The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Need '46 Truck Instrument Cluster Recommendation

My '46 has a 350/350, Jag rearend, discs, etc. So obviously, it is not stock but it IS stock-appearing as it has 15" steelies with beauty rings and small bowtie hupcaps. I am in the midst of having it rewired right now.

I have the original instrument cluster, it needs restoration: re-chromed bezel, glass, decals, etc, all cheap enough via Jim Carter. BUT.... a prior owner CUT OFF!! the small diameter tubes for the water temp and oil pressure lines which install in the original 6 cyl. block. Carter's will completely refurb mine with 60 psi oil pressure graphics and higher water temp limit for $410 plus another $100 core because mine is hacked.

The alternative is going to a billet panel ($150) and multiple modern gauges with vintage appearing graphics. I prefer the original look but I want reliability and accuracy and to keep my price low - lots of stuff left to do. I have seen gauge packages thru Chev's of the 40's ranging from the low $200's to almost $1000.

Your opinions, experiences and PICTURES would be very helpful. I need to make a decision and have whatever drop shipped to my electrician.

Here's a picture of my original resto. I think you could go a lot of different ways. Of course there is money involved. J Carter's sounds like a fair deal. Dolphin makes a nice unit in an antique white that looks "old". I think you could separate the bezel and retro fit probably any type gauge you desire. Try making a cardboard cutout with a few designs matching the gauges you want. If you make something you like transfer to a piece of aluminium. You could polish or paint. Good luck and have fun
Dan

Wow, yours looks great. I haven't disassembled my stock original cluster so I don't know how it works but from yours it looks like the decals are on the glass and I could have the background color any color I want? Is that correct? I'm not a huge fan of the original beige-ish color. I like your color, I might like a dark grey, possibly black...assuming that's possible.

Since it appears ech of the gauges can be unscrewed from the original housing, I wonder if I could just take apart a modern cluster from a junk yard and retro fit the individual gauges into the '46 housing? If I could it sure would save me a lot of money.

I can't seem to save the picture off the Chev's of the 40's website so I could post it for you to see, but they had a deal that was too good for me to pass up.

Today I bought a set of six gauges: 3-3/8" Speedometer and Tach, plus 2-1/8" gauges for fuel, voltmeter, water temp and oil pressure. Kit includes all the senders, speedo is mechanical. All for $170. I also bought their Alumadash billet dash insert and the tiny 5/32" LED's in green for directionals and blue for high beams.

These were closeouts; not because anything is wrong with them but they're not going to carry the brand anymore. THey are TPI Tech brand and I did a web search that indicates most have had good things to say about their quality but their tech support kinda sucks. Oh well. PRobably saved $400 over another brand.
I debated long and hard whether to buy these or to spend $510 (including core charge) for refurbishing my stock cluster. I'd still prefer the original, but I've got other priorities for money right now.

If you want a vintage look for less use Willys CJ2A Jeep gauges. They look good however they are not lighted. They will fit into the 5 gauge Billet Panel. The speedometer runs about $55 bucks and the not one of the other gauges is over $25. Here are several links. Im not sure what the fitting size is on the back of the Speedo for the cable. I haven't had time to work on it due to weather. Also, some of the gauges do come lighted depending on Jeep year. M38, M38A1m and M151 gauges are lighted, however most are 24v and I dont know if a simple bulb change will make them 12v.

http://store.midwestjeepwillys.com/instruments.html

http://www.kaiserwillys.com/category/willys_gauges