Any tricks or catches when it comes to transplanting a GT

gauge cluster into a 164? I just pulled a GT cluster from

a 72 164 in a salvage yard and hope to use it to replace the

standard one that's there right now. Is the wiring there

already for the tachometer? (lucky me -- even the milage is

about the same between them, though the GT cluster has only

five digits so it might have x00,000 more or less miles than

my car has).

Thanks!

chris

Get the oil sender and any needed fittings. It's sure to be as rare (=$$$) as the cluster, even though it's probably VDO (=$$$).

Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

Unfortunately, the cluster only has an idiot light not oil pressure.

Is it possible that the sender has an output for an oil pressure as well

as the idiot light? Would I still need it if it only has hookups for

the idiot light?

As for temperature sender and gas sender -- a friend once used guages

from a fiat on his 122; the temperature worked fine (as did the tach)

but he had problems with the speedo. He got another speedo out of a later

145 (and set it on his dashboard with double sided tape, running the

cable through the transmission hole) and now everything "works". He

got another temperature sender out of another car (I forget which) but

his temp gauge reads about 180 most of the time, and when it doesn't

it makes sense that it doesn't.

So, what I was thinking was that the gauges seem to be mostly compatible

except in specific cases (speedo / tach with different cylinders, etc).

Anyhow, I'll go to the yard and pick up the rest of the stuff. The

yard doesn't charge much for this sort of thing. Heck, I might also get

the head since this one is off of an automatic with fuel injection so

hopefully it has fewer miles and bigger valves.

Thanks again,

chris

Chris --

This is a GT cluster, but doesn't have an oil pressure gauge? That's MUCH different than the 240! Sorry I misled you.

The sender used in the 240 application is a "two-in-one." That is, it has two connections terminals on one (large) sender. One is for the gauge, the other is for the idiot light. The connection for the gauge is a pressure-sensitive resistor, and the connection for the light is a pressure-sensitive switch (closed on low pressure).

Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

The stock 69-72 cluster has a speedo bar that works like a thermometer,

gas and temp gauges, and brake/oil/signal/high beam lights.

The GT cluster fits into the same hole, has 4 round gauges: tachometer,

gas, temp, and speed (the tachometer and speedo are larger than the others);

plus idiot lights for brake/oil/overdrive/signal/high beam.

I'd like to find a set of gauges for oil pressure and temperature, but

if I find them I'd put them on the secondary cluster that goes in front

of the fuse box in the center console. Then, I guess I'd need the

different sender.

Do I need the sender for the gas gauge? These are *definitly* vdo gauges.

chris

Chris --

"...a speedo bar that works like a thermometer..."

Yeah, a clever gizmo. It's really a long skinny drum (sideways) with a "barber pole" spiral around it, and you view the drum along its length through a slit.

"...find a set of gauges for oil pressure and temperature..."

I don't see why you couldn't adapt the optional gauges used in the 240 to this application. They're made by VDO, and as long as you have the proper senders, they should work fine. The GT water temp gauge will work with your existing sender. But if you find an iol temp gauge, be sure to also get its sender.

"Do I need the sender for the gas gauge?"

Yes — but the one you need is the one you have.

Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

The 240 dash (from what I've seen in salvage yards) is much better

thought out that the early 140 dash -- lots of places to put random

gauges such that they look normal and standard. The 164 I took the

gauge cluster out of had a console like this one but

without the gauges (it just had a clock and a vent). The gauge cluster

looks like but it had a

standard 68-72 steering wheel from a 140 (not 164). Probably I'll try to

find the gauges that I want from an earlier turbo 240 and the senders from

an old italian or english sports car (so I don't have to mess with changing

from metric to standard threads) since most of them have oil pressure and

often temperature. The only problem then is getting them to look right

in the secondary gauge cluster. Heck, if I ever get an overdrive transmission

for this car maybe I should put an OD pressure gauge in as well!

Thanks for all the tips!

chris

You'll only have trouble with the tach because it's designed for a 4cyl so it'll run at 1.5x higher than the true reading.

There might be some electrical genuius out there who knows a simple trick to create a solutions but the only solutions I can think of are to ring some gauge repairers and ask if they could redo the internals to suit a 6cyl while keeping a the face and body of the tach. the other option would be to get a 4cyl!

I don't think the tachometer should pose any problem whatsoever.. i calibrated mine with a stroboscoce for the ignition. The strobe had a digital putout for the rpm... The tach had a potentiometer (adjustable resistor) behind a rubber cover that was ab. 7mm in diameter. This tach was on a regular 164-72 placed in the center console... the tach is a smiths one...

Ooops! I guess I forgot to clarify:

the gt cluster is from a 1972 164e

I want to install it into a 1970 164, so the cylinder issues aren't

a problem.

No problem then!

The wire for the tach connects to the negative terminal on the coil.

I've never heard of a 6cyl GT

Just from my understanding a resistor wouldn't change the gauge readout since it runs off the pulses as each cylinder fires........but i would like someone to back me up on that one.

Actually, my 1970 volvo is a 164. I do have a 1968 4 cylinder, but

I like that one 100% stock. So, all I need to do is take the old

guage cluster out of the 164 and put the gt cluster in in it's place.

I wonder how rare a gt cluster for a 164 is vs the gt cluster for

the 140?

So the wires are in place for the tach already? Or would I need to

run one from the coil to the hookup for the tach?

It'll be fun to have a tachometer again.

I've read that you can make a tachometer read at a different rate

by putting in a resistor. The people who put a ford V8 into a 240

talk about this.

thanks!

chris

Wow, thats a major score, I've never seen a GT cluster with a 6 cyl tach. I've seen the Smiths tachs that mount on top of the dash, I have 2 of them. Go back to the yard and pick up sender units for temp and gas gauge, they may be different, or so I hear. You'll also need a wire from the - side of the coil to the back of the tach, everything else will plug in the same as the original unit.

Lee