Full Gauge Cluster

[Praxiss454]

Hmm, tried to post this already but it didn't "stick". The reason I ask is, my ash tray is centered above my radio, and to the left someone installed 3 small gauges. I didn't know this was ever done originally, so that's kinda cool. I also don't know why I need the aftermarket water temp, maybe the one in my cluster is broken.

I was thinking it'd be cool to at least get retro style gauges for these 3 spots. maybe one small clock, and then replacements for the oil pressure and ammeter.

[bigblockv6]

Who ever did the gauge arrangement was definitely a hack and if you could get 3 matching gauges of the same manufacturer that would definitely clean it up. Same goes for the Tach, that supposed to be mounted from the back of the cluster not front so the cluster panel was also hacked up. I think if you could get the factory Tach as well as the Bat-O-Meter for the original instrument cluster followed by the other 3 gauges that would make a nice combination specially having an ammeter as well as a Voltmeter would be some combination and that's not are farfetched idea either because GMC actually had such a combination on their later H & J series 7500-9500 trucks.

[Praxiss454]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

Who ever did the gauge arrangement was definitely a hack and if you could get 3 matching gauges of the same manufacturer that would definitely clean it up. Same goes for the Tach, that supposed to be mounted from the back of the cluster not front so the cluster panel was also hacked up. I think if you could get the factory Tach as well as the Bat-O-Meter for the original instrument cluster followed by the other 3 gauges that would make a nice combination specially having an ammeter as well as a Voltmeter would be some combination and that's not are farfetched idea either because GMC actually had such a combination on their later H & J series 7500-9500 trucks.

Hack for sure. Would love to get the original gauges for the cluster but the price would have to be right (e.g. I'd have to get lucky on a junkyard score or something). I haven't pulled the tach to see if the panel is all hacked up. It's also kind of hard to tell if the 3 mounted on the side there are equally spaced and in line with each other because the gauges have different size/shape/color rims. I agree with you that 3 of the same manufacturer would clean it up.

[bigblockv6]

Even if you can't find the exact Tach you can go with a Sun RC 5000 rpm Tach the numerals are not quite the same but the overall appearance is very close, here's a pic of the Sun Tach I purposely stuck in the Cluster for comparison.

[bigblockv6]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

Even if you can't find the exact Tach you can go with a Sun RC 5000 rpm Tach the numerals are not quite the same but the overall appearance is very close, here's a pic of the Sun Tach I purposely stuck in the Cluster for comparison.

Then again the numerals on the factory GMC/Sun RC 5A Tach actually match the 55-59 trucks more so because GMC just carried that Tach over to the 60-66 models. There was another Tach used by GMC from 55-59 that was a full circle Tach, extremely rare and that would have been the better Tach to carry over to the 60-66 model trucks.

[Ed Snyder]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

There was another Tach used by GMC from 55-59 that was a full circle Tach, extremely rare and that would have been the better Tach to carry over to the 60-66 model trucks.

This may not be the tach you're referring to, Pete. But it's the one the dealer installed in the '65 one ton Suburban that my Dad bought new and that I have now. You can see that the bezel doesn't match the one on the clock.

[bigblockv6]

Originally Posted by Ed Snyder

This may not be the tach you're referring to, Pete. But it's the one the dealer installed in the '65 one ton Suburban that my Dad bought new and that I have now. You can see that the bezel doesn't match the one on the clock.

Ed, that's definitely an aftermarket Tach that's not even a GM approved accessory. The Tach I was talking about actually matched the speedometer of the 55-59 GMC trucks. Too bad GMC didn't have an electric Tach that match the speedometer. The optional gauges really didn't match up with the factory gauges other than the clock if installed correctly without the chrome bezel exposed.

[Praxiss454]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

Who ever did the gauge arrangement was definitely a hack and if you could get 3 matching gauges of the same manufacturer that would definitely clean it up. Same goes for the Tach, that supposed to be mounted from the back of the cluster not front so the cluster panel was also hacked up. I think if you could get the factory Tach as well as the Bat-O-Meter for the original instrument cluster followed by the other 3 gauges that would make a nice combination specially having an ammeter as well as a Voltmeter would be some combination and that's not are farfetched idea either because GMC actually had such a combination on their later H & J series 7500-9500 trucks.

So do you think the oil pressure gauge from a big GMC truck (w/ the split cluster) would be a direct swap for my existing aftermarket oil pressure gauge?

[bigblockv6]

The big truck oil pressure gauge has no housing or bezel, it's just an open faced gauge like your factory fuel gauge and water temp gauge. GMC did offer an optional oil pressure gauge that could be mount either in one of the empty cluster pods or above the ashtray paired up with the voltmeter, I've got both factory oil pressure gauges, I'll dig this stuff up during this weekend and post some pics.

[bigblockv6]

Ok, I've dug up some of the optional gauges that were installed just left of the ashtray on 64-66 trucks which consist of the voltmeter and oil pressure gauges. Also I'm including a pic of oil pressure gauge used on large series trucks that's integral with the cluster, I've also tried to fit it into the housing of the optional dash mounted oil pressure gauge and it could be made to work, best thing about it the numerals match the cluster gauges