So, here is the gauge cluster...
So, here is the gauge cluster we took out of our non-running project truck. And, as we stated in the opening, it would have been nice to know whether the gauges actually worked or not before we restored this sucker, but hey, this kind of stuff is like therapy to us.
Here is our baby after the...
Here is our baby after the conversion and restoration. As you can see, this will be much nicer to look at while driving, and it will allow us to keep track of the R's via the tachometer and manage our mpg with the vacuum gauge.
Truck builders spend a lot of time cleaning and refining the exterior of their rides to impress the masses. Flames and graphics are applied to please the eye of anyone looking from the outside, but what about the driver inside? When you are in your truck cruising around, what do you look at the most? Most likely, it's your instrument cluster. When we talk about old trucks, these can really start to show their age, and no amount of wax will keep the needles from fading. However, when dealing with the '67-'72 C10 pickups, the cluster not only comes apart very easily, but there are even upgrades to be had. Traditionally, these trucks came with a few empty holes in their symmetrical layout that could house a factory tachometer and a vacuum gauge. Now, if you want to just restore what you already have, then you can get only the parts that are too far gone to bring back. If you want all the bells and whistles, you can get those, too, because as we all know, Chevrolet is the king of interchangeability. We wanted to freshen up an instrument cluster for one of our project trucks, so we got on the horn with Stan over at Early Classic Enterprises, provider of all things early Chevy truck, to get a new bezel assembly and all the parts to convert to a tach/vacuum dash. He told us that not only does he sell all the parts separately, but he also has complete instrument clusters available. We ordered up all the pieces it would take to do the conversion and set forth to restore the rest of the cluster ourselves. Looking back, we should have just bought the whole assembly, because we found out the hard way that one of our gauges didn't work. The extra money would have been worth the peace of mind.
1.First things first, we have...
1.First things first, we have to strip this thing down to bare bones, starting with the printed circuit board. Since this circuit carries the electricity to the gauges and the lights, these components hold it in place. The bulbs come out by twisting them counter clockwise, and it takes a 5/16 socket to get the nuts off the gauge studs
2.With all the bulbs and nuts...
2.With all the bulbs and nuts off, we gently removed the circuit. If you're restoring your O.G. cluster, then you will need to reuse this piece. But, if you are converting like we are, you can just set it aside.
3.Here is our cluster, once...
3.Here is our cluster, once we got it all apart. Besides the gauge studs, the whole assembly is held together with 1/4-inch screws.
4.Now let's go over the different...
4.Now let's go over the different parts we needed to use for the conversion, starting with the plastic lens. It's quite apparent why we would need a new one, because most of the numerical information is silk-screened on it, and what good is a tach with no numbers?
5.The cluster can is also...
5.The cluster can is also different, because it has the cut-out for the tach body to poke through.
6.Here is the tach gauge and...
6.Here is the tach gauge and the new printed circuit board. The tach doesn't get hooked to the circuit board, because it comes with its own wiring harness (not pictured), but the new circuit board is redesigned to go around the tach housing and allow the new harness to plug to the back.
7.This is a comparison shot...
7.This is a comparison shot of the new vacuum gauge panel and the stock one. See the square indent in the factory panel? If you are careful, it can be cut out to allow the gauge to mount, but the Early Classic conversion kit comes with a new one, so don't bother
8.These gauges and the speedo...
8.These gauges and the speedo are the gauges that are in every cluster, so we will focus our restoration on these.
9.This is one piece you should...
9.This is one piece you should buy. We have not seen a do-it-yourself plastic chrome paint that actually looks like chrome, so just pony up the 69 bucks for the new one. One thing you might notice is different is the accessory hole on the top. The '67-'68 trucks came with a manual choke knob on the left, so the wiper switch resides under the headlight switch on the right. We are not going to need the choke, so we updated to the '69-and-later version.