NORTH COUNTRY SPECIALTIES®
Step by step of the building, conversion and installing of a Dakota Digital Dash in a 73-79 Ford Truck
Well I decided to bite the Bullet and buy the Dakota Digital Dash for my dually project
My reasons to buy it are as follows.
1. The Dash looks cool.
2. I converted the dually to EFI and used 1994 OEM ford tanks and senders thus a fuel reading problem with the 1979 Gauges'.
3. This dash has a Check engine feature for EFI systems.
4. This dash just looks Cool.
Below is a write up on setting up this Dash using a 1979 Truck Gauge cluster
Tools needed
1. Typical Hand tools
2. Cutting blade (hacksaw Blade)
3. Tin snips
4. RTV silicone
Lots of Pictures give it time to load
How it showed up at my door
Typical damage from shipping hope it is okay
What is in the Box?
Lots of packing this is good
Even has bubble wrap around the components very well packed good job Dakota Digital
This is what was in the bubble wrap
Inside the Static bag was my Gauges
Contents of the Box
Owners manual, instructions, catalog and advertisements
everything needed for conversion except tools
My adapter plug for the OEM harness plug so I don't have to cut my harness
I have a few bezels laying around so I decided to use a base black with no
Chrome for this conversion yours may vary
Templates
showing the minimum material to remove
I found it just easier to cut long straight lines I took out all but about a
1/8" from the trim border
Dakota
Digital Lens fit really well
View from the back side not as pretty but it was cut freehand
Not so bad from a distance
Bezel is all cut and ready to receive the new lens
Trial fit to verify clearance of the gauges don't want damage from interference.
Verifying
all lens fit good
I like this I get at least a 3rd more clearance on the back side for more room
to fit
RTV Black silicone to secure the lens in the bezel I prefer the ultra
Black seems to work better.
laying a thin bead on the speedometer hole this one has no lip to set the height
of the new lens special attention is needed
The
lens even has protective plastic on the back side remember to remove before
final install
I laid a larger bead of silicone on the back side of the speedometer hole to
help support it
be careful not to get any silicone where it doesn't belong it would really suck
to try and clean without scratching
The
two side lens are easier to do as they have a lip to rest on
laying a small bead in the lip
This side is ready to receive it's new lens
All lens is now glued
in note the protective
film on the front side is still on
I used a couple of large sockets to hold the lens down just to be safe
All clean up and protective
film removed
Outer lens reinstalled
Bench tested to verify the Dash is in working order before installing in truck
Test fit to the Dash showed a problem with the Dakotas gauge Can and the dash
this tab on the dash
requires trimming a pair of tin snips will do the job pretty clean
you may need to trim both tabs on the dash for desired fit.
Now the gauges and dash fit together
Trial fit of dash and dash bezel plus I found a good spot for my two Buttons
under the brake controller
yours may vary for location
The controller fits real nice directly behind the new cluster
Pictures behind the cluster as it is installed showing ample clearance.
Mounting bracket template securing it to Original mounting holes for the dash
This is how it will sit behind the cluster (Note this truck has A/C and Cruise
without one or both options
you will have more choices to mount the controller
Controller on the mounting bracket template.
As seated in the truck view
Buttons are easy to reach
Control module mounting plate
As it looks mounted in the dash
Few pictures showing the clearance between the gauge cluster and control module
