mph at shift rpm in first gear. So you can just watch the speedo. With a 120 speedO,nice big numbers, easy to see, all lit up, right there front and center. Nothing tricky about that.And the needle;bonus, it is at what? 11 o'clock, or there abouts.Sweet.
But if you think you need a tach, I found the Autometer 8000, 3.5 or maybe it's a 4", job, with built-in shift lite more than adequate,lo,these many years and miles. But with an engine that willingly revs into the 7s, mostly I just shift when the exhaust pipes start to scream,lol......Lite?, I dooneedno steenkenk lite! You have to say it with a pseudo Spanish accent like that short Ugly guy in the Eastwood movie called,oddly enough; theGood,theBad,and theUgly.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
I wanna talk about the 150 speedo. As in what's the point of it? The 120 already has the graduations pretty small, so going an exact speed with the factory cable usually doing it's little dance is always tricky. The 150 makes this even trickier. Once you are in top gear, you can use the tack as a speedo. Besides, it is way cooler to say you buried the tach in top gear than to say you buried the speedo. I mean 3.55s can hit 160 at redline. I took my 150 out, and replaced it with the 120, for more accuracy. I hate speeding tickets.See up here they cost us points on our licensees, and if you get more than 5 of those blasted points, they start to cost money,a lot of money.So I save my score-card for real offenses like imprudents,lol. Yeah, I've had few of those..... Anyway that's my take on the 150 speedo.
While I'm here, I might as well talk about putting a tach in that center spot. I think it's a waste of real estate. The tach is too small and the graduations are too close together, and the factory one is extremely slow. Furthermore, it is in a bad spot. You have to take your eyes off the road to see it, and at 65 mph you are already traveling at 95 ft per second. Do you think it's a good idea to be trying to focus on that lying pos at 95fps? Well I didn't.I installed an 8000rpm, 270*, 4incher onto a bracket that I fabbed to wrap around the dashcap. When I need the tach,I slide it over to front and center. The rest of the time it is off to the right someplace. And as to that vacated center hole, I installed a factory vacuum gauge there. It may not be dead-nuts accurate, but hey who cares; it is still a very useful tool,on account of it's all relative.If it's 5% off in one place, it will be 5% off everywhere. And the 5% is very small, being less than 1 inch at 15 inches.
Yeah so that's my nickel's worth.
I like the key on the dash, but when I really nail a shift, I usually have to go looking in the back seat for my keys! I always hated looking for that column switch in the later As, especially in the dark.
Those factory gauges are notoriously slow to respond.Mine are still in there, cuz I built a reliable engine, and a reliable cooling system. So I never really look at them, and they do look nice. But the factory lighting is so poor that you can hardly see them in the dark.But the only one I need to see is the SpeedO, and I put some really bright bulbs in there,lol; Cuz, you know, I doubt the cop who pulls me over for running 5 kliks over, is gonna buy my story about me not seeing the needles on this old heap!,lol.
OK so I'm over a dime by now,TTYL
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Fair enough, You make some good points.

Well the desire for the 150 is pretty much aesthetic, just like the go wing spoiler.....not really for function, I just think It looks cool. Personal preference I guess.

I kind of assumed that went somebody like Red Line Gauge Works went through the speedo It would be not only fairly accurate but get rid of that speedo needle "Dance" That always drove me nuts on my standard dash. Guess I need to call him back and ask him about that.

As far as the tach goes, you are probably right. When I talked to Red Line he said the tachs they install have modern internals, So I figured they would be accurate. I do agree about it being a pain to look at the gauges, I don't know how some guys have their tachs mounted under the dash....talk about having to practically look at the floor to see what the engine RPM is.

I used to have a sun tach mounted on top of my dash. It was probably more utilitarian, I am just trying give the dash a clean look.....who knows, you do make some good points.

thanks
 
I dunno, the red lens on my brake indicator is plenty bright, its not modded either. Dittos for the high beam indicator. I will be drilling into the cluster housing for a second light in the light tube for the shift light. I used whatever was the stock bulb for the brake indicator, however the shift light indicator light will be a high bright LED.
 
