For some time I thought my gauges weren't
very bright.
When talking to fellow owners, the common problem I heard was that the bulbs
had 20+ years of dirt on them and they just needed cleaning to come back to
normal. Well, that was partially true, but in my case I went a bit farther
to get what I wanted. There's lots of detail in this part of the car and
I've included a ton of photos to help make sense of it all.
Here's an overview of the beast you're about to see:
|
 |
To get to your dash gauges, you must first
take the black cardboard access panel off. After that, get down by your
pedals and shine a flash light up near the steering column. You will see
three obstacles in your way besides a bunch of wires: the speedometer cable
and two aluminum thumb screws.
- Take hold of the speedometer cable's screw down and
loosen it completely to free the cable from the gauges.
- Loosen both thumb screws, making sure not to lose the
two washers underneath each screw.
- That being completed, sit in the driver seat and pull
the gauge pod forward.
- Disconnect carefully the cables that are part of the
wiring harness. There should be a total of four: 1) at the tachometer, 3)
at the Gas/Temp section - one large, one small, and a three pronged cable.
Move the pod out of the way and your dash should now look
like this:
|
 |
| NEXT: Lay the gauge pod down on a
clean surface. You will notice 8 screws around the perimeter of the pod that
hold each of the three sections together. Working from left to right,
carefully remove them. Note - they are layered on top of each other. |
 |
| NEXT, The Tachometer: there are two
bulb holders (2 o'clock and 8 o'clock). It's ok to remove the harness that
comes from the tack and plugs into the Fuel/Temp gauge setup before taking
the 4 screws off. |
 |
| NEXT: Lay the assembly on it's side
and review the bulbs - are they working or not? You can carefully plug the
harness back together later in the car without the pod to check the status
of all the bulbs if necessary. Using a can of compressed air, make sure and
blow all the dust, rust and cob webs out of the assembly and set it to the
side of your work area. |
 |
| NEXT: This view shows the small 3 watt
bulbs which are the same throughout the gauge pod. There are only bulbs on
the tach and fuel/temp gauge. These things are plugged into the
sockets somewhat like the cheap tiny Christmas tree bulbs. I suggest you
take them to an electronic store and order replacements if needed. You can
see in this photo the dust particles that were built up inside the pod. |
 |
| NEXT: These bulbs come out easy as
their assemblies are pushed into the tach. |
 |
| NEXT: The Speedometer should now come
out. Remove the two screws to the right of the assembly. Note this view
shows a close-up of the two studs which hold the entire assembly to the
car's dash structure. |
 |
| NEXT: Once it's removed, dust and
clean as needed. I've provided views from several angles here for those
curious as to how it looks under the face of the speedometer itself. (BOTTOM
VIEW) |
 |
| This is the bottom view with a
close-up showing the trip odometer. |
 |
| This is the top view showing the
Odometer assembly. |
 |
| NEXT: Take the Gas/Temp gauge out.
Note in this photo you can see all 7 locations of individual 3 watt bulbs.
The center four are for the idiot lights themselves, the three outer or
perimeter lights are back lights for the gauges themselves. |
 |
| NEXT: This is a view of the Gas/Temp
gauge laying on it's back. Dust it off with compressed air as necessary. |
 |
| NEXT: On it's side, you can see the
three "perimeter" lights that back light the gauges. Make sure they all
work. 2 of the 3 were burned out in mine. |
 |
| NEXT: These grey sockets that hold the
bulbs are removed by making a 1/2 twist turn and pulling out. The bulbs come
out with a firm pull up. Replacing the bulbs is easy, just make sure that
the two pins at the base of the bulb are folded over and making contact with
the brass connectors in the base of the grey socket. |
 |
| NEXT: Ok everything's out. Time to
clean up the pod itself. I choose at this point to swap out my tacky walnut
panel 74 gauge pod with a older, all black 72-73 model pod (head to the
junkyard or your favorite used parts supplier if you choose). Mine was in
good shape but needed cleaning. I chose to soak the pod by using Ivory soap
and warm water. With a tooth brush get into all the cracks and holes that
dirt and grime is hiding in. Set aside to dry. Clean the glass components
separately, noting that two of the three glass covers are smaller than one.
The largest one belongs to the Speedometer, the other two are
interchangeable. Also, take out the red Brake Light cover and clean and wash
it by itself. On this 72/73 model, the three holes each have a black trim
ring that snaps out. If you're using this one, it's good to remove these and
set them aside once clean. |
 |
| NEXT: In order to make your bulbs the
most effective, you need to mask all this area off and paint the inside with
a white matte paint so that the light will bounce and reflect onto the faces
evenly. I used Krylon white hobby primer to do this. |
 |
| NEXT: You will also want to paint the
back of the three metal rings that hold the glass into the pod white also.
These are difficult to mask and paint. Take your time here as sloppy masking
will show up as white when you put it back together. The end result is that
white on these rings makes a huge difference in the overall display. On
mine, the paint was very dull and faded. Carefully wash the glass covers and
dry them. Put all the pieces back together in reverse order as described
previously. I choose to put a dab of silicone caulk on each glass cover on
the inside, touching the locking ring and the glass together to make a
vibration proof seal. |
 |
| NEXT: Back together - what a
difference this makes cosmetically to the overall presentation of the dash.
I choose to leave the red "BRAKE FAILURE" light on the dash here as it
creates a conversation piece to the uninitiated !! |
 |
| NEXT: Back in the car, connect
everything back as it was and test the back lights. The wiring harness takes
some pressure to put it back on and it won't fall off the back very easy.
When you're done you have something that makes your car not only look
better, but it's safer and easier to drive at night! |
 |
