SI board batteries replaced with new spring terminals

[RotCowboy]

I thought I would post my latest fix.  My original SI batteries are from 1991 so I figure they are overdue to fail.  I have read too many stories on forums about these leaking ad taking out the entire motherboard so I had the idea to wire up some half AA spring terminals to take the batteries out of the cluster entirely for safety and so nobody ever has to open up this thing again.  I already fixed my frozen odometer gears last year.   I replaced all lights (most with LEDs) and wired up battery holders. 

I (gently and slowly) pried the old batteries away from their tabs and soldered onto the battery tabs.  There is  just enough room on the left side of the gauge cluster to run the wires if you drill a small hole in the plastic to route them out.  My soldering is terrible but I was just paranoid about melting something on there that shouldn't be melted.  After I took this last photo I electrical taped them up some to the back so they wouldn't flop around.

Hopefully this idea helps someone.  If I had it all to do over I might use a smaller gauge wire and used a longer run so they could be swapped out from under the dash. 

[colin86325]

Nice tweak.  I always mean to do that myself; i guess I will some day.
You might also want to replace the electrolytic capacitors. They typically have a 20-30yr lifespan.  At least 2 of the 3 that I see in your pics are polar, so make sure you orient + and - in the correct way.