Gas Gauge Mistake

[michaelperazzo]

Ok so my turn signals stopped flashing, I bought a replacement flasher. Searched online on its location in the car and saw a video with a guy holding the Gas / temp gauge pod in hand and showing the flasher mounted on the back of it. So I thought instead of trying to reach way up behind the dash, I would pull the gauge Pod out and get to the flasher easier. I thought I remembered doing this on my 63 bird years ago and it being not too hard to remove.

I removed the set screw and pried and pulled the chrome pod until it finally popped out. Unfortunately the black gauge face came out also and the gauges stayed. So the gauge needles were badly bent and sticking straight out! Someone had lost the clips for the face and used what looked like bath tub caulk to glue the back to the 3 pads it sits on, and it somehow came out with the chrome pod.

I removed the screws to get to the flasher and it wasn't on the back like in the video. So very disappointed at this point. I used velcro tape to install the gauge face and bent the needles back as much as I could and reinstalled the chrome pod.

The temp gauge is working all though the needle touches the glass. The gas gauge now reads full all of the time. So its either bad now or disconnected somehow I think.

I need to take it apart again. I need a gas gauge!

Sorry for the long story, any one take these apart and replace the gauge in these cars? What should I look for when disassembling it and removing the whole thing from the dash?


New / used gauge is $450.00!!

Thanks!

[Cliff Rankin]

My question is , why 450 Michael? What year and where are you ? Seems to me one of the sponsor / vendors or guys that participate on this form could help with a more “cost effective “ solution.
My thoughts
Cliff

[bbogue]

If I needed a gauge my first contact would be John Draxler at the Thunderbird Ranch. He has acres of parts cars. As well as several other parts, I got a reconditioned odometer from him. He or Jim Wulf can probably offer advice about removal and installation.

Best of luck.

Bill

[michaelperazzo]

Thanks for the replies, the $450 came from an email quote I got from one of the Catalog Parts venders. The other venders were out of stock. $450 would probably get me the whole gauge Pod I imagine. Haven't had time to diassemble and verify its the gauge itself or a bad connection. Any tips on disassembly? IIRC the manual doesn't cover it. Thanks again.

[michaelperazzo]

I am in Northern California, San Jose, and the car is a '62 Thanks!