I'm the proud new owner of a 73 Challenger and in the process of fixing a few items. The fuel gauge and other gauges worked when I bought the car a couple weeks ago but now the trio of 3 gauges all peak when I turn the key. I guess the voltage limiter ground may be the problem or the limiter its self. What's the best way to get into this thing? If it's pulling the dash cluster, how do you go about getting it out. I also read a post where someone lowered the steering wheel.
The posts are great, I plan on re-wring and eliminating the alt. meter in the dash. I did notice the wire coming from the alternator was pretty warm to the touch.
thanks to all the contributors.
Roofbolter

 

Warm wires are never a good thing.

Visit these links and download yourself a factory service manual.........free The 73 manual is towards the end of the thread

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...d.php?t=244981

more stuff here

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

Read this on your ammeter project

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml

Although this is not about E bodies, this might give you some ideas on your ammeter

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml

So far as removing the limiter, when I was young and skinny, LOL, I could reach up in there at least on B bodies, feel around, and pull it out.

Also, and this depends on the car model, don't assume it's a component per se

Here's all the stuff wrong with my Dart:

Broken and loose connector pins at the PC board harness connector

On the Dart, "spring fingers" pressed into the PC board act as connectors for the IVR. These fingers were not making contact and I had to solder jumpers across

On some dash clusters, the studs / nuts at the gauges can be loose / corroded and lose connection. Loosen tighten the nuts or replace them.

In some cases the gauge units themselves are bad or out of cal, but of course "if they all" are doing wrong, this is usually the IVR or it's connections

And of course, "the usual" wiring problems. With an oil guage, both oil and temp sender wires go through the bulkhead connector, up to it's usual tricks

 

You need to lower the steering wheel to get clearance to remove the cluster

 

I wish i had taken pictures while i was soldering, but this is what the final product looks like. Radio Shack has all the parts you need for about 5 bucks. Pry off the limiter cap, remove all the old components, and solder the 5 volt regulator leads to the terminals inside. you have a 12 volt in, 5 volt out, and ground, inside. same on the new regulator. just match them up. Solder the capacitor on the outside, underneath the board. just make sure the capacitor leads dont touch anything. (you can insulate if you want)