Instrument Voltage Regulator replacement with I/C Chip - Success!!

[buie1289]

Well, I spent most all night in the garage contorted into uncomfortable positions in the floor of my Charger last night. Of all the things I accomplished, I must say that replacing the Instrument Voltage Regulator with the solid state chip was by far the easiest. I've done this on my '64 Barracuda and the old non-Rally dash that was in my Charger, but the Rally dash was easy as pie. In the past, the biggest problem I've had is where to mount the I/C chip and heat sink. The Rally Dash has the perfect spot (where the old IVR was) and everything fits perfectly!! The only real modification I had to make is the ground wire that used to attach above the IVR. Now I have rock steady gauges and the real bonus is that my AM radio doesn't "click" anymore!! I'm sure this has been covered a lot on this board, but if anyone has questions on doing this, let me know.

[Ghoste]

Thats encouraging to read, it's one of the things I need to do in my car and I keep putting it off.  Someday I'll end up regretting it.  Did you make your own or buy one one of the ready made ones?

[buie1289]

I made my own. It takes about 10 minutes and cost me about $6.00. Everything was in stock at my local Radio Shack.

[runningman]

I would like some more info on this, I was going to get the solid state piece from RTE but if I can save a few $$ that would be cool.

[buie1289]

OK, here are the 2 items  you need from Radio Shack,  catalog # 276-1363 which is a heat sink and runs $1.49, and catalog # 276-1770 which is the actual regulator and runs $1.59. Basically, it's very simple, especially if you have a Rally dash. Let me say one thing before I delve into this. The legs on this regulator are brittle. If you bend them back and forth more than once or twice, they will break off. As soon as you take the regulator out of the pack, it's a good idea to LIGHTLY bend the outside legs away from the center leg just a tad to give yourself some room to work. After you make that initial bend, take care not to bend them any more if you can help it. Last year I had one completely installed and decided to move a leg just a little bit more, it ended up breaking off and I had the joy of starting all over. Ok, on we go.

If you're holding the voltage regulator with the printed words facing you, the leg in the middle is the ground, the left is the input for +12V and the right is the +5V output side. Be sure to look at the back of the package it comes in as I have seen the ground be on the left side instead of in the middle. When I do this, I will solder about a 3 inch lead to each of the 3 legs. Once I have the 3 leads soldered on, I will crimp connectors to the other end. For the Ground lead, I use a eyelet connector, for the input I use a male spade connector and for the output I use a female spade connector. Once all that is in place, put the regulator inside the heatsink and attach it to the back of the dash in the same spot the old regulator was, using the screw that was in the old regulator. You may have to enlarge the hole on the regulator and heat sink to accomodate the screw. Also, you can ground the regulator under this same screw if you wish, using the eyelet connector I mentioned a second ago. Once it's mounted and secure, plug the input up to the old harness connector using the male spade you crimped on earlier, and plug the output up to the existing wire that runs to the Oil pressure ga using the female spade terminal. When it's all hooked up, I usually take a hot glue gun and "inject" a big glob of glue under the terminals so that it squirts between and under them to insulate them from each other and from the edge of the heat sink. Also, this makes it a little harder to accidentally bend them any more. If I need to post some pics of the process, I would be happy to.

[y3chargerrt]

Mopar Action had this upgrade in it maybe 8 years ago. They mounted the regulator inside the can for the ivr. The problem with doing this is the regulator would overheat and fail. Mounting it on the back of the can with the heat sink is the way to go.

[buie1289]

I actually had a thought about trying that. Guess that's a good reason not to.

[runningman]

Awesome, thanks for the info!!

[A383Wing]

I have built and sold around 50 of these transistorized regulators now...I have not ever used a heat sink....I mounted the transistor to the original regulators metal can. There is another item that is installed which is the electrolytic capacitor that I mount internally in the can. (after I remove the original limiter wire & bi-metal strip inside) Pic below of what I have built.

I have these installed on all my cars now...no more wandering needles in the gauges....

Bryan

[Ghoste]

Have you converted any first gen ones Bryan?

[A383Wing]

Yup, converted both of mine....we have a complete write up with pictures in our forum.

Bryan