DIY voltmeter mod for 2nd gen Chargers

[Dino]

Even though I have not finished this project myself, I did enough to see that it will work and look stock in your dash.

The nice thing about this mod is that it is cheap to do and it requires absolutely no modification to your stock parts.  You can use several gauges for this but with some you will likely have to cut into the cluster.  I bought an Auto Gage 2356 because it is the smallest.  $22 shipped to my door, that's not much of an investment.  

I do not have pictures of the entire process but it should be relatively straight forward.  Ask if something is not clear.
Start by taking the voltmeter apart.  Remove the bracket and bezel so all you have left is the gauge itself.  In order to remove the housing, the pinched bezel holding the lens needs to come off.  It's very thin so you can cut it with snips or bend the edge so the whole thing comes off.  Either way, it'll be toast so discard.  Unscrew the housing and remove the guts.
The needle is real sturdy but let's not tempt it either; while holding the needle in the middle, stuff some balled up masking tape to either side on the bottom to keep it there.  You'll see what I'm talking about.  It will make the rest of the process much easier.  Remove the two tiny screws and the gauge face and set them aside, you will need these later.

I did not want to take apart a perfectly good ammeter so I used a spare temperature gauge face and needle as donor parts.  It's all you need so if you don't have these parts look for used ones or use your existing gauge, it's up to you.  I ground away the back of the rivets so the face came off the stock gauge housing.  I then secured the rivets from the back with a drop of super glue.  From the front the rivets still look as if they were secured.  I drilled two small holes real close to them, 1-1/4" apart to match the new gauge.  You are going to use those small screws to secure the stock gauge face to the new voltmeter.  You will have to grab some tin snips and cut away a small portion of the face to clear the wound copper wire.   When the screws go in, they just hit the side of the rivets.  This is all out of sight once the gauge is installed by the way so don't worry if you need to drill a third hole to line it all up.  

Now you can secure the stock face to the new gauge.  Test fit the gauge in the housing and bolt it in.  Ideally you remove a small amount of the plastic around the studs so it sits a bit deeper and more secure in the cluster, but it will work as is.  I think the new gauge moves the whole thing about 3 mm toward you so if that's a big deal to you, remove it from the back.  Honestly, once the plastic lens covered all the gauges, it looked perfectly fine!

I grabbed a pic of the ammeter face online, opened it in Gimp, use whatever editing software you like, and started changing it.  I used Volts first by the way.  I removed the markings and left only the arch, inverted the color and printed it in true size.  I then glued it to the face, bolted the voltmeter's gauge face to that and copied the markings.  I removed the printed face and overlaid that on my laptop screen and adjusted the size to match so I could transfer the markings in the photo editing software.  Hey it worked!  
I took the alternator picture and used the markings, letters, and numbers to make a new gauge face.  I printed one in black, stuck it on the gauge and used a few batteries to create a few different voltages.  I hooked up a multimeter and got pretty damn close!
The voltmeter's needle is pretty broad and has a sharp crease in the middle.  In order to superglue the stock needle onto it, you need to grab a dremel or small file and flatter the needle a bit.  You also want to make the tip narrower so the new needle covers it completely.  I have not done all of this yet myself but included a pic of the needle with some shaven off.  I used masking tape run right under the needle to support the weight of the dremel spinning.  Worked fine so don't worry about breaking it.  I did end up finding another needle in great shape so I'll glue it on later.  I also noticed the ammeter needle is bigger than the others.  The spare needles I have are like the other three so now they will all look the same.  Nothing wrong with that but again, it's up to you.
Now all I have to do is paint the gauge face in a white that matches the lettering on the other gauges and I need to print the black part of the face on some type of decal paper.  Add them all up and we have one very nice voltmeter that looks like it came with the car!  

The new gauge face is not finished yet but feel free to grab it and make it your own.



Almost forgot...

It's very easy to line up the gauge in the cluster.  Make it so it's snug but easy to move by hand.  Take a ruler and lay it flush with the underside of whatever word you used on the gauge face.  If you lined it up exactly as where 'alternator' used to be then the underside of volts or battery or whatever will line up with the top side of 'oil pressure'.  All of the words on the 4 small gauges are staggered exactly by the height of the letters.  Put the clear lens in place to figure out the final adjustment, tighten it down and done!

[Dino]

more

[Dino]

one more

[tan top]

      awesome job      clever !!    going to re do mine now , with the word battery    

[Charger4404spd]

Nice job, would like to see a pic of cluster after you install it!

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice job, would like to see a pic of cluster after you install it!

X2

PS---how are you going to make the needle longer to match the other gauges?

[will]

Wanna make one for me. I see a business venture...

[Dino]

Nice job, would like to see a pic of cluster after you install it!

