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Chevy C10 Cluster Restore - Needles Nicely RenewedRestoring A Cluster With Help From Early Classic Enterprises From the February, 2009 issue of Custom Classic Trucks By Calin Head Photography by Calin Head
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Vintage truck builders invest enormous effort improving the exterior's appearance, but often ignore the interior. When you are in your truck cruising around, what do you look at the most? Most likely it's your instrument cluster. When we talk about old trucks, these can really start to show their age, and no amount of wax will keep the needles from fading. Dealing with early C10 pickups, '67-72, to be exact, the cluster comes apart very easily. There are even upgrades available. Traditionally, these trucks came with a few empty holes in their symmetrical layout that could house a factory tachometer and a vacuum gauge. If you want to restore what you already have, then you can get the parts that are too far gone to bring back. Alternatively, if you want all the bells and whistles, you can get those too, because as we all know, Chevrolet is the king of interchangeability. We wanted to freshen up a cluster for one of our project trucks. So we phoned Stan, the man with the plan, over at Early Classic Enterprises-provider of all things early Chevy truck-to get a new bezel assembly and all the parts to convert to a tach/vacuum dash. Not only does he sell the components separately, but he also has complete instrument clusters available. We ordered all the pieces it would take to do the conversion and set forth to restore the rest of the cluster ourselves. Looking back, we should have bought the whole assembly. We found out the hard way that one of our original gauges didn't work. Spending a little extra money at the beginning would have saved us time and some consternation in the long run. Still, we learned how to renew Chevy instruments-a valuable skill considering the hobby we enjoy.  Here's the cluster we took...  Here's the cluster we took out of our non-running project truck. As we stated in the opening, it would have been nice to know whether the gauges actually worked or not before we restored the instruments.  Here is our baby after the...  Here is our baby after the conversion and restoration. We'll finally be able to keep track of the rpm via the tachometer and manage our mpg with the vacuum gauge.  First things first. We had...  First things first. We had to strip this thing down to its bare bones, starting with the printed circuit board. Since this circuit carries electricity to the gauges and lights, these components hold it in place. The bulbs come out by twisting them counterclockwise. Use a 51/416 socket to get the nuts off the gauge studs.  With all the bulbs and nuts...  With all the bulbs and nuts off, we gently removed the circuit. If you're restoring your original cluster, you'll need to reuse this piece. Otherwise, set it aside as we did.  Here is our cluster once we...  Here is our cluster once we took it apart. Besides the gauge studs, the whole assembly is held together with 11/44-inch screws.  Let's go over the different...  Let's go over the different parts we need for the conversion, starting with the plastic lens. It's quite apparent why we need a new one, because most of the numerical information is silk-screened on it, and what good is a tach with no numbers?  The cluster can is also different...  The cluster can is also different because it has to poke through the tach body's cutout.  Here is the tach gauge and...  Here is the tach gauge and the new printed circuit board. The tach isn't hooked to the circuit board because it comes with its own wiring harness (not pictured). The new circuit board is redesigned to go around the tach housing and allow the new harness to plug to the back.  This is a comparison shot...  This is a comparison shot of the new vacuum gauge panel and the stock one. Do you see the square indent in the factory panel? If you're careful, it can be cut out to allow the gauge to mount. Since the Early Classic conversion kit comes with a new one, you don't have to do this step.  The gauges above and the speedometer...  The gauges above and the speedometer are the instruments in every cluster. Our restoration focuses on these two items.  Here is one component you...  Here is one component you should buy. We have not seen do-it-yourself plastic chrome paint that actually looks like chrome. So pony up the $69 for the new one. One thing different you might notice is the accessory hole on the top. GM '67 and '68 trucks came with a manual choke knob on the left. The wiper switch resides under the headlight switch on the right. We're not going to need the choke, so we updated to the '69-and-later model version.  There are a few ways to paint...  There are a few ways to paint the needles. One way is to cut a slit in some paper and slide it behind the needle.  Then all you have to do is...  Then all you have to do is spray some flat fluorescent orange paint and remember to apply light, even coats. Working with these delicate needles can be challenging; they bend easily. Even notebook paper can bend them if you're not careful.  Usually the instrument itself...  Usually the instrument itself is in really good shape and only requires a little wipe down, but be gentle.  We prefer using a brush to...  We prefer using a brush to apply the paint because it gives us a little bit more control. Spray the paint directly into the cap.  Then dip the brush and go...  Then dip the brush and go.  If you load the brush with...  If you load the brush with the right amount of paint, once you touch it to the needle it will produce a little blob you can just drag down. From experience, using a brush works better than applying thin layers of spray paint.  One other place that needs...  One other place that needs a little attention is the temp gauge's hot area.  If you look really close,...  If you look really close, you can see the area you need to paint. Simply mask it off and paint away.  We could simply paint the...  We could simply paint the needle on the speedometer and call it a day, but then we'd always be looking at dirty odometer numbers.  The only way to get to all...  The only way to get to all the numbers on the odometer is to take off the needle and face.  Once we had the face off,...  Once we had the face off, it was easy to wipe down the numbers. Be careful handling the instrument. We dropped ours; it basically exploded. Luckily, nothing broke, it just came apart. So we reassembled the odometer.  This component separates the...  This component separates the gauges from the plastic face and hides all the ugly stuff on the bottom of the gauge needles. Again, all you need is a good wipe down, but if yours is bad, scuff it and spray it with semi gloss black.  Now it's time to get the little...  Now it's time to get the little scratches out of the plastic lens. Start with a pre-clean in the sink. Doing so will prevent you from scratching it again while you are trying to polish the lens.  With a soft cloth, we used...  With a soft cloth, we used Mother's Plastic Polish and began polishing. As you can see, once we pulled the tape, there was a big difference after polishing the lens.  Most of the scratches came...  Most of the scratches came out and all the haze was gone. This will enable all your other hard work to shine through.  Now for the reassembly. Set...  Now for the reassembly. Set the new housing on a soft surface to prevent scratching the chrome finish. Drop the lens in first.  The lens is followed by the...  The lens is followed by the black separator piece.  The gauges come next. Make...  The gauges come next. Make sure to install the turn-signal tubes. If you leave these off, every time you turn on the signal the whole dash will blink. You'd have a pretty goofy, blinking dash cluster.  With the turn-signal tubes...  With the turn-signal tubes in place,...  ...lay the new housing on,...  ...lay the new housing on, followed by all the instruments.  After the gauges are in place,...  After the gauges are in place, install the new circuit board.  Tighten all the installation...  Tighten all the installation screws to finish the job, making sure you don't overtighten the areas that hold down the circuit board and tear them. Now, put the renewed cluster in your pickup and enjoy the view from inside the cab.  If you don't want that fully...  If you don't want that fully restored look for your truck, Early Classic Enterprises also offers a bolt-in cluster that's filled with Auto Meter ultra light gauges. Either way, you'll appreciate your custom classic truck's interior much more.
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The Thinker??? - Haul Monitor
Ryan talks about the friendly badgering that goes on around the shop and overcoming obstacles that seemly pop up out of nowhere during a project....
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