467-Ratman

I know my oil pressure gauge is not working, it just sits at 35 all of the time, engine on or off. We used a mechanical gauge when we tested the motor out of the car and then left it on for a few more miles. We had very good pressure, then I hooked up my tube to the old gauge and nothing. Is it much of a project to remove the old gauge and center console? Thanks for the info. PS , really loving this BB, its amazing!!!!!!!

BSiegPaint

At one point after buying my '71, a member of the club I was in did some interior work for me. When I picked up the car, he told me he had cleaned out the oil gauge from the back - he said that years of just sitting had created an oil sludge buildup in the gauge. It worked better after he did that. I'm not sure what he used, but I would guess most cleaners would work on the mechanical parts. Watch that you don't damage the face! And as far as removing the center dash section, it's not too hard, but kind of a pain. You need to take off your passenger side panel (easy) then remove all the screws from the center section, remove the wiper controls and air conditioning vents if you have them, then remove the two nuts underneath the bottom edge that hold the center section to the front of the console - not too easy. At this point I take out the radio - remove the hex nuts from the stalks and push in all the buttons to snake it out of it's home. Then slowly pull the center section forward, removing all the lights and undoing all the plugs. The oil gauge has a live oil line, so as soon as you can reach it with a wrench, undo it - and keep a little rag handy for the spill. You can mark the wires and bulbs with tape or tags so you know where to install them again, but they aren't too hard to figure out if you don't.

Installation is the opposite of removal... you can do it without much trouble. Just make your hands get really small first. :yesnod:

467-Ratman

Thanks for the help, looks like I know what to do this weekend!

70 LS1

I finally pulled my dash apart and got mine working. It hasn't worked for the four years I had the car. All I did was spray some WD-40 on the bourdon tube and the gears. It works great now.

Chuck Gongloff

I saw a trick at a gauge resto shop a while back. After cleaning the oil pressure gauge, the guy hooked a length of rubber hose to the fitting on the back of the gauge, then used a nozzle from his air compressor (had its own pressure gauge on it) to test to see how it worked, and it's accuracy. Chuck

GTR1999

One thing I found on my 69 a while back was the the foam cushions behind the gauge came loose and jammed the gear. For about a year the gauge didn't work but as soon as I reglued the foam it has worked good.
Gary