Classic Industries rally gauge bezel

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raydurr

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1970 340 Swinger. I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Classic Industries gauge bezel. Has anyone used these and how easy were they to use? I am having major problems getting mine to fit correctly around the radio wheels and the bottom edge of dash. My car has AC which makes access to underside impossible without dropping the vents. The dash on the car is no fun to work on. Are there any modifications that would make this easier?
 
I got the one from BE/A which I believe is the same however I didn't have A/C. Which part is hanging up in it? Do you have the sheet metal part that goes on the top of the plastic bezel as that lowers it slightly. Does the thumb wheels fit in the bezel prior to install or does the openings need to be shaved?
 
340wedge said:
I got the one from BE/A which I believe is the same however I didn't have A/C. Which part is hanging up in it? Do you have the sheet metal part that goes on the top of the plastic bezel as that lowers it slightly. Does the thumb wheels fit in the bezel prior to install or does the openings need to be shaved?
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It appears that the bottom of the gauge housing is hitting the lower opening of the dash. The radio wheel holes center up well but the new dash tends to bulge out about a 1/4" in the area of the wiper switch and LH side of the radio.
 
raydurr said:
It appears that the bottom of the gauge housing is hitting the lower opening of the dash. The radio wheel holes center up well but the new dash tends to bulge out about a 1/4" in the area of the wiper switch and LH side of the radio.
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Pictures would help, Silly question but did you fasten the wiper switch through the plastic bezel and the gauge section behind it. There looks like there are two screws in that area but short of the radio sitting too far forward I cannot picture what would hang it up.
 
340wedge said:
Pictures would help, Silly question but did you fasten the wiper switch through the plastic bezel and the gauge section behind it. There looks like there are two screws in that area but short of the radio sitting too far forward I cannot picture what would hang it up.
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I currently have it all apart , but I will try to photograph later. I have removed headlamp switch, wiper switch and climate control. The problem still persist. There are alignment issues with the new bezel and the original gauge housing. Some screw holes line up perfectly , some don't . There is also excessive plastic "flash" under where the metal plate screws to the top the bezel. A big hump at the top ,right above the wiper switch. Also the gauge housing does not "seal" across the top side where it meets the gauge bezel. This new piece looks really nice but actual in the field fitment is not working out well. I have had to work on all the climate control holes for the five chrome buttons to work at all. Looks like I still have a ways to go.
 
I took the a/c vent off when I did mine. That blocks a lot of access.

I have some LED under cabinet lights that have adhesive on the back that I bought at Lowes off the clearance rack. I strung them up in there so I could see, then pulled them back out when I got it in. Really helps if you can see back in there.

Picture of the lights under the dash and hanging over antenna.

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Yeah, previous owner(s) had installed aftermarket radio.

I refinished my dash rather than buying a new one, as I stayed with the aftermarket radio replacement. I also added factory air at the same time, so there is no a/c heater box in car in picture. The a/c takes up a lot more space under the dash, making everything harder to work on. A/C seems to be pretty uncommon in these cars, so there is not a lot of info out there.

When I was doing all this earlier in the year, I read a lot of posts on the subject of dash replacement. There was a thread where a guy talked about having to file out the holes for the a/c buttons to get them to fit on the replacement dash bezels.
 
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