It's getting close to that time in my project. I've talked to one guy about restoring my gauges and compared that to the cost of buying new made in china gauges. It's a little more to rebuild but they stay all American if I do.

What are you guys doing?

Bill

 

I found a rebuilt speedo on eBay from a '79 with a zero'd odometer. But I had already sent my '80 speedo out for a quote to rebuild, re-face up to a more respectable 140 mph and re-zero the odometer. My '80 would have cost twice the price so I went the eBay route and found exactly what I wanted.

I replaced the circuit board on my tach and refreshed the orange paint. Good as new.

I ditched my clock in favor of an oil temp gauge. I found a center console, complete with gauges from an '82. I used the oil temp gauge and the metal adapter plate that fits the gauge into the original clock opening.

For my engine temp/fuel & volt gauges I just cleaned the faces and refreshed the orange paint. As with the tach they look brand new again.

 

I really don't know the specifics about the Chinese gauges. My knee jerk reaction is to get rebuild US gauges. That's what's I've done.

 

My original gauges are fine, but plan to go with auto meter for the theme of the car. Obviously you all original guys this would not work for.

 

The question is what do you want to do. Are your stockers working now?

 

Unless the gauges were left unprotected, problems usually do not reside with them. Problems with the gauges reading properly are most likely to be due to bad wiring, bad sensors/senders, or being gummed-up (in the case of the mechanical oil pressure gauge). So, it is best to check out the function of the gauge first, before you spend the money to replace them all.

If the oil psi gauge is gummed-up, remove any fittings/hose attached to it, sit it face down on a bench and put some lacquer thinner down into the fitting for the pressure line (shake anything out of it first). Let sit overnight, then shake out again and put some more in it. You can test this kind of gauge by blowing air pressure into it (compressor). If it has wire leads, that won't work, of course; test it just like the other 'electrical' gauges.

For electrical gauges, get a 1.5v battery (size doesn't matter). Touch the negative (-) end of the battery to one of the signal lead connectors. Get a short piece of wire or a little alligator clip jumper and connect it to the "tit" on the + end of the battery. Now, while looking at the gauge face, just touch (and release) the wire/jumper to the other electrical terminal. If the meter jumps and then returns to the same starting point when wire is removed, the gauge is likely to be just fine, if you get the proper sender unit and connect it properly. Gauges that are "bad", never move at all or get stuck somewhere in their travel when you test them.

I have never found a set of gauges that I think look better/more appropriate for installation in a C3...than the original gauges. Just my opinion....

 

corvette ~ keep gauges, and fix = retain value $

replace with any gauges ~ corvette value drops..

 

80Baby, what brand and type gauge you used instead and does it fit visually with the remaining stock gauges?

(I'm considering adding 4 gauges in the center but would like to keep the originals since they work fine so the new ones would have to have same vibe)

 

When we drug this car home there were dirt dauber nests and years of dust/paint chips in everything. Gauges were in an open box. Some of them were faded real bad. Talked to one guy and he said worst case $1000 and I might get some change or replacing added up to around $600. Dakota Digital has a set for about 1300 that I didn't like. They also make regular looking gauges, just not for old vettes. Leaning towards having my original ones restored just whining about paying for it.

Bill

 

As long as the guages are in good shape you can change the colour of the faces pretty inexpensively with something like:


http://www.whitegauges.net/categorie...1968%252d1977/

 

This is a great option. I ordered them for my '80 and they look great. If you take your time and follow the instructions, they will come out looking great. If you want to have them rebuilt or refaced, this guy comes highly recommended......

www.harrisonspeedometer.com