The Scrambler/Overlander Project:
Dash, Wiring and Electronics

When I brought the Scrambler home, most of the instruments and the dash lights weren't working, so I was faced with checking all the wiring and replacing probably most of the components anyway, plus my original dash panel had been hacked by some prior owner, so I decided to replace the whole thing with a new panel made from stainless steel. I found someone selling custom dash panels on eBay, and asked him if he could make one to my design. He said he could for a small extra charge, so I sent him the following design:

The finished dash came back exactly as I specified. The only problems I had was that the 5 2 1/16" gauges above the radio interfered with the defroster ductwork, and the location for the "Check Engine" light intefered with the steering column bracket. It wasn't too hard to cut a hole in the steering column bracket to match the location of the light hole, and I fabricated a new defroster manifold and ductwork from some supplies from the plumbing store, so the clearance problem was solved also.

I wanted to add a switch for the TJ fog lights to the dash, and I also wanted to have the "Check Engine" light for the fuel injection look stock, so I built custom dash lights by creating new designs on my computer, getting a film transparency made of them, and dissecting some stock dash lights to replace the old labels with my new transparencies and some colored film. I made up a bunch of extra designs for future use; all I used from the sheet below was the "Check Engine" and "Fog Lights" designs.

Below is a photo of the dash being assembled and wired on my workbench.

And here's a photo of the "Check Engine" light installed in the dash. It is centered just above the steering column.

The dash is filled with 5 Autometer gauges - fuel, oil pressure, voltage, water temp and a clock. Since I wasn't going to be using the stock gauges in the speedometer cluster, I opened up the speedometer and blanked out the bottom half of the face of the cluster with black styrene. That modification can be seen in the photo below.

Also visible in the photo above are LED's above and to the right of the temp, oil pressure and fuel gauges. These are "idiot lights", driven by an Autometer "Tri-Alert" gauge warning system.

Also, while in the process of removing and replacing the dash, I took the opportunity to do the "Blazer heater blower upgrade", which is well worth the time and small investment (about $20). Air output of the heating system is about doubled with this more powerful motor. I highly recommend that upgrade.