Dash Cluster

[fst2002]

So I just picked up a silver dollar cluster which I would like to clean up but not seeing any detailed info on taking apart... Anyone have any info before I tackle opening it up...

 

Thanks

['76mintgrün'02]

I took mine apart to repair the odometer.  It seemed pretty straight forward.  I did heed the warning(s) to avoid touching the faces and just dusted them off.  The glass lenses are fun to clean up.  Doing the insides made a huge difference.  That is a very nice looking cluster.

 

I did find that the original grease on the odometer gears was pretty dry and just sitting beside the gears.  I cleaned all that stuff off and used a little bit of Sil-glyde.  (this also shows why my odometer was not spinning)

 

 

 

Have fun!

 

Tom

[AceAndrew]

I had a tutorial up that was messed up thanks to photobucket.  It will be back up in the next month or so.  Taking it apart is pretty straight forward (just need a little patience). 

 

FYI, I've also got glare-free UV-proof gauge glass that will be available next week.  It's also a great time to switch to LED's, add a ground for the temp gauge, replace odometer gears (if broken), and paint the trim chrome if you want.

[Zorac]

does the large yellow gear going into the odometer housing turn pretty easy?  I always though of gutting mine and putting in electronics and if a small stepper motor could turn that gear it would keep the vintage odometer output.  the problem with small steppers is they have minimal torque.  seeing the two worm gear reductions there it wouldn't have to turn very fast.

[fst2002]

Thanks guys... gonna play with it this weekend!!!

[PaulTWinterton]

27 minutes ago, fst2002 said:

gonna play with it this weekend!!!

 

Just go slow with the dis-assembly.  Take some pictures to remind yourself of various details.  4mm (?) socket to remove rear plates.  Handle gauges carefully to minimize touching the bare faces.  I usually put the gauges aside on paper towels.  The glass is held in with metal rings that are wedged against the housing at spots around their circumference.  Tapping counter-clockwise will un-wedge the ring, freeing up the glass.  EDIT: it might be tapping "clockwise".  (Don't remember exactly which)  You can clearly see the wedged edges of the ring to determine the direction.  Don't tap too hard as the plastic housing tabs are a bit fragile.

 

Remove and clean the glass.

 

You can also remove the beauty rings on the front of the pod.  You'll see how they are secured from the inside.

 

Have fun.

[jgerock]

6mm socket.required for the cluster screws.

[fst2002]

You guys are great   Thanks!!!

 

[borgpj]

My panel cleaned up just fine.  Used Windex, I believe, on the glass faces.  I believe the glass faces were not all the same diameter.  You might want to keep track of which hole each face came from.

[Geoff Raynak]

the center glass (and center ring) are slightly larger ...

my center ring was white plastic ... so was easy to differentiate.

 

easy to take it all apart ... i just did it

tap the inside metal rings 'off' .. from the back side

the bezels can come out if you are careful

the bezels have a tiny detent on them that align them correctly (and keep them from spinning when tapping out the rings)

 

'satin' black spray on front (mask the brake light)

matte white spray on inside (mask the brake light hole)

take the ring bezels out and spray with silver metallic

mask the edge reveal and spray silver

 

i was not paying attention enough to have a correct 'before' image ...

but here is an 'okay' before and a proper after:

 

best of luck!

 

 

 

 

 

[69Bimmer02]

Wow, what a difference Geoff.  Great work.

[Geoff Raynak]

thanks ...

love and patience ... seems to work for almost anything

 

i've also changed all bulbs to LEDs ...

the warning lights will be bright 'standard' white

the illumination lights are warm and dimmable ...

we'll see how it works once i get it wired back into the car...

 

 

excited to see what @fst2002 can do!

 

 

[jdt10768]

22 hours ago, Geoff Raynak said:

thanks ...

love and patience ... seems to work for almost anything

 

i've also changed all bulbs to LEDs ...

the warning lights will be bright 'standard' white

the illumination lights are warm and dimmable ...

we'll see how it works once i get it wired back into the car...

 

 

excited to see what @fst2002 can do!

Looks great - what brand/model LEDs did you use Geoff? Link?

22 hours ago, Geoff Raynak said:

 

 

[Geoff Raynak]

soooo ....

i've only been testing with a 9v battery ... to get polarity right as i install everything ...

so far ... the 'warm' lights look great/perfect ... even with 9v ... so assuming the dimmer will work great

here is what i used for 'warm'

here is what i used for standard

 

i made need actual dimming for 'warm' ... but will deal with that as necessary later and after i test 

who knows if these are great or just basic ... 

i'm not super worried about high lumen output for the dash ... just something decent that will last a while

ALSO: i found these sockets ...

they are almost perfect ... they fit the socket-hole ... but the 'ears' are just a bit tight ... you just need to use a flat-head screwdriver and open up the ears a bit to fit over the PCB

i would use them again ... and would recommend them for anyone looking for an LED upgrade ...