How does a 68 gauge bezel differ from a 69 and newer one? I need one I can cut up for mods.

Thanks,
Rex

 

I think the '68 and '69 bezels are the same except the '68 bezel had a smooth finish and the '69 and newer had a pebbled finish. The early '68 bezel did not have a wiper override window and the late '68 had a lower right hole open for the warning lens for the wiper override.. I am not an expert, I may be wrong. The '68 gurus will correct me if I am wrong.

 

Thanks Blair. What about the later ones...................say 70-76 etc? Same basic size and installation holes?

 

My first '68 that I owned (mix matched car) had a later bezel (not sure what year) but definitely was not a '68 bezel. Looked OK installed but was not "correct" for the year. I am pretty sure a '68-'76 bezel would work for you. Again fellow CF members - correct me if I am wrong.

 

If you take a look here

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/catal...bezel&x=33&y=6

There is a stock style '72-'76 shown on this page for a better comparision.
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/catal...bezel&x=33&y=6

I think you will find that other than the differences Blair mentioned the '68-'71 is the same. Anything newer looks like the holes are different, although I'm pretty sure they would fit in place.

 

I have 2 of them with my 68, 1 early, that came with my car, or should I say whats left of it, and a later one that a friend gave me. On the early one which I believe is original to the car, to the right of the temp guage, below the door ajar light, the window is blocked off. My later one isnt. Behind that blocked off window is a low fuel light, however no wiring for it in the harness. Perhaps on 69 that red lens and light is visible. Also the peice that slides in above the gauges to mount the windshield wiper switch has 1 hole in the center of it to attach the small heater duct that protudes through there to it. Not 2 holes. No guru here for sure, but thats how my 2 are, both smooth also.

 

There are 2 center gauge bezels for 1968. The early one is the one with the lower right side lens blocked off, not the later one, and it's a wiper override lamp, not a low fuel warning one.

The early 68 has a lens on the left that says "Seat Belt" on it, and a button under it marked "Push", which shuts off the seat belt lamp. On the right side there is a headlight warning lens in the top half of the space, and the bottom is blocked off.

The late 68 bezel is the same as the early one, but the right side bottom hole is open, and a wiper warning lens is installed in the hole.

The headlight and/or wiper warning lights, were designed to come on if the headlights or wiper door didn't open, so the driver knew to use the override switch. Both 68 bezels have a smooth finish to the face of them. The change in bezels took place somewhere around VIN 5,000.

69-71 bezels are the same as the late 68, but the face of them has a grain finish cast into it. On the 69-71's, the right side upper lamp remained a headlamp warning, but the lower lens became a "Door Ajar" warning lamp (instead of the wiper one).

72-76 bezels have the left side seat belt push button and lens replaced by a larger "Fasten Seat Belt" lens. Starting in 72, the push button wasn't needed, as the seat belt light was controlled by a timer.

 

Hi

On the right side there is a headlight warning lens in the top half of the space

Damn, I am on vacation and can't look at my early setup and simply don't remember what this light says, but it doesn't say headlamp.
I thought that early 68 had no headlight warning switch at all, so why should they have the warning light.

I think it says, door ajar ( but am not sure now )

Rgds. Günther

 

Hi,
If it matters to anyone.....
there is a very slight difference in the reproduction bezel now available when compared to original 70-71 bezels. The bezel is really a repro for for 72+ cars.
In the area of the seat belt warning light there are 2 small square openings, (1 for the lens and 1 for the button), that has a 'bar' between them. Since the 72 bezel doesn't have the button (or bar) a little piece is glued in place to represent the bar, and make the bezel usable for 70-72 also, but the bezel mfg didn't get it in quite the right place so you can see the bar has been added.
It's only a very slight difference.
(What did Lance P. say abut 'whack jobs"?)
Regards,
Alan

 

Do you know if any of the later sharks have this low fuel lens ? Thanks

 

Heres the lens from my October built car. Low fuel isnt visible when installed.

 

Yes, 77-82's used the "Low Fuel" lens.

There were 2 variations of the low fuel used in the 77-82's. One had Low fuel over "Gen" and was all red. The 80-82 lens had low fuel with a picture of a fuel pump on top, and a picture of a battery (without any wording), on the bottom. The 80-82 lens is 2 colors, yellow in the fuel area and red for the battery. The low fuel/gen/battery lens remained on the right side of the 77-82 bezels.

Just for reference, the left side lens on the 77-79's was marked "Fasten Belts" in the top half of the lens, and left blank in the bottom. The 80-82 left side lens says fasten belts on top, and "Check Engine" underneath it.

 

Thanks for your reply, looks like this one isnt a lens from a later shark then. I am stumped, I guess its just another whacky 68 part that got changed during that model year production.

 

That's interesting. That lens is different than the low fuel lenses used in 77-82. I can't say that I've ever seen that one.

The 68 bezel used through sometime in November had the lower section blocked off, so you would not see the words "Low Fuel", on that lens. The lens in later 68's has door ajar over the word "Wiper", or something similar. The 69-71's have door ajar over "Head Lamps", just like in Alan's picture.

I have 2 different friends that have 68's built the first week of September 67 (one is around VIN 00075, and the other is around VIN 00170). Both of these cars have the lower right side space blocked off.

I also have a friend who has a one owner 68. The car was bought new by his father, and he inherited it 3 years ago, when his father passed away. His car was built around March of 68, and has 2 lenses on the right. I will try to reach him later, and see if he can give me the exact wording on the right side lens.

68's were a "work in progress". It's possible that GM had planned to include a low fuel light and cancelled it before production started, or they may have pirated the lens from another GM car.

The seat belt light was not attached to any sensor, it came on automatically when the car was started. The dash push button turned it off. The headlight lamp was activated by the 2 plastic contact switches, mounted on the headlight assemblies. If a headlight didn't open, when the headlights were turned on, the switch would light the override lamp. The door ajar light is activated by the 2 switches mounted in the rear door jam, just outside of the strikers. I believe that the 68 wiper lamp was activated by the firewall mounted contact switch. I'm not aware of anything on the 68 fuel sending unit, that could activate a low fuel lamp.

As you know, 68's are "unique", so anything is possible when dealing with them.

 

My mid Nov 67 build 68 also just has the Door Ajar showing.

 

My April built '68 has two openings; door ajar and wiper override.

 

Late Dec is the same

 

Ditto for my Nov.24,1967 built '68 - s/n 5338

 

My August build 68 has the door ajar top right and wiper override below that, no low fuel of any kind on any lenses and yes I have had them out to see that nothing else is on them.