AMP to Volt gauge conversion

[70 Charger RT]

Has anyone converted their 2nd gen ralye AMP gauge to a volt meter and make it appear like an AMP gauge.  I want to avoid those wires coming into the car through the bulkhead connector if I can.  I'm thinking that I should be able to take the guts from a modern voltmeter from a newer car and marry it up to my AMP meter faceplate.  Anyone have experience doing this?

Thanks,

[Budnicks]

Almost Everything inside the car is supplied by that large black wire feeding the amp gauge, it can be done, both the threaded studs/termanil on the back of the Amp Gauge are both positive, it's a flow thru connection, you can just disconnect them, solder them together & isolate/wrap or reroute the whole under dash wire harness, all the volt gauge needs is a small 12ga./12 volt feed wire & a ground to chassis/body... I would also suggest you checkout MyMopar.com they should have a schematic for your 2nd gen Charger 68-70 car, they go up to I believe 1976, to see a wire diagram/schematic if your not real familiar with the under dash wiring... You can also add a 8ga. wire directly from the alternator main charging out put terminal/post, up to the starter relay main large terminal/post on the fire wall next to the bulkhead connector, it will decrease the path of resistance for the charging system to not have to run completely thru the firewall then the Amp gauge, then thefuse block, to the dash dash, you can still leave all the under dash wire as is, it just makes the path much shorter & take some of the considerably heavy load off the main black wire that runs everything thru the firewall bulkhead connector, under the dash, voltage regulator & alternator.... The bulkhead connections are known for corrosion/oxidation issuses, take it apart very carefully it can be brittle after 40+ years of heat & moistier, clen with a small brass wire brush, pipe cleaners & electrical connnection spray cleaners, then put a small dab of dielectric grease on all the connections very carefully & put back together... There is another good site that has some very good tech about it ,  www.madelectrical.com

[Chatt69chgr]

I'l like to replace my amp gauge with a volt gauge but I want it to look like one of the original gauges so I'm asking the same question that 70 Charger RT did.  I'm well aware of the issue with the bulkhead connector and how to effectively remove the ammeter from the circuit as described by Budnicks. 

I thought that I had found the answer when a article about rebuilding the inst pnl in CarCraft came out.  It led me to believe that Redline gauge works offered something like this.  Nope.  They don't.

So the question again is:

1. can the existing ammeter be converted to a voltmeter (with the necessary external wiring changes)?

2. has anyone retrofitted a modern voltmeter into the existing ammeter hole and fitted it with a original looking escutcheon with volts lettering on it?

[Charger RT]

I would like to see one of the vendors make the gauge. I would buy one. I have altered my wiring so the amp meter is not just for looks.
Tim

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Redline gauge works does do this conversion. You can choose to have it say volt or leave the alternator writing there. They charge $165 to do this but you have to send them the gauge, circuit board, and cluster housing and takes about 2 weeks. The needle will not be in the middle anymore though, it sits to the left just like all the other small gauges.   

[Chatt69chgr]

When I talked to them I had the idea that they would be able to sell me a converted gauge for me to install in my inst pnl.  They did start tallking about me sending whole panel, etc.  I guess I tuned out then. 

So----if each of the gauges are now available repop for $80 one would think that they could just convert one of those and sell it to folks to install themselves.  I guess what they are actually doing is, in fact, taking a modern volts gauge and mechanically fitting it into the inst pnl (which must require some cutting) and then putting the relettered gauge face from your old gauge on the new guts.  This would explain why they want you to send them your old inst pnl.

I still wonder if an enterprising individual couldn't figure out how to convert one of the existing gauges to a volts gauge.  You could start with a new repop gauge (each one is available for $80) and go from there.  Of course, you would need a new lettering decal.  If someone figured this out I bet the decal folks would start making the correct volts decal for the gauge face.

[BrianShaughnessy]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,34721.msg432355.html#msg432355