X2

PS---how are you going to make the needle longer to match the other gauges?

A stock gauge needle will be glued on top of the short needle after it is filed down slightly. 

[Pete in NH]

Hi Dino,

Great work and very clever! You certainly have pointed the way forward on doing a voltmeter conversion at a reasonable cost. Hopefully, others will follow your lead on this conversion and being able to use high current alternators safely.

[twodko]

Dino, you're hired!

[Carrnutt]

Very Cool!  

Awesome job on the write up as well 

[Dino]

Thanks guys 

The gauge face you see in the pics with the multimeter is just printed paper.  I doubt my cheap printer is going to do a good job on decal paper so I'm going to take some decal paper to work and try the big printer.  When I put the gauge in the cluster as is, it's almost impossible to tell it's not real so I have high hopes for the final product. 

I'll keep you guys posted.

[twodko]

So Dino,
When can I expect my new gauge? Do you take paypal? 70 virgins? Bit coins? VC combat pajamas?

[Dino]

So Dino,
When can I expect my new gauge? Do you take paypal? 70 virgins? Bit coins? VC combat pajamas?

How many out of that list can I pick?  



Here's the pic of the gauge in the cluster but a few things to note.  The decal is just a piece of cheap printer paper made with a cheap printer and is all pixelated and wobbly.  It was just a test piece to make sure the volt readings were accurate.  The gauge is also not bolted tight in there either so it's off a bit.

Imagine this in your dash with a proper decal and I doubt anyone will ever notice.  

Oh yes and I still have not stuck the stock needle on there either. 

[tan top]

So Dino,
When can I expect my new gauge? Do you take paypal? 70 virgins? Bit coins? VC combat pajamas?

How many out of that list can I pick?  



Here's the pic of the gauge in the cluster but a few things to note.  The decal is just a piece of cheap printer paper made with a cheap printer and is all pixelated and wobbly.  It was just a test piece to make sure the volt readings were accurate.  The gauge is also not bolted tight in there either so it's off a bit.

Imagine this in your dash with a proper decal and I doubt anyone will ever notice.  

Oh yes and I still have not stuck the stock needle on there either.  

nice work !! awesome job 
done the same with the printer paper  

[cdr]

found this.they have in all colors

http://www.whitegauges.net/products/1968%252d1970-Dodge-Charger-Volts-Overlay.html

[Dino]

found this.they have in all colors

http://www.whitegauges.net/products/1968%252d1970-Dodge-Charger-Volts-Overlay.html

Not bad at all, I would probably get one of those if it said battery.  The scale is a bit strange but it works!

[TexasGeneral]

Dino, thanks.. I'm gonna do this to mine.. 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

found this.they have in all colors

http://www.whitegauges.net/products/1968%252d1970-Dodge-Charger-Volts-Overlay.html

Not bad at all, I would probably get one of those if it said battery.  The scale is a bit strange but it works!

Dino, I currently have email correspondence going with Amie from Whitegauges.net asking them about being able to change their wording from "Volts" to "Battery"....they are saying they should be able to do it.  I also referred them to this thread.
Will keep all posted

[Dino]

found this.they have in all colors

http://www.whitegauges.net/products/1968%252d1970-Dodge-Charger-Volts-Overlay.html

Not bad at all, I would probably get one of those if it said battery.  The scale is a bit strange but it works!

Dino, I currently have email correspondence going with Amie from Whitegauges.net asking them about being able to change their wording from "Volts" to "Battery"....they are saying they should be able to do it.  I also referred them to this thread.
Will keep all posted

Wow thanks Chris!     That would be the easiest way to go for most people.   

[moparsr2fast]

  Nice job Dino!  This will come in especially handy since my alternator is directly charging the battery, bypassing the main harness, and throwing the amp gauge off.   

[Dino]

  Nice job Dino!  This will come in especially handy since my alternator is directly charging the battery, bypassing the main harness, and throwing the amp gauge off.   

Yep it won't read right that way so might as well disconnect the whole thing and make it a voltmeter.      

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Whitegauges.net is making me a decal overlay with the "Battery" wording for $10 shipped.   Ill post up pics when I get it.

[Dino]

Whitegauges.net is making me a decal overlay with the "Battery" wording for $10 shipped.   Ill post up pics when I get it.

Great!  I was hoping something would come of this as I really don't care to make this thing myself, I'm busy enough as it is!    
I'm dying to see it.  Do you happen know what grading they will be using?  Same as the volt version with only the word changed?  If they use the stock font then $10 is pretty hard to beat either way.

 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Yes the same scale.   Anything over 13 will be a good enough indication for me

I got it with the stock black background & white lettering...supposed to be same font..

This is their white version