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With everything else that is being
restored on the Corvette, it only seemed right to do the instrument
cluster as well. In order to remove the cluster, you have to drop
or remove the steering column. That led to the overhaul of that
component. You can see that one HERE. The removal of the
cluster is not bad if you replace the five retaining screws with 1/4-20
bolts about 6 inches long. Then you can slide the cluster back
(while feeding the tach and speedometer cables through the firewall)
and disconnect everything with some room to see what you are
doing. You do need to disconnect the line to the oil pressure
gauge before you get it too far back but other than that, the long
bolts make it a pretty easy job.
The entire cluster was removed and I contemplated doing the restoration myself but as you can see from the pictures below, there was a lot of "age" on the unit. I did a search on the Corvette Forum and found that Bill Harrison at William Harrison Speedometer in Jupiter, FL was very highly recommended. I contacted Bill and it didn't take long to decide he was the one to do the job. In the "before" photos below, you can see several gauges with "spider webs" of rust under the paint. In addition, although some of the big block cars came with an 80 PSI oil pressure gauge, mine was a 60 and the new motor should run about 70-75 PSI oil pressure so we needed the higher pressure gauge. Also, years ago, I had disconnected the trip odometer thinking it would save the gears driving the regular odometer. Bill said he had never seen one go bad so I decided to have him reconnect that.
Here's the information Bill sent me about the work he did... "Steve,
The cluster looks MUCH better than it did when it left here. All the gauges look essentially new now and the oil pressure gauge is recalibrated to read 80 PSI. The new black paint looks like new. I had Bill set the odometer to "0" so I can start all over with the new running gear in the car. The cluster went back in with little effort and other than having one lamp in the wrong socket, (I tested it before I slid it all the way back in) it seems to work great. We'll know for sure pretty soon when we crank the car up and go for the first drive! The center picture in the bottom row is the cluster lit at night. They never were TOO bright but this looks good. I replaced all the lamps before putting the cluster back in. It's NOT a job you want to do once the cluster is installed.
After getting the car running and while testing on
jack stands, I
noticed the infamous trip odometer was not working! I called Bill
to see if perhaps he had decided to leave it disconnected and the
answer was "NO, it worked when I was testing it!" That got me to
thinking there might be a problem with the reset cable so I backed out
the nut that holds it to the cluster and sure enough, the odometer
works! After some careful measurements, it turned out the center
square portion of the cable was 11/16 long which was long enough to
push the adjuster in without pushing on the knob. The little
brass collar is supposed to do the pushing, not the end of the
cable. I cut about 1/4 inch off the square portion and it works
perfectly now. I wonder if that's why I had problems with the
trip odometer years ago....
The entire cluster was removed and I contemplated doing the restoration myself but as you can see from the pictures below, there was a lot of "age" on the unit. I did a search on the Corvette Forum and found that Bill Harrison at William Harrison Speedometer in Jupiter, FL was very highly recommended. I contacted Bill and it didn't take long to decide he was the one to do the job. In the "before" photos below, you can see several gauges with "spider webs" of rust under the paint. In addition, although some of the big block cars came with an 80 PSI oil pressure gauge, mine was a 60 and the new motor should run about 70-75 PSI oil pressure so we needed the higher pressure gauge. Also, years ago, I had disconnected the trip odometer thinking it would save the gears driving the regular odometer. Bill said he had never seen one go bad so I decided to have him reconnect that.
BEFORE
Here's the information Bill sent me about the work he did... "Steve,
I wanted you
to see these. A lot of guys don't do too much to the interiors,
as no one sees them, but I wanted you to know how anal I am about
trying to do the right thing. I'm not perfect or the best, but I
do give it my best effort. The small gauges were rusting right
through the paint. I media blasted them down to bare metal to get
out the rust. Then something that I think I am alone in doing, a
good self etching primer to keep them from re-rusting. Then the
black paint. These are pics of the steps. I tape off the
gauges so no overspray gets on the green. No one would know as no
one sees it, but I would so I do it.
As you can see I also blasted, etch primed and painted the lens retainer, black in front and two tone green in back to get rid of all the dead and flaking paint. Same with the inside of the housing. Came out very nicely. I hope you can see the attention to detail in that picture of the speedo and tach, down to the foam light filter on the trip odometer bezel. You should also be able to see the new lens retainer cushions. The old ones get pretty stiff after this many years. I thought I had gotten pictures of the finished gauges and cluster before I boxed it up, but apparently I did not. I did not want to un-box it again at that point. That's not a biggie though, as you'll see it upon opening. I'm sure you'll be pleased.
Thanks again, Bill"
Bill's "During Restoration" PicturesAs you can see I also blasted, etch primed and painted the lens retainer, black in front and two tone green in back to get rid of all the dead and flaking paint. Same with the inside of the housing. Came out very nicely. I hope you can see the attention to detail in that picture of the speedo and tach, down to the foam light filter on the trip odometer bezel. You should also be able to see the new lens retainer cushions. The old ones get pretty stiff after this many years. I thought I had gotten pictures of the finished gauges and cluster before I boxed it up, but apparently I did not. I did not want to un-box it again at that point. That's not a biggie though, as you'll see it upon opening. I'm sure you'll be pleased.
Thanks again, Bill"
And here's the finished product
The cluster looks MUCH better than it did when it left here. All the gauges look essentially new now and the oil pressure gauge is recalibrated to read 80 PSI. The new black paint looks like new. I had Bill set the odometer to "0" so I can start all over with the new running gear in the car. The cluster went back in with little effort and other than having one lamp in the wrong socket, (I tested it before I slid it all the way back in) it seems to work great. We'll know for sure pretty soon when we crank the car up and go for the first drive! The center picture in the bottom row is the cluster lit at night. They never were TOO bright but this looks good. I replaced all the lamps before putting the cluster back in. It's NOT a job you want to do once the cluster is installed.
After getting the car running and while testing on
jack stands, I
noticed the infamous trip odometer was not working! I called Bill
to see if perhaps he had decided to leave it disconnected and the
answer was "NO, it worked when I was testing it!" That got me to
thinking there might be a problem with the reset cable so I backed out
the nut that holds it to the cluster and sure enough, the odometer
works! After some careful measurements, it turned out the center
square portion of the cable was 11/16 long which was long enough to
push the adjuster in without pushing on the knob. The little
brass collar is supposed to do the pushing, not the end of the
cable. I cut about 1/4 inch off the square portion and it works
perfectly now. I wonder if that's why I had problems with the
trip odometer years ago....