Hi, I have a 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton truck and I am working on the gauges. I want to keep the look of the originals but I am running 12 volt and the temp gauge wont reach the 350 v8 at any point to mount the sender. Oil gauge has to go too since it only reads 30 lbs for the old 216 of the original truck. I know they sell temp gauges with longer tubes but I am hoping to switch to electric gauge and/or get this done cheaply. Anyway I am wondering if anyone has had luck retrofiting newer gauges into this cluster and if so what type and year vehicle did they get them from. or if it was aftermarket stuff what was the brand and size I should be looking for. It looks like a 90 degree sweep on the gauges but what size aftermaket gauge would work best to adapt to fit in the original housing and have a original style face read the correct calibration. Any help is greatly appreciated!
I've heard of using the speedo and gas gauge out of the 70's chevy trucks works good, the other gauges could be mounted under the dash like for the temp, oil, alt.
I just did a set using the original bezels and the large Dolphin gauges. I can post a picture if you like. They appear much like the original gauges but also have the option of a programable speedometer. John http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/hooley/hooley-2005.html
Chevy Duty (and all the other AD vendors) sell updated gauges for about $50 each or $250 for a new cluster. By the time you buy replacement gauges and retrofit them, you'll probably spend just as much money getting it to look right. Or you could just install one of those $15 three gauge deals under the dash. I've got one in my truck until I can afford to do it right. Ed
As for the oil pressure gauge, if I remember correctly the GMC's of this area had pressurized oil systems therefore having a much higher gauge reading, just dont remember how high though, also years ago I mounted 72 chevy pickup gauges in a 53 chevy and recall it being pretty easy...and bacj=k to the GMC gauges I forgot to mention that they are easy replacement for the stock chevies..
I have seen a place somewhere that retrofits these guages for newer engines etc.... You might look in the back of Hemmings or one of the Classic Truck mags for more info.
Did a search and pulled this trhead up. Anybody else got any info on this? I've already got the speedo rebuilt and would like to use the other gauges that match it, but I would like to go with a volt gauge instead of amp, and would like to go with an elect. temp and oil gauge if possible. Anybody know of good donor gauges to get this done?
mid to late 80s camaro guages. I have used them to convert many older gauge clusters, they are tiny once removed from thier pod, senders are widely avaiable too. Cheap to buy both the cluster and the senders. trim the face down so that your og faces can be glued, screwed or crimped onto the camaro faces, paint needle to match if you like.
On my AD I converted to 12 volt system and ditched the amp gauge in the cluster and bought a cheap volt meter from FLAP and swaped out the face and it works and looks like it belongs.
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