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- The 1973 - 1987 Chevrolet & GMC Squarebody Pickups Message Board (https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

- - 73-87 tach question (https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=315163)

73-87 tach question

all of the tabs on my tach dash are broke off. can i take a non tach set up and take out the gauges and replace them with the tach setup? pics of the non tach set up and the tach set up would be nice so i can see if there are any diffrences

Re: 73-87 tach question

The actual cluster housings are different, so the short answer in "no you can't".

Re: 73-87 tach question

could i mod the non tach cluster?

Re: 73-87 tach question

Yo! My '76 Camaro had the same problem and I was able to fix it permanently with some sheet metal strips wrapped over the old tab positions and some polyesther body fill to fix the sheetmetal in place on the instrument housing. When I completed the repairs, I also converted my old instrument cluster from "idiot lights" to guages and swapped the "giant" fuel guage to a tach. I'd be happy to direct you to my cardomain.com thread and some pics if you're interested. Todd.

Re: 73-87 tach question

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1969stepside (Post 2980530)

could i mod the non tach cluster?

Yes you can The part that the tach mounts to can be unscrewed from the main body leaving a big gapping hole in the back of the housing.

1. disassemble the tach dash and unscrew the tach mount from the main body. Then dismount the tach from the tach mount itself.
2. Set the main body onto a piece of heavy construction paper (manila folders work great) and trace out the tach mount opening. You will see three(3) mounting points in the back of the cluster housing the corospond with the tach mount.
3. Cut out the pattern from the paper and use it to outline the aera you need to cut out by taping it to the INSIDE OF THE CLUSTER HOUSING making sure you line it up properly then using a hot knife (heating up an x-acto knife blade will work) Then all you need to do is swap over the four small gauges and the printed circuit on the back. You can use your original speedometer with it as well. I did something similar to this just over a year ago myself but it was alot more extensive.

Re: 73-87 tach question

Yo! Found it and dug it out of "storage"! Here's the link I was referring to:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/639261/3
Todd.