I took out my gauge assembly from my 65 Skylark in hopes of fixing the gear selector needle only to find that there isn't one at all. Can someone tell me what it is and where I might find one? Here are a couple of pics ...
I agree with Robert. The needle comes up from your steering column to "peek" out that window. Did an owner before you do any work to the dash? If the cluster wasn't lifted up and out, it could be mashed down or broken off your steering column. You might also have a unique situation where your steering column was previously rebuilt and they accidently left the needle out, or the column was replaced at an earlier point with one that had no needle, such as out of a manual floor shift car.
Okay, that would make sense according to this picture. Note where the green arrow is, could that be where an assembly would be mounted? The red arrow is where the steering column rotates, so I assume it would work off of that area. However, I think based on your comments that the column may have been replaced. Opinions? ... I'd like to reinstall a working needle. Anyone with pictures of an installed unit would be appreciated, so I know exactly what to look for.
OK, That hole in the column is where your needle is supposed to rotate through. There should be another hole next to that one where the allen head set screw holds the needle to the mount on the column's inner shift tube. It is on the side that aint visible in your photo. You may need to drop the column out of the top mount and rotate the shift lever up or down to get a better look at it. If needle mount isn't there then I would suspect that column has been changed out. If the mount is there for it then you should be able to make a pointer out of a length of solid wire, like a piece of a coat hanger. I have a column up in my rafters that I think will show what I mean. I will pull down and get a photo of it...
If a picture is worth 1000 words, here is my 1000 words. Note: This is from a big car, but I bet they are the same. Windowed cover removed for clarity.
Thanks Joe! Your photo shows what mine is missing. I must have lost my pointer needle along the way somewhere. For a Skylark the bends aren't quite so severe but that gives a general idea of what goes in down there. :bglasses:
Hey thanks guys, that gives me hope. :TU: I guess I was hoping to find something like what's shown in this pic ... is that electronic?
No, it's not electronic. The arm sticking out of the side has a wire that hangs down and screws onto the part of the column that rotates
