Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » ...with dash lights that work!
| ...with dash lights that work! [message #66775] |
Mon, 07 December 2009 01:08  |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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I've got dash lights that work thanks to the great kit from the team of Len Novak and Eric Gibbons!
I gave Len (the lights) first billing since he's the guy I sent the check to. I have to give kudos to Eric (the labels) for his humorous instruction sheet. He seems to know my eating habits and warned me to wash my hands.
It was a fun distraction for a guy who was helplessly installing a (faulty) car stereo. I felt a bit like Indiana Jones looking at all the remnants of past wiring expeditions from previous owners. The stereo proved to be faulty, and I'll have the replacement here next week (grrrrr!)
Which raises this question - any good suggestions for replacing AND rewiring the cockpit speakers?
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #66777 is a reply to message #66775] |
Mon, 07 December 2009 12:58  |
GeorgeRud
Messages: 1380
Registered: February 2007
Location: Chicago, IL
Karma: 0
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I just replaced mine with some 4" round speakers with their own covers from Parts Express. I ran new wires for the speakers as I had the inner panels off. You really can't use the original wiring if you're upgrading the stereo as it used a common ground wire with the chassis. You should be able to snake new wires with minimum reassembly, and the new speakers will sound much better than the original ones. You have to be very careful if you want to use the original mounting points as they are quite fragile. I found it easier to simply cut a new speaker hole in the original speaker/light panel and mount the new speaker with conventional metal screws.
The only problem I found is that the speakers are faily loud as you sit right next to them. I am installing additional speakers around the coach while redoing the interior, so I will probably add some sort of volume control (or on/off switch as the speakers originally had) for the front speakers. Compared to car stereos, we have a giant concert hall to fill with sound. With his background in the stereo business, I bet Jim Bounds can give a lot of pros and cons to different speaker choices.
George Rudawsky
Chicago, IL
75 Palm Beach
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #66778 is a reply to message #66775] |
Mon, 07 December 2009 13:00 |
tphipps
Messages: 3005
Registered: August 2004
Location: Spanish Fort, AL
Karma: 9
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Wal-Mart has a small speaker that will fit (99.4% fit) into the same place that the OEM speakers are. It is a very simple task to replace the old with the new. The only caution would be the "common" grounding of the speakers. Early GMC's (all vehicles) used a common ground on the chassis or body that provided the return path for the speakers. This will not work with your new radio, and has the potential to destroy the radio's audio amp. You must provide a separate ground lead from the new speakers to the radio. Even if you re-use the old speakers, the ground still must be separated out and returned via wire to the radio. I do not know what year GMC changed this, but my 75 had the common ground. Make sure that you have a very good chassis ground for the radio. I rewired the radio to go directly to a fuse block that is wired to my "house" battery. Doing this, if you run down the house battery, you can still start the vehicle from the engine battery.
I just rewired the speakers by removing the plastic window surround, and hiding the wires under the plastic. You could possible slide the wire under the plastic.
I also brought a second set of speakers wires out the "arm" rests on the plastic wall, so that the next set of "good" speakers already have the wiring in place. You could always visit a good car audio shop and see what they have. Best Buy is another place to look.
Tom Phipps,
75 GMC Ex-Avion
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #66779 is a reply to message #66775] |
Mon, 07 December 2009 13:03 |
Carl S.
Messages: 4186
Registered: January 2009
Location: Tucson, AZ.
Karma: 13
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Larry,
My cockpit speakers were shot when I bought the coach. They sounded so bad that my wife made me disconnect them for the ride home on our first trip (they were wired in a strictly R & L configuration and there was no F to R fade). She looked on Radio Shack .com and found these:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3061122
They were dirt cheap, a basically bolt-in installation and sound good (much better then the worn out ones, at least). I had to use some spacers on the mounting studs, and the fit was tight, but they worked satisfactorily.
Carl S.
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles, Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #66781 is a reply to message #66775] |
Mon, 07 December 2009 13:05 |
Larry C
Messages: 1168
Registered: July 2004
Location: NE Illinois by the Illino...
Karma: 0
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any good suggestions for replacing AND rewiring the cockpit speakers
_________________________________________________________
My suggestions sometimes go alone because I don't always go with what would be accepted as normal practice but here goes....
I have never liked where the OEM speakers were located, it was a location that was easy and convenient for the engineers, thats all I can figure out. There should be similar sized speakers that could replace them size to size.
But if you mess with that bezel you will find it is very very fragile. One of mine crumbled when I took it down.
I had to cut a similar sized trim board from hard board and put in a light and switches. I cut out a larger hole for a larger speaker and put a speaker cover over the speaker. It look good but the speaker location does not enhance stereo at all.
You might try to find those speaker boxes for outside, they are about 9 by 4 by 5 and you can put the either beside the seats or under the front if you have enough room. If you want to really be ambitious, you can try to mount some speakers, surface mount might work beter size wise, under the dash on both sides. The stereo enhancement will be SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED.
You can use the OEM speaker on the driver side for the CB since most the time the passenger(S) do not care to listen anyway.
