Rally gauge cluster repair

Discussion in 'Interior City' started by Mopar, Jan 19, 2019.

  1. Mopar

    Mopar Well-Known Member

    I this repairable? Anyone know where to get the terminals or what they are called?

    cluster rear.JPG
     
  2. 12lives

    12lives Control the controllable, let the rest go

    I thought someone said they had a trick for that...Smartin? Jason Cook?
     
  3. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    It's probably repairable, you can't buy the pins but you can salvage them off of other junk or cheap gauges. Sometimes you can solder the pins back on, sometimes you can put tiny screws inside the post from the back. Sometimes you can't repair them well. The Olds guys seem to have a better handle on this problem.
     
  4. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

  5. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Dont worry. Totally repairable. And the beauty of the repair is that it will be better than it was before. The materials are all at your local Ace hardware. I'll get the stuff together after dinner tonight and tell you what you need.
     
  6. Mopar

    Mopar Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the help guys.
     
  7. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    So the way I fix this is with small machine screws. I'll warn you now, its a little tedious. Ever fix a watch? :D

    The thread I used was a 1-72. Pick up some corresponding nuts and flat washers too. Your going to need a 1-72 tap. Not sure if Ace carries that small of a tap. I got that off Ebay. You'll also need some brass tubing with a .094 diameter. The original terminal is like .092. Bring your digital micrometer to the store. It'll come in handy.

    So install the screws, nuts and washers into the circuit board. I forget how long the screws were that I used but Im sure you can figure that part out. For the brass, you want to tap threads into it. Its easier to do this before you cut the brass to size. This is the tedious part. I put the brass in my vice and clamp it ever so lightly! Once you tap the threads into the brass, the easiest way to cut the tubing is to roll it against a sharp Xacto knife (aka the blade of exact zero) Lego Movie reference......

    Once the tubing is cut to size, thread the brass onto the machine screw. You now have a new gauge terminal that is way stronger than what the factory did. The connector will fit right on afterwards

    To give you an idea what Im talking about, here are a couple pictures. Hopefully this all makes sense.

    KIMG2106[1].JPG
    KIMG2102[1].JPG

    KIMG2105[1].JPG

    KIMG2108[1].JPG
     
  8. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    Great job Jason!
     
  9. Mopar

    Mopar Well-Known Member

    Thanks Jason. I have everything on order and we'll see how I make out.
     
  10. Ryans-GSX

    Ryans-GSX Have fun, life is short.

    Very cool Jason. Thanks for sharing this.
     
  11. Mart

    Mart Gold level member

    Did you think of just using a brass .092 dia. machine screw that is long enough, corresponding nuts/washers if needed, and eliminate all the dinking around with the brass tubing and tapping?
     
  12. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    I actually did. But I thought at the time the brass sleeve would make better contact against the harness connector than just the edges of the threads contacting the terminal.
     
  13. Mart

    Mart Gold level member

    Way too much time on your hands Jason.:D:D
     
  14. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Your not the first person to tell me that Mart!
     
  15. HotRodRivi

    HotRodRivi Tomahawks sighted overseas

    the brass sleeve is for the perfectionist. If the fit is tight on the screw sleeve not necessary. Thats slick work Jason. Ive done similar fixes on my power window switch and connectors.
     
  16. Mopar

    Mopar Well-Known Member

    Update:
    Got it done finally. Here's how it looks.

    IMG_0632.JPG
    IMG_0631.JPG

    Thanks again Jason.
     
    Dano, BYoung and magic marouke like this.
  17. 12lives

    12lives Control the controllable, let the rest go

    nice work!
     
  18. George D.

    George D. Platinum Level Contributor

    I want to bring this back to the top... Maybe even a sticky? I performed this repair today.. I looked at Jason's method, then found another post which listed these other options on classic olds:

    https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/electrical-5/gauge-pin-repair-131105/

    https://classicoldsmobile.com/forum...instrument-panel-printed-circuit-board-77800/

    I used copper #2 screws, which were slightly too long. Then I used a small, metric screw which fit perfect. All of my pins are now tight. I just have to test them..
     
    Dano likes this.

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