81 bronco

[Dawson81]

  hey everyone I've been without a bull nose a while due to unforseen circumstances but now I happened to come across a 81 bronco with a 302 and a c6 and a 9 inch rear end and couldn't be happier it's mostly unmolested other than a busted window And a stripped tailgate but I'm wanting to jack it up like my old f150 but I'm having some electrical issues and carb ussues I'm going to order a new 2 barrel for it and the usual what nots my instrument cluster and radio aren't working other than the volt meter and it shows pegged out I haven't tore the dash down yet does anyone have any pointers ? In my past experience the more I've used the switches and what not the more stuff started to work

[ArdWrknTrk]

Welcome back Dawson!  
I'm sure we can help you with some of your electrical problems.

Id say if your ammeter is maxed out you have a short somewhere.
Check Documentation/Electrical/EVTM's/1981 EVTM  for the complete Ford electrical troubleshooting manual.
Note that the Bronco has specific wiring diagrams because of the different cab configuration and the power tailgate.

If missing power to a bunch of circuits I'd start with the fusible links under the hood and work my way through the ignition switch to the fuse panel.

[Dawson81]

I forgot about the ignition switch  I remember bricknoses and bull ones having problems I have noticed too that I am getting power to the pins on my harness going to my cluster as well I tried using some scotch Brite on my clusters connection point but I know amperage and voltage is a different ball game all I have is my power probe my multimeter is at work unforeseen

[ArdWrknTrk]

When you said "voltmeter", I assume ammeter because it wasn't until the Bricknose dash in '87 that these trucks had a voltmeter.

Unless you have installed something aftermarket???
If the Bronco really does have incredibly high voltage you should probably start by replacing the voltage regulator box below the starter relay.

[Dawson81]

I'm probably going to do the ignition , light switch and voltage regulator, high beam switch, and starter solenoid  I know it's just parts changing but I've been stranded one too many times in the past to not replace those I'm also installing an msd box and replacing plugs they put some Bosch ones in it in the past and I know ford's just looooove those Bosch plugs

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well the manual is right here:  https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1981-evtm.html

I wouldn't suggest swapping parts wholesale without determining what's wrong.
It's evidently already a mess, but without any baseline you quickly won't know what's good or bad.

Even a $6 Horrid Fate multimeter, in combination with the EVTM will help you determine what's going on.

I personally feel the tiny platinum or iridium electrodes of modern plugs don't work great in this older iron.
My go-to for years has been NGK V-Power copper core plugs.

[Dawson81]

I sure do appreciate it after running it some my charge gauge and temp gauge have started to act right too so I'm hopeful