You may be better off just leaving the OEM speakers where they are, don't mess with the bezel unless you are prepared to retrofit something in case they crumble. It took no force at all for mine to crumble to chips in a moment after I took it down. I guess plastic does not hold up well after 30+ years. 
LarC ( Thinking the original speaker locations look better than they actually sound )
Gatsbys' CRUISER  08-18-04
74 GLACIER X, 260/455-APC-4 Bagg'r
Remflex Manifold gaskets
CampGrounds needed, Add yours to "PLACES" />
http://www.gmceast.com/travel
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| Re: [GMCnet] ...with dash lights that work! [message #67053 is a reply to message #66775] |
Wed, 09 December 2009 21:37 |
Len Novak
Messages: 676
Registered: February 2004
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Karma: -3
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Larry,
Nice words. Thanks.
Len and Pat
78 Kingsley, The Beast II with dash lights that work
Fallbrook, CA
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4375
www.bdub.net/novak/
-----Original Message-----
From: gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org
[mailto:gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of Larry Davick
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 11:09 PM
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Subject: [GMCnet] ...with dash lights that work!
I've got dash lights that work thanks to the great kit from the team of Len
Novak and Eric Gibbons!
I gave Len (the lights) first billing since he's the guy I sent the check
to. I have to give kudos to Eric (the labels) for his humorous instruction
sheet. He seems to know my eating habits and warned me to wash my hands.
It was a fun distraction for a guy who was helplessly installing a (faulty)
car stereo. I felt a bit like Indiana Jones looking at all the remnants of
past wiring expeditions from previous owners. The stereo proved to be
faulty, and I'll have the replacement here next week (grrrrr!)
Which raises this question - any good suggestions for replacing AND rewiring
the cockpit speakers?
--
Larry Davick
The Mystery Machine
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
List Information and Subscription Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
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GMCnet mailing list
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http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
Len and Pat Novak
1978 GMC Kingsley
The Beast II with dash lights that work and labels you can see!
Las Vegas, NV new email: B52sRule@Gmail.com
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4375
www.bdub.net/novak/
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| Re: [GMCnet] ...with dash lights that work! [message #67057 is a reply to message #67053] |
Thu, 10 December 2009 00:19 |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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Senior Member |
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Len,
NICE KIT!
Folks - it really is a nice kit, and a feel-good project. I had a
chance to use my dusty old Dremmel tool to cut some grooves in my
dash and used more than the needed amount of electrical tape.
Who doesn't love Dremmel tools and electrical tape?!
And every time I turn on the lights I can see the fruits of my
handiwork. All that for, what, Forty bucks? Do it!
Larry Davick
The Mystery Machine
(With dash lights that work)
On Dec 9, 2009, at 7:37 PM, Len wrote:
> Larry,
>
> Nice words. Thanks.
>
>
>
> Len and Pat
> 78 Kingsley, The Beast II with dash lights that work
> Fallbrook, CA
>
> http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4375
>
> www.bdub.net/novak/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org
> [mailto:gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of Larry Davick
> Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 11:09 PM
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Subject: [GMCnet] ...with dash lights that work!
>
>
>
> I've got dash lights that work thanks to the great kit from the
> team of Len
> Novak and Eric Gibbons!
> I gave Len (the lights) first billing since he's the guy I sent the
> check
> to. I have to give kudos to Eric (the labels) for his humorous
> instruction
> sheet. He seems to know my eating habits and warned me to wash my
> hands.
> It was a fun distraction for a guy who was helplessly installing a
> (faulty)
> car stereo. I felt a bit like Indiana Jones looking at all the
> remnants of
> past wiring expeditions from previous owners. The stereo proved to be
> faulty, and I'll have the replacement here next week (grrrrr!)
> Which raises this question - any good suggestions for replacing AND
> rewiring
> the cockpit speakers?
> --
> Larry Davick
> The Mystery Machine
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> List Information and Subscription Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> List Information and Subscription Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
List Information and Subscription Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #67587 is a reply to message #66775] |
Wed, 16 December 2009 03:05 |
Donovan-formerly Jase386
Messages: 139
Registered: January 2009
Location: Greenville SC
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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i, too, bought the dash light kit and love it. It was a little more blue that i had expected, so i used some yellow film ( left over from the easter basket) between the light wire, and the lables. gave just enough yellow tint so that my new lights and labels almost.....alllllmooost, match the factory whitish greenish instrument circles.
as far as the sounds go, i had planned on moving all of my speakers to the dash and near floor board on the side panels, the same placement as my Chrysler minivan's speakers. then find other places thru the coach for them. I havnet gotten that far, but like everyone else, the list grows every day.... and stuff like this stays at the end.
Donovan, Greenville SC
1975 Eleganza II
81,500 miles
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| Re: ...with dash lights that work! [message #69384 is a reply to message #67587] |
Sat, 02 January 2010 19:14 |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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Senior Member |
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I'm cleaning out my toolbox and found the old fiber optic light (dark?) strand from my dashlights. I was about to toss it out, but thought that someone might want mine.
I'd be happy to toss it into an envelope and send it to you.
First come, first served.
Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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