Gauge Cluster Refresh or What I learned by stuff being broken...

When I got my car the seller told me "Oh, the gas gauge doesn't work, here's a couple bucks for the fuel sender."

Getting the steering column dropped was a bit of a chore. I ended up breaking one of the plastic column isolators. 48 year old plastic isn't very pliable. Added some parts to the shopping cart...

After finally getting the cluster out, testing confirmed that the temp AND fuel gauge were both inoperative. I searched the forums and found my answer! First things first, I crossed my fingers that my gauges hadn't taken an extended dose of 12v power. I picked up an RTE voltage regulator, and tested by grounding out the signal post... AHA! The needles move! I thought I was done, and ready to button things up.

The next day, I got a set of resistors to test the ranges of the gauges, and see if they were still reasonably accurate... and the needles didn't budge??? Multi-meter said I had voltage from the regulator, so it wasn't that...

If you haven't had your cluster out, you'll find that the posts for the gauges use little speed nuts which provides the connection to the circuit board. These. Things. Suck. The surface area that actually touches the circuit board is a sliver of metal. A quick trip to the hardware store and I sourced appropriate nuts and washers. Snugging them down, I hooked up some resistors and BINGO!

I also did a swap of illumination bulbs to green LEDs. (SiriusLED 194 bulbs on Amazon) I tested with a variable voltage power supply and found that they dimmed well down to 8 volts... Awesome! I ended up replacing most of the Instrument Bulb Sockets because of broken clips.

Helpful hint, if you get them from NAPA (Echlin Part Number ECH LS6501,) MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE CONTENTS OF THE BOXES. 3 out of 5 of my first batch were the wrong size (1/2" instead of 3/8")

I kept the Oil Pressure light as an incandescent bulb (since it's not an "on/off" indicator,) as well as the high beam indicator.

One final test of every bulb and pin, and we're looking good to go. Tomorrow I'm replacing the headlight switch (the dimmer is a bit crunchy...) and the gauge cluster is going back in. I'll get some pics of the completed install with the LEDs. The blue filter on the cluster goes well with the Green color.

Here's hoping that the fuel tank sender is reasonably in range, and the temp sensor is working too. The temp gauge reads a bit low at the calibrated values, but it's better than reading "0." One step at a time, I guess! If I keep up this pace, I'll have all my immediate projects done before spring hits.