DIY Junkyard Wiper Motor and Intermittent Module Retrofit/Upgrade

[Doppleganger]

GREAT thread - great job!

 

[Catbox]

Super cool stuff.
And yeah, I would be in for a setup if you were to release it as I can't weld due to the computer in my chest.

 

[Rustybucket73]

Got some time to put the interior back together. Hard to tell that anything has been modified at all.

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[Matt69olds]

Is that a Camaro tach in the dash?

 

[Rustybucket73]

Is that a Camaro tach in the dash?

Yup, mid-80's V8 Camaro tach in a '89-91 Squarebody cluster with electronic speedometer, all in a '73 C10

 

[Matt69olds]

That is pretty slick! Could you use the Camaro speedo do they would match? What did you do with the factory oil pressure gauge?

 

[Corvette Ed]

Thanks for a informative and interesting thread.

 

[Rustybucket73]

That is pretty slick! Could you use the Camaro speedo do they would match? What did you do with the factory oil pressure gauge?

I can't use the Camaro speedo because its cable driven. My '73 has a 5.3/4L80E so I needed an electronic speedo, using the 80-91 squarebody cluster was the easiest option.

I put a voltmeter gauge in the original oil pressure gauge location, but it's wired to read my fuel level. I just need to re-label it.

 

[TPISly-C10]

Got some time to put the interior back together. Hard to tell that anything has been modified at all.

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do you have more info on your Camaro RPM install? thx and looking great

 

[Raider L]

@Rustybucket73,

I apologize and I know this is off topic, but in the first pictures, there is that fabric light strip thing above the, now new wiper switch. Also, is that ground wire part of it. My truck used to have that to but I removed it intact and would like to put it back in if I could figure out what it goes to or what it does, and what powers it. Maybe I could get others to respond on this as well.

 

[Rustybucket73]

@Rustybucket73,

I apologize and I know this is off topic, but in the first pictures, there is that fabric light strip thing above the, now new wiper switch. Also, is that ground wire part of it. My truck used to have that to but I removed it intact and would like to put it back in if I could figure out what it goes to or what it does, and what powers it. Maybe I could get others to respond on this as well.

I honestly don't know what that is either. It's probably some accent lighting for the wiper switch when the headlights are on.

 

[Ellie Niner]

I honestly don't know what that is either. It's probably some accent lighting for the wiper switch when the headlights are on.

Yep. It's a fiber optic cable used to illuminate the wiper switch; it leeches light off of one of the PC168 instrument cluster bulbs with a special socket (see photo)... same way the ashtray illumination works if your truck is so equipped. They only used the fiber optic setup in 1973-74, then went to a switch with its own bulb in 1975-83. I think the US safety regs only require the wiper switch to be lit if it's out of direct reach with your hands on the steering wheel, so there's no illumination for the one that's integrated into the turn signal stalk from 1984-up.

@Raider L You'll probably have to get creative again to light up your wiper switch with the fiber ribbon since you don't have a stock instrument cluster... There's a few GM cars that used little fiber optic light boxes to remotely light up stuff like those exterior thermometers that were integrated into door mirrors, opera lights, keyholes and door handles... but it probably would be easier to install a 1975-up wiper switch if you want it illuminated.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Yep. It's a fiber optic cable used to illuminate the wiper switch; it leeches light off of one of the PC168 instrument cluster bulbs with a special socket (see photo)... same way the ashtray illumination works if your truck is so equipped. They only used the fiber optic setup in 1973-74, then went to a switch with its own bulb in 1975-83. I think the US safety regs only require the wiper switch to be lit if it's out of direct reach with your hands on the steering wheel, so there's no illumination for the one that's integrated into the turn signal stalk from 1984-up.

@Raider L You'll probably have to get creative again to light up your wiper switch with the fiber ribbon since you don't have a stock instrument cluster... There's a few GM cars that used little fiber optic light boxes to remotely light up stuff like those exterior thermometers that were integrated into door mirrors, opera lights, keyholes and door handles... but it probably would be easier to install a 1975-up wiper switch if you want it illuminated.

Opera lights were 120v special lighting I think at least some of them. Illuminated entry is an interesting once. You think a door key slot from a 90 olds 88 would work in a square? Same key types lol.. my car had those and I read about them not long ago. I also have other lighting stuff but it’s all controlled by a module and uses the normal bulbs of the interior.

 

[Ellie Niner]

Opera lights were 120v special lighting I think at least some of them. Illuminated entry is an interesting once. You think a door key slot from a 90 olds 88 would work in a square? Same key types lol.. my car had those and I read about them not long ago. I also have other lighting stuff but it’s all controlled by a module and uses the normal bulbs of the interior.

Yep. Some cars used electroluminescent panels for opera lights, which had an inverter to step up the voltage... you can spot these ones by the color of light they emit; very similar to white LED's... and white LED's didn't hit the market until after opera lights were passé. Other models just used an incandescent bulb inside the lamp housing, like you'd imagine they would. But there were a few cars that had two little light boxes mounted inside the trunk, with a fiber optic cable running from there up to the C pillar and into the opera light housing. I'm not sure why GM did this, as I think the effect just looked like there was an incandescent bulb behind the lens. They used a 558 bulb, which looks like a 194 or 168, but has extra glass in the end of the bulb to focus the light and fire it toward the fiber cable. I snagged a picture of the bulb and the light boxes (with the fiber missing) online. I know the 1979-85 Cadillac Eldorado used this setup, and there are probably others.

I dunno on the lock assemblies. I haven't messed with door locks and the like enough to really remember what's what. Probably worth a shot.