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After at least 28 years of use a
63-67 Corvette instrument cluster has lost some of its luster. Gauge lenses are scratched or cracked,
odometers quit working, indicator needles lose their color and even speedometer
and tachometer mechanisms quit. How can
you give the cluster that new look again?
All you need to do is make a call to Zip Products, Inc., 8067 Fast Lane, Mechanicsville, VA 23111, (800) 962-9632. They have almost all of the gauges,
mechanisms, lenses, needles and even paint that you will need to refurbish your
instrument cluster. This rebuild will
take a couple of weekends to accomplish but the results are well worth the
effort.
Before
you begin, there are a few bits of advice I would like to pass along. The instrument cluster rebuild will take a
little more than your average do-it-yourself skills. If you have accomplished some of the more
difficult rebuilds of your Corvette, then you will not have any trouble doing
this one. If your extent of hands-on
restoration is oil changes and minor tune-ups, I would suggest sending the
complete instrument cluster to Zips where they can totally rebuild the unit for
you. Another piece of advice is to make
sure all of your gauges work properly before you start the rebuild. You do not want to totally restore the
instrument cluster and then re-install it only to find out one of the gauges
does not work. Zips can also help you
here because they have most of the gauges available or can have your gauge rebuilt.
Now,
let’s begin to give our project 64’s instrument cluster that facelift it needs.
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01: Here is our 64’s instrument cluster removed from the
dash. Before you start, remember to
disconnect the battery and follow your shop manual’s instructions for
removal. You do have a shop manual, don’t
you? |
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02: It is a good idea to make your
self a diagram showing where everything goes.
You would be surprised how easy it is to forget!
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03: Start by removing the speedometer and tach
assemblies. They are held in place by
1/4” hex screws and mounting tabs. |
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04: To remove the gauge assemblies, remove the mounting
screws and then straighten the retaining tabs.
Be very careful with these tabs.
They will not take alot of abuse.
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05:
Next remove the cluster
illuminating bulb retaining plate.
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06: The lens retaining plate should be removed now. Also, carefully remove the glass lenses and
the small rubber lens anti-squeak pads.
You will have to reuse these pads so be very careful with them. If they are deteriorated, we will show you
how to make new ones. |
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07: The lighter assembly and wiper and ignition switches
should now be removed. To release the
ignition lock cylinder and key, insert a straightened paper clip into the small
hole in the cylinder cover. Turn the key
to the lock position. Depress the paper
clip and continue to turn the lock cylinder counter clockwise. Pressing down on the paper clip will spring a
small release pin in the switch which will allow you to turn the cylinder
beyond the lock position and pull it out of the switch. After the lock cylinder is removed, the
switch can then be removed from the cluster. |
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08: All of the instrument cluster attaching pieces should
now be removed. Use paint stripper to
remove all of the old black and silver paint. |
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09: After the housing is thoroughly stripped, take some
chrome polish and polish all of the chrome bezels. The 1964 bezels have a small chrome accent
ring and the rest of the bezel was painted silver. To accomplish this, take some 1/8” masking
tape and tape off the accent. Then use a
scuff pad to rough up the area of each ring to be painted. Here you can also see that we taped off the
chrome accent around the outside of the bezel as well as the indicators above
each switch. |
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10:
Now paint the entire cluster with
the silver bezel paint. Make sure you get
down into each bezel and switch area if yours had silver paint there.
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11: This is one of the most time consuming steps to
do. You will have to make shields to
protect the silver painted bezels and switch areas. These shields cannot be taped to the housing
so they have to fit and stay in place as you refinish the black. Remember to remove the tape over the switch
indicators. These will be painted over
in semi-gloss black. Use a semi-gloss
black to repaint the cluster face. Be
sure to get down between each shield to fully cover the instrument face. Remember, 3 or 4 light coats are much better
than one heavy coat with runs. |
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12: After the paint is dry, carefully remove all of the
masking tape. Use a straight edge razor
blade across the tops of the letters of each switch indicator to remove the
paint and expose the chrome lettering.
Again, take your time. Patience
is important here. |
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13:
Disassemble the gauges from their
retainers. When disassembling the
speedometer and tach make sure you have all of the rubber insulators. These are very important. There should also be one on the inside of the
housing between the mechanism and the housing.
