Jesse Martin
Title Don't need no stinkin title!
Well, because of the project car effect and how it never ends, the perfectly fine standard dash I had just screamed to be upgraded, so this post is on how I went about converting a standard dash to Rallye and what to watch out for.
First I did not use an original bezel but a Repop from Classic Industries, there are some defects with the new ones that require some trimming, if you do have an original bezel and time to send it out an or would suggest doing that as the originals just fit a little bit better.
These are some of the problems I had with the Repop bezels. The fitment between the bezel and the gauge housing was a bit off it seemed like the bezel was warped but some manhandling and it did work, the reinforcement plate holes were completely off and I had to oblong them out for it to attach, if you are running trip counter you will have to drill a hole for it, the tabs on the Hi-Beam and Brake light needs to be trimmed otherwise they sit in crooked, and the blinker lenses do not have the plastic tabs to melt to hold them In so they need to be glued.
So as the Rallye dash is much larger then the standard one you will, of course, need to do some trimming, you will also need to add a bit of metal so if you don't have a welder this really can't be done. If I were to do it again I suggest making a paper template off the Bezel to help with trimming, In some places, I cut too much and had to re-weld pieces back on. if you have a radio hole already in your dash frame you will need to fill it in as the radio position moves from standard to Rallye, there are also the holes for the wood grain pieces that have to be plugged.
This is after the metal work was finished, I painted it with some 2K epoxy primer. The main thing you will need to add is this pice along the top to allow for the bezel to be screwed to the dash frame. you can use the clips from the standard dash but just change the location. I also used the wire loom holders from the cutout piece by just drilling out the spot welds and reattaching them to the new tab. The two tabs on the bottom were placed after I got the top bracket finished.
I forgot to get a picture of it but I then used Body filler to smoothen out the dash frame. Since the original paint was a suede type of black I used this (https://amzn.to/2WJgKkp)
Rustoleum Textured black, then once dried knocked down the high spots with some Scotch bright pads.
Now for the gauges. The ones I got the numbering were yellowed, an easy way to re-whiten them is with white wall wash this is what I used (https://amzn.to/3192fpn).
after they were cleaned I noticed that the black looked faded as well, I used this tire shine spray (https://amzn.to/2wAW0wv) and let them sit outside, it made them much shiner.
The needes were faded as well so a new florescent needed paint was brushed on (Custom Fluorescent Orange Speedo & Gauge Needle Paint | eBay)
To test if the gauges worked, a variable potentiometer was used to simulate the signal and (https://amzn.to/2HXSanT) AA's were used to give the ~5v and signal.
Some of the pins were loose on the board so I soldered them to it to strengthen them
One of the other things you have to change is the wiring on the pigtail so it will work with the Rallye Dash. 72BluNblu on the site made this very helpful conversion chart
Since the blue and white wire on my 72 wiring harness is the main dash power as well as the brake light power wire I had to add a split to the wire so it could do both on the new board. This also had to be done with the orange light wire.
But because I did not have extra connectors I split a crimpable connector and used the metal from inside seeing as it is a perfect fit on the circuit board pins
My lenses were pretty hazy so Meguiar's PlastX cleaned them right up
(https://amzn.to/2MEFnv4)
To reattach, the lenses and centerpieces a soldering Iron and plastic from a model kit were used.
First I did not use an original bezel but a Repop from Classic Industries, there are some defects with the new ones that require some trimming, if you do have an original bezel and time to send it out an or would suggest doing that as the originals just fit a little bit better.
These are some of the problems I had with the Repop bezels. The fitment between the bezel and the gauge housing was a bit off it seemed like the bezel was warped but some manhandling and it did work, the reinforcement plate holes were completely off and I had to oblong them out for it to attach, if you are running trip counter you will have to drill a hole for it, the tabs on the Hi-Beam and Brake light needs to be trimmed otherwise they sit in crooked, and the blinker lenses do not have the plastic tabs to melt to hold them In so they need to be glued.
So as the Rallye dash is much larger then the standard one you will, of course, need to do some trimming, you will also need to add a bit of metal so if you don't have a welder this really can't be done. If I were to do it again I suggest making a paper template off the Bezel to help with trimming, In some places, I cut too much and had to re-weld pieces back on. if you have a radio hole already in your dash frame you will need to fill it in as the radio position moves from standard to Rallye, there are also the holes for the wood grain pieces that have to be plugged.
This is after the metal work was finished, I painted it with some 2K epoxy primer. The main thing you will need to add is this pice along the top to allow for the bezel to be screwed to the dash frame. you can use the clips from the standard dash but just change the location. I also used the wire loom holders from the cutout piece by just drilling out the spot welds and reattaching them to the new tab. The two tabs on the bottom were placed after I got the top bracket finished.
I forgot to get a picture of it but I then used Body filler to smoothen out the dash frame. Since the original paint was a suede type of black I used this (https://amzn.to/2WJgKkp)
Rustoleum Textured black, then once dried knocked down the high spots with some Scotch bright pads.
Now for the gauges. The ones I got the numbering were yellowed, an easy way to re-whiten them is with white wall wash this is what I used (https://amzn.to/3192fpn).
after they were cleaned I noticed that the black looked faded as well, I used this tire shine spray (https://amzn.to/2wAW0wv) and let them sit outside, it made them much shiner.
The needes were faded as well so a new florescent needed paint was brushed on (Custom Fluorescent Orange Speedo & Gauge Needle Paint | eBay)
To test if the gauges worked, a variable potentiometer was used to simulate the signal and (https://amzn.to/2HXSanT) AA's were used to give the ~5v and signal.
Some of the pins were loose on the board so I soldered them to it to strengthen them
One of the other things you have to change is the wiring on the pigtail so it will work with the Rallye Dash. 72BluNblu on the site made this very helpful conversion chart
Since the blue and white wire on my 72 wiring harness is the main dash power as well as the brake light power wire I had to add a split to the wire so it could do both on the new board. This also had to be done with the orange light wire.
But because I did not have extra connectors I split a crimpable connector and used the metal from inside seeing as it is a perfect fit on the circuit board pins
My lenses were pretty hazy so Meguiar's PlastX cleaned them right up
(https://amzn.to/2MEFnv4)
To reattach, the lenses and centerpieces a soldering Iron and plastic from a model kit were used.
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