Hello everyone, My 67 has a great looking insturment cluster. Paint is crisp on the faces of insturments. However, the bezels are very dusty. i suspect i will take them apart to clean the dust from the bezels. I will probably install new lightbulbs? What else should I do while I have the bezels off? Any advice, shared experiences appreciated. thank you in advance...
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Re: Mid year instrument cluster advice
Do what you need to do, but taking your instrument cluster out to dust the bezels is going to be a multi-day affair. If you do this, take out the drivers seat (more room to work), read the articles on how to drop the steering wheel and shaft, and then when you are ready to remove the instrument cluster, tag and mark all of the wires and lights. This is not a demanding job, just tedious and lengthy. As you stated, if you are removing the cluster you might as well replace the bulbs and if any of your lenses are scratched or cloudy, you can polish those up.
In addition, if I had the instrument cluster out anyhow, I would clean and lube up the windshield wiper rods and mechanism. Better now than later. -
Re: Mid year instrument cluster advice
Yes, it will be a multi-day affair but not too tedious. When I do this job, I leave the dr. seat in (it's a nice place to sit) but I always remove the steering column. There is almost no way to prevent scratches on the column and you have to bend it down and hold it down to provide clearance. Take it out. Remove the tach cable at the dist., to allow rearward movement of the cluster to get at the tach and speedo cable "nuts" on the cluster's backside. Take the oil pressure line off first-thing. Accessability worstens as the cluster moves rearward. The lenses have foam anti-rattle pads (1" noodles)that will be in rough shape. You may want to round some up in advance. The wires are pretty self evident, but make a map. The brake and light warning bulbs are especially easy to mix-up. Those bulbs are flashing types and will be hard to find. Enjoy!Comment
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Re: Mid year instrument cluster advice
That would be a good time to have your speedometer calibrated. I had a speedo gear go out and the repair shop put one in that registered miles twice as fast, so I got to do the job twice.Comment
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Re: Mid year instrument cluster advice
Agree with below (good time to have speedo calibrated). It's also a good time to have the tach lubed/checked. Both services can be done for you by a qualified speedo shop or you can check the yellow pages of the nearest major metro area for a United Delco/AC Delco dealership. PS, don't forget when you replace bulbs that the two warning lamps (brake/headlamp) are special 'blinker' bulbs (see your owners manual for GE ID #).
This is one we see 'oops' in all the time during Operations Check. You can get the bulbs through NAPA by ID # and they typically sell only by 10-pack (a few $) if not in stock. Guess I could have 'made a living' by selling 'em one at a time at NCRS meets for the 'typical' price of catalog houses (almost everything is $ here/there for 10-20 cent items)....Comment
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Re: Mid year instrument cluster advice
Not to be too picky but the parking light bulb flashes on 63-6 and does not on 67. The headlight bulb flashes on all midyears. Order more than one, they break easily.
Good luck!
CarlComment
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