The dancing needle is mostly due to the old drive cable, But a new one may not eliminate it. The bearing assembly at the signal generator does get loose after these many years, and I tightened mine up a tad when it was apart back in 98.It minimized the dance. I also took the Odo apart and tried to reset it to zero; but I don't recommend that to anyone. It was a big PITA. I got it down to 3002 miles IIRC, and left it there.I don't recall why it was so difficult, only that it was.
I put a wing on mine too. I had a 70 Dart in hi-school with one, and I just always liked the looks of those on the FB Barracudas, so it was on the must-have list.Kindof like the tinted windows; a must-have.
 
RedFish said:
If you're sending the plastic bezel out for rechrome, you should probably let them do the plastic repairs or at least ask them what adhesive and/or filler products they'll recommend. Some chemicals may react with the chroming process.
I wouldn't attempt to move the ignition switch from column to dash.
For what its worth... I built a right door mirror with long cable remote. I cut a second hole for the ignition switch bezel into my 67 rallye dash for that remote. If you went that route you would cut holes in the right door and the door jamb area but you would already have the hole for the remote.
On/off switch for stereo amplifier or just about anything placed in that switch bezel might be better than attempting to fill the big hole in the sheet metal.

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I like how you swapped the location of the stereo with the location of the heater controls. That makes much more sense than how the factory did it.

Heres pic of my restored rallye dash.

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Better way to backlight your rallye cluster, or any gage cluster for that matter, 5630 LED strip lights. You can get these in many colors. They are dimmable, as well as some having fully adjustable multicolor capability so you can change the colors to suit your mood. I went with green, but even purple is available. Cheap too. Evilbay, about $5 for 5 meters, or about 15 feet. This will eliminate the bright and dim spots and make the lighting more even throughout the cluster. Bonus LEDs dont burn out easily, and the pics shown were lit with a half dead 9v battery on my bench showing just how efficient these really are

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AJ/FormS said:
Well I have to admit, that backlighting is pretty neat-O


Not to overlook Redfish's super-neatO defroster grills
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Not trying to be obtuse, however i am not seeing defroster grilles in his pic, unless your seeing the hood bumps and chrome hood inserts and thinking those are defroster grilles.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Well I have to admit, that backlighting is pretty neat-O


Not to overlook Redfish's super-neatO defroster grills
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I hate it when you cant read half the gage at night. I used to have a 68 fastback years ago, the stock backlighting sucked ***. I cleaned it up, used brighter bulbs, it still sucked ***. This is better. I may pull it apart and mod it for the color change light strip though.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Better way to backlight your rallye cluster. 5630 LED strip lights. You can get these in many colors. They are dimmable, as well as some having fully adjustable multicolor capability so you can change the colors to suit your mood. I went with green, but even purple is available. Cheap too. Evilbay, about $5 for 5 meters, or about 15 feet. This will eliminate the bright and dim spots and make the lighting more even throughout the cluster. Bonus LEDs dont burn out easily, and the pics shown were lit with a half dead 9v battery on my bench showing just how efficient these really are

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That looks pretty awesome.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Not trying to be obtuse, however i am not seeing defroster grilles in his pic, unless your seeing the hood bumps and chrome hood inserts and thinking those are defroster grilles.
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Well for goodness sakes!
My eyes played tricks on me, one would think I had never seen a Barracuda hood.How obtuse of me! Thx.
 
