it's my father's 76 dodge, he bought new. am keeping it to honor his memory. he loved it

Simon Rahbani said
thank you soooo much. i will do that. i just wish i didn't burn the gauges i have

Yes, better to be careful. Supplying 12 to 14 volts could overheat the resistance wire in gage.
Just added another tip my post. Measure resistance of the gage first. Earlier gages were 20 Ohms, '76 might be 13 ohms.