THE AUTO BUILDER

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Virginia Beach, Virginia, residents Ronnie and Linda Loyd have always held a special place in their hearts for classic trucks. Having owned several old trucks through the years, Loyd built a certain appreciation for early Chevy pickups, especially those of the 1967 thru 1972 era. Since Loyd already owns a ’33 Ford coupe and a ’93 454 Chevrolet SS pickup, he decided now would be the perfect time to complete his collection by getting the early ’70s truck he always wanted.

Installing a Custom Accessories Three-Point Harness System

This is the problem in a nutshell: When we are traveling in an automobile, it may seem that we personally are not moving, only the car is. But that is not the case. If the vehicle that we are traveling in happens to stop suddenly, we won’t, unless … there is something there to stop us. That something could be a seatbelt—or it could be something less desirable.

The cold hard fact is that injuries can be suffered during an auto accident. Injuries such as those sustained by the face and head as a result of being thrown into the windshield or dash. Or it could mean those nasty abdominal injuries due to contact with the steering wheel. Either way, it doesn’t sound like much fun. They can also be prevented.

GET A GRIP

There are many ways to add flash to your truck, but some of them are time consuming, expensive or overpowering. Then there’s a product such as Grippin’ Billet door handles. Grippin’ Billet handles will not only add a little sparkle to an otherwise bland part, but they will do so in an easy way without breaking your budget.

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MOLDED MONITORS

Installing A Covans Classic Molded Gauge Package

Author

Josh Kaylor

Story & Photography

Covans Classic, located in Cumming, Georgia, offers a full line of ABS molded dash panels and glovebox doors for classic cars and trucks. The fully molded dashes are designed to be factory replacements, giving a smooth, custom look while accepting common 3-3/8-inch speedometer and tach and 2-1/16-inch oil pressure, water temp, fuel level and volt gauges. The instrument panels feature high-quality molding and are available with or without holes. They can be purchased in brushed aluminum, black, burl wood and carbon fiber. The panels can also be painted to match the interior.

The 70 Chevy pickup dash seen here has recently been painted and the interior received a new Hot Rod Air under-dash unit and late- model bench seat. The owner wanted to update the look of the dash as well as the instrumentation, so he decided that the Covans Classic molded dash insert in brushed aluminum and the Auto Meter Ultra-Lite gauges would give him the look and style he was after. The owner modified the original gauges and installed a new dash insert, but the factory gauge cluster still functioned andlooked 37 years old. The original gauges operated via mechanical sending units, while the new Auto Meter gauges operate by electric sending units, which allow for a much cleaner installation.

Covans Classic offers the panels with or without gauges. The owner of this classic Chevy pickup purchased the gauge panel and gauges separately, so a custom wiring harness had to be made for the gauge installation. After a few minutes online researching the factory wiring harness and printing a diagram, the installation began. Wiring up the new gauges and connectors was the most time consuming, since purchasing a pre-made harness seemed too expensive at the time. Once the removal and installation began, it took a couple of hours to finish the job and test the new gauges.

The Covans Classic panel is well molded, as the mounting holes lined up great and the installation required only simple wiring tools, various hand tools and a small drill. The dash looks custom and the owner can now sit back and enjoy the road, knowing these great-looking gauges are providing an accurate readout.

Since the factory wires will be cut, the battery cables had to be disconnected from the truck.

The wiper and headlight switch have to be removed in order to pull the gauge assembly from the dash.

Next the headlight switch, wiper switch and retaining nuts are removed. Simply spin the ring on the outside of the switches, which will allow them to be removed from the rear.

The outside screws around the rim of the Chevrolet gauge panel must be removed to access the factory wiring harness and sending unit lines.

We had to unplug and remove the aftermarket tach from the column; it will be replaced with a new Auto Meter unit in the new gauge cluster.

We unplugged the factory harness and the sending unit lines and removed the assembly from the truck. The original gauges are headed for eBay!

Here are the original gauges; the entire assembly comes out of the truck in one piece. Now the original wiring harness is modified for the new panel.

In the engine compartment, the early-style sending unit pressure lines are removed and tossed in the garbage. The new gauges are electric and do not require the use of pressure lines.

The kit includes all of the needed sensors and brass adapters for installing the new gauges.

In order to keep the sensors from leaking in the future, Teflon tape was wrapped around the threads. Be sure to leave the end threads bare so that the sending unit is properly grounded.

Each new sensor was installed and plugged in. The old connectors were worn down so new ones were installed.

Here is the new gauge panelfrom Covans Classic. The owner of the Chevy truck decided on the Auto Meter Ultra-Lites in the brushed aluminum panel for this particular installation.