AJ/FormS said:
I wanna talk about the 150 speedo. As in what's the point of it? The 120 already has the graduations pretty small, so going an exact speed with the factory cable usually doing it's little dance is always tricky. The 150 makes this even trickier. Once you are in top gear, you can use the tack as a speedo. Besides, it is way cooler to say you buried the tach in top gear than to say you buried the speedo. I mean 3.55s can hit 160 at redline. I took my 150 out, and replaced it with the 120, for more accuracy. I hate speeding tickets.See up here they cost us points on our licensees, and if you get more than 5 of those blasted points, they start to cost money,a lot of money.So I save my score-card for real offenses like imprudents,lol. Yeah, I've had few of those..... Anyway that's my take on the 150 speedo.
While I'm here, I might as well talk about putting a tach in that center spot. I think it's a waste of real estate. The tach is too small and the graduations are too close together, and the factory one is extremely slow. Furthermore, it is in a bad spot. You have to take your eyes off the road to see it, and at 65 mph you are already traveling at 95 ft per second. Do you think it's a good idea to be trying to focus on that lying pos at 95fps? Well I didn't.I installed an 8000rpm, 270*, 4incher onto a bracket that I fabbed to wrap around the dashcap. When I need the tach,I slide it over to front and center. The rest of the time it is off to the right someplace. And as to that vacated center hole, I installed a factory vacuum gauge there. It may not be dead-nuts accurate, but hey who cares; it is still a very useful tool,on account of it's all relative.If it's 5% off in one place, it will be 5% off everywhere. And the 5% is very small, being less than 1 inch at 15 inches.
Yeah so that's my nickel's worth.
I like the key on the dash, but when I really nail a shift, I usually have to go looking in the back seat for my keys! I always hated looking for that column switch in the later As, especially in the dark.
Those factory gauges are notoriously slow to respond.Mine are still in there, cuz I built a reliable engine, and a reliable cooling system. So I never really look at them, and they do look nice. But the factory lighting is so poor that you can hardly see them in the dark.But the only one I need to see is the SpeedO, and I put some really bright bulbs in there,lol; Cuz, you know, I doubt the cop who pulls me over for running 5 kliks over, is gonna buy my story about me not seeing the needles on this old heap!,lol.
OK so I'm over a dime by now,TTYL
Click to expand...

Highway patrol around here won't even bother you for 5 mph over, usually they don't even bother with 10mph over and I just drive slow on the surface streets where the speed limits are low. I do plan on doing some trackdays at some point with my car, so 150 mph is possible and I'd better get going faster than 120 or I should just hang it up. That's my take on the 150 speedo, I like 'em.

As for the tach I shift by sound, so I don't really care about the tach, but it looks better than a blank spot in the dash and is semi-useful for diagnosing rpm related issues and trying to figure out what my final gearing will be as I still have a T56 to install. Between the tach and the A/F gauge on the column carb tuning was a lot easier. I agree that the dash tach is almost useless for a shift indicator, it's too small and not particularly accurate anyway (I have an aftermarket one, they're not great). If I were drag racing and shooting for consistency I'd install a shift light somewhere like matt mentioned. Even with the tach on the dash you have to bother to look at it and process what it's reading, and if you're really hauling the mail that's a lot of real estate. The light is the way to go if you need the tach for consistency at the track.

I have considered the vacuum gauge, I actually have one for a rallye dash but like the tach I think most of the time it's just something I'm not looking at. I have one in my '71 F100 because it has a gauge cluster out of a heavy duty truck that came with one, and I don't typically pay any more attention to it than the tach (which it also has). Most of the time it's just telling me I should take my foot out of the throttle, which doesn't matter much on the F100 because it has a 390 and gets 9 mpg no matter what you do.
 
Yup, i shift by ear as well. My 94 silverado has an in dash tach, i ordered it that way new, i dont even bother to look at it anymore.
 
72bluNblu said:
No calibration of the gauges is necessary because of the swap to the '74, they will all work just fine. Or at least they'll be as accurate as factory gauges were to begin with. Same with the 120 to 150 mph speedo, there's no change in calibration outside of the the speedometer itself (the gears in the speedo itself are different). As for having the gauges rebuilt, Redline Gauge Works is a name I see a lot. They also do ammeter to voltmeter conversions, although you can do that yourself pretty easily.

