In-dash tach install

[67Fleet]

Well, I started my project of installing an in-dash tach tonight. I had purchased a 3-3/8" Autometer Sport-Comp 3991 tach on ebay. The wife went out w/ the girls tonight so I started in on it.
1. First, I had to remove the entire gauge cluster. Since I have a '67, I had to remove the choke cable. I disconnected it at the carb and then undid the nut on the back of the bezel
2. I then had to disconnect the light switch & wiper switch assemblies. The wiper assembly was a little confusing until I found the little lock screw up under the knob to remove that.
3. Once the above was done, I disconnected the main wiring prong from the printed circuit. This just pulls out after you squeeze the 2 prongs together. Then disconnected the speedometer & oil pressure lines. That's it for everything behind the cluster. All that's left is to unscrew the bezel screws and the clip that wraps under the column and it just comes right out.
OK, that was the easy part! Time to start disassembling the cluster. There's a bunch of 1/4" hex head screws that hold the bezel onto the cluster. I removed them and separated the bezel from the cluster. There's basically 4 main pieces to the gauge cluster, the bezel, the glass (plastic), rear main piece (the printed circuit is on the back of this) and the front inner frame (black on one side & green on the inside) <----this is what guys are painting white to reflect the light better. I'll be doing this as well.
Here's pictures of everything separated (keep in mind I've already cut stuff so yours won't look like this at first:

OK, now the fun part begins. LET THE CUTTING BEGIN!! My tool of choice was a dremel with a cut-off wheel.
First I cut the inner metal bezal that sits right behind the plastic bezel. I used the cut-off wheel on the dremel and then rounded it out with a drum sanding disc.

After this is done, I realized that the prong for the lights on the back of the tach was going to stick out too far for the rear of the cluster so I had to notch that out as well for clearance:

I thought I'd be able to just get away with that, and not have to cut the printed circuit, but it wouldn't stretch much and I didn't want to damage it so I had to notch that as well. I used an exacto knife for this, being careful to stay away from the circuitry.

After this, I still need to cut the clear plastic panel in the tach area. I put it behind the bezel and scribed a line around with a Sharpie. Not sure exactly what I'm going to use to cut the plastic without damaging it. I have to think about that a little. It's pretty brittle at almost 40 years old.
I then fit everything together as sort of a mock-up to make sure it would all fit back together. Here's where I'm at now:

[69-350]

awesome! sounds like a sweet deal, now hurry up and give up some pictures!

[matthufham]

but we know all that, grrr, now i have to come back and see how you finsihed it. good luck

[wibilly]

i pulled my dash today too lets see the pics

[krue]

[72 longhorn BB]

Hey, you are on your way to having a nice FAQ submission. Very nicely done, so far.

[MrC1]

[67Fleet]

Told you guys I'd have pics up tonight! It's amazing at how dirty the backround letters & markings get on the gauges. Look at how nasty the volt meter & oil pressure gauges look. I need to clean those up with some mild soap and water. It's probably not a good idea to use any solvents or chemicals on something this old as it might just remove all the lettering. Before everything goes back together for the last time I need to clean up every piece thoroughly, and then paint the inside of the inner cluster pieces a nice bright white so the light reflects brighter. This has actually been a bit easier than I thought it would be going into the project. I could probably get it done tonight if I wanted to, but I think I'm going to save the rest for this weekend when I can give it 100% of my efforts. I'll update as I finish. Hope this helps some of you guys.

[matthufham]

i thought i was in that picture with your hand (the hair and shiny watch, quite similar to me) good work!

[Striker169]

that looks NICE!

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by matthufham

i thought i was in that picture with your hand (the hair and shiny watch, quite similar to me) good work!

Yeah, I'm a hairy mofo. Now I just need to have it transplanted back on top of my head....

[byrd]

looks great so far!!! keep up the good work, watch out on using water on the speedo and fuel gauges as you can easily wipe off the markings. I haven't ever had that problem with the temp,batt,oil gauges.The dremel and cut off wheeel will do the lens as well, done it before installing the tach the same way, with the exception I didn't have to cut anything and it was a autometer pro comp series. I just cut the inner tin and then the lens(watch out for flying hot plastic, and don't forget your ppe, gloves glasses) I ran the wiring out by drilling a 7/8" hole in the backing plate between where the oil pressure gauge plate and the printed circuit.
Popped a 1/2" plastic bushing for protecting the wires and it turned out really nice. I didn't need to cut the backing plate as I used the dreel tool to trim down the chrome ring in the hole you are mouting the gauge too on the inside of the bezel cut if off flush from behind the bezel, so that it was easier to install and move the rear mounting parts inside the dash to avoid the cutting of the backing plate and printed circuit issue Randy

[67Fleet]

Well, got some more work done on my gauge cluster yesterday and this evening. It's all ready to go back into the dashboard now. I painted the inside of the inner bezel gloss white, replaced all the bulbs with new ones, cleaned everything, cut the glass with a plastic dremel cutting bit, and mounted the tach. Here's some pics. (the pic with the tach mounted was only in the mock-up stage and wasn't tightened down so it's not centered up yet).

[70c10]

Nice job. Now paint the needles on your cluster to match the tach and it will look even better.

[Fred T]

I would think about outlining the gauges with aluminum paint that matches the tach. Or paint the silver of the tach black. Make it so the tach doesn't stand out.

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by Fred T

I would think about outlining the gauges with aluminum paint that matches the tach. Or paint the silver of the tach black. Make it so the tach doesn't stand out.

I scored a sweet all chrome gauge cluster yesterday from a guy I bought front and rear window cab trim from. I asked him if I could buy a couple of bulb holders for it for $5- and he said "give me $10 and you can take the whole thing!". SCOOOOOOOOOORE!!!! It's in really good shape except the printed circuit is fried, and the PO had stuck on a wood-grain overlay on it so I have to clean off some of the residue. It is pretty easy to get off. So now I have to take everything apart again and put it back together using the chrome one. It'll be worth it in the end though.

[67Fleet]

Well, here it is in all it's glory! I decided to use the new cluster's chrome bezel that I got. When I took it apart, what did I find? A vaccuum gauge! So it's all installed in the truck now. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with my wiper switch assembly. It won't reach to the other side and so I'm thinking about drilling a hole below the headlight switch with a hole saw. If anyone has any questions or suggestions, feel free to post away.

[Longhorn Man]

Now you need a chrome glove box door to ballance it all out.
Looks good.

[67Fleet]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Now you need a chrome glove box door to ballance it all out.
Looks good.

LOL! I've got a painted one on its way.