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14: Beadblast the backs of all of the housings, cluster
retainers, screws, lens retainer and illuminating light retainer. You do this to remove years of discoloration,
rust and scale. |
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15: Use Seymours
Stainless Steel Paint or Detail Gray.
Refinish all of the housings except the lens retainer plate. This should be painted low gloss or flat
black. |
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16: To disassemble the tach, grasp the pointer between
your thumb and forefinger. Turn the
pointer counterclockwise while gently lifting up. The pointer should come off of the shaft. If the pointer and shaft turn freely, the
speed cup is broken. Grasp the shaft with
pliers and remove by the same procedure.
To release the mechanism, remove the two 1/4” screws that hold the
mechanism to the face. |
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17: Use a small brush to clean the gauges. A chip brush works very well. At present, there are no gauge faces
available for the 63 and 64s so you will have to reuse the ones that you
have. If they are dull, a mild polish
will sometimes work. Try an
inconspicuous spot before doing the entire gauge face. Also, do not rub across the numbers. Polish will sometimes remove them. If you have a 65 to 67, gauge faces are
available. |
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18: Install the gauge face on the new mechanism. Look at the gauge and mechanism from the
front. The large 1/4” round hole should
be in the lower right corner. Make sure
that you have adequate clearance (from a few thousandths to a 1/64”) between
the copper colored cup on the back of the face and the small thrust washer on
the shaft. Push in on the tach cable
receiver and take up any slack in the assembly.
Try to move the pointer shaft in and out to check clearance. If the proper clearance does not exist, you
will have to move the copper cup. This
is done with a small punch. By moving
the cup insures that it is not distorted.
Re-install the pointer by placing on the shaft at 12 o’clock. Push down and turn the pointer
counterclockwise to zero. Increase
pressure while turning to lock the pointer onto the shaft. |
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19: The speedometer needle and mechanism is removed the
same as the tachometer. With the
mechanism removed, spin the odometer gear.
The odometer should spin freely.
If it doesn’t, the problem is usually with the trip odometer. |
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20: Remove the two 1/4” screws that hold the trip odometer
in place and lift out the mechanism. If
the odometer now spins freely, the trouble is with the trip odometer. If not, the problem is with the whole
assembly and it will all have to be replaced. |
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21: The problem we had was with the whole unit so we
installed a new odometer, trip odometer, and an odometer worm gear. It is a good idea to use white lithium grease
to lube all of the places where the odometer shafts ride. Also be sure to line up the retaining clips
on the odometers when assembling them into the housing. Connect the trip odometer cable to the trip
odometer and check its operation. The
speedometer reassembles from here on the same as the tachometer so refer back
to that procedure. You can now
re-install the speedometer and tach into the housing. Remember to install the rubber insulators and
the brake release, headlamp and high beam indicator lamp tubes. These cardboard tubes direct the light to the
lenses on the instrument cluster face. |
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22: If your gauges all work correctly and they are going
to be re-used, you will have to clean them.
This is done the same as the speed and tach only you will not remove the needles. The gauges must stay assembled so you will
have to carefully clean around the needles.
After they are clean, use a small paint brush and a paper towel and repaint
the needles. You would be amazed at how
nice bright needles will change the look of a gauge. Use one stroke to cover the needles. You do not want too much paint on the
needle. Additional coats make the needle
too heavy and may give inaccurate readings. |
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23: Re-install the gauge face rubber insulators. If they are missing, use small strips of
black 3M Strip Putty. The Strip Putty
will act as an insulator between the glass lenses and the housing. |
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24: Now carefully install the new glass gauge lenses and
the lens retainer plate. Remember, do
not touch the inside of the lenses because if you do, and you do not re-clean
them, you will have fingerprints on the inside of the gauge which you will not
be able to clean when it is assembled. |
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25: Re-install the housings onto the cluster. Remember to re-crimp all of the retaining
tabs. Also remember to re-install all of
the ground wire spades. |
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26: All of the switches can now be re-installed. The ignition switch lock cylinder is put into
place and turned clockwise to lock it into place. |
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27: Here is the 64 instrument cluster with a complete
facelift and ready to install. |
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INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FACE LIFT:
RESTORING LUSTER TO YOUR MID-YEAR CORVETTE CLUSTER
SOURCE:
Zip Products, Inc.
8067 Fast Lane
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
(800) 962-9632
PARTS LIST:
The Author would like to thank
Richard Gaudio of Greg Donahue Collector Car Restorations, Inc. for his
assistance with this article.
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