For the electrical, it's not that bad. I did this swap on my '74 Duster as well. Believe it or not, Ma Mopar actually used most of the same color wires for the same parts for pretty much all of the A-body run. Obviously a few things changed, and the layout changed, but for the most part you just have to move the existing wires to new locations in the plugs. The same round connector is used for the main gauge panel, although the rallye dash has an additional 3 pin connector that you have to supply by splicing into some of the wires. I made a "key" for my swap to keep things straight. There are some minor differences between the years of the rallye dashes, so my key may not be 100% for your swap, but it should be close. On the bottom next to the '74 dash key I put all the locations where the wires have to be moved, for example "A: Brake light send -Blue/white = F" means that on the '74 dash the brake light sender, which is blue with a white stripe, is in position A. To make it work for the rally dash, you have to move that wire to position F on the key.

My own conversion and restoration is in my build thread, it starts at post #34 and goes from there. My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Can't help you with the chrome, although from what I've heard it costs a fortune. I restored my own bezel, painted it, and bought overlay's from Detroit Muscle Technologies. Items in Detroit Muscle Technologies LLC store on eBay!
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That's really cool
 
72bluNblu said:
No calibration of the gauges is necessary because of the swap to the '74, they will all work just fine. Or at least they'll be as accurate as factory gauges were to begin with. Same with the 120 to 150 mph speedo, there's no change in calibration outside of the the speedometer itself (the gears in the speedo itself are different). As for having the gauges rebuilt, Redline Gauge Works is a name I see a lot. They also do ammeter to voltmeter conversions, although you can do that yourself pretty easily.

For the electrical, it's not that bad. I did this swap on my '74 Duster as well. Believe it or not, Ma Mopar actually used most of the same color wires for the same parts for pretty much all of the A-body run. Obviously a few things changed, and the layout changed, but for the most part you just have to move the existing wires to new locations in the plugs. The same round connector is used for the main gauge panel, although the rallye dash has an additional 3 pin connector that you have to supply by splicing into some of the wires. I made a "key" for my swap to keep things straight. There are some minor differences between the years of the rallye dashes, so my key may not be 100% for your swap, but it should be close. On the bottom next to the '74 dash key I put all the locations where the wires have to be moved, for example "A: Brake light send -Blue/white = F" means that on the '74 dash the brake light sender, which is blue with a white stripe, is in position A. To make it work for the rally dash, you have to move that wire to position F on the key.

My own conversion and restoration is in my build thread, it starts at post #34 and goes from there. My "new" '74 Duster- or why I need a project like a hole in the head
Can't help you with the chrome, although from what I've heard it costs a fortune. I restored my own bezel, painted it, and bought overlay's from Detroit Muscle Technologies. Items in Detroit Muscle Technologies LLC store on eBay!
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Excellent information
 
thanson_mopar said:
Fair enough, You make some good points.

Well the desire for the 150 is pretty much aesthetic, just like the go wing spoiler.....not really for function, I just think It looks cool. Personal preference I guess.

I kind of assumed that went somebody like Red Line Gauge Works went through the speedo It would be not only fairly accurate but get rid of that speedo needle "Dance" That always drove me nuts on my standard dash. Guess I need to call him back and ask him about that.

As far as the tach goes, you are probably right. When I talked to Red Line he said the tachs they install have modern internals, So I figured they would be accurate. I do agree about it being a pain to look at the gauges, I don't know how some guys have their tachs mounted under the dash....talk about having to practically look at the floor to see what the engine RPM is.

I used to have a sun tach mounted on top of my dash. It was probably more utilitarian, I am just trying give the dash a clean look.....who knows, you do make some good points.

thanks
Click to expand...
Actually, I've pegged the 120s, several times
 
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