im thinking about converting to electric, know any good buys?
I don't think you'll improve things with an electric one. A good mechanical one is hard to beat plus it registers when the engine is off.
However, my experience is the original electric Chevy gauges are very good to excellent and the aftermarket gauges sold since about 1990 are all made in China or Mexico with the possible exception of the Speedhut gauges and Autometer. Neither are cheap and I'm not sure how you'd adapt one to the AD gauge cluster if that is important to you. I've seen where guys have converted all 4 gauges from the early S10 pickups and Blazers to the AD gauge cluster. They're small enough to fit without a lot of work and USA is all over them..even the IC chips on the flex circuit boards are carefully marked USA.
Back to the mechanical gauge consideration...If you have (or can find) a good and complete original gauge, you can replace the tube and liquid yourself. Ether is the liquid and you'll need dry ice to chill things. Also you'll need some low temp but very strong solder. Harris Stay Brite is the best and you can get a small amount with flux on Amazon. A couple of years ago I even saw where somebody was doing this on YouTube. In the 70s there was a place in Dallas that would repair these for $20 each, and there may still be people out there restoring them. As you'll learn if you re-do yours, the charge is mostly labor. Good luck!
