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#1
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Strange '67 Gauge Cluster Housing
So I was under the dash of my '67 last weekend finishing up the heater core replacement and noticed that the back side of my cluster was painted that light blue color like the inside normally is. I don't recall ever seeing one this way before as they are usually natural metal on the outside. Being a late built '67 (4th week of June), did they change the process of painting these cluster housings in the final production run? Are there any other owners of late built '67s that have one like this?
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#2
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I may be mistaken , but that is what most reproductions look like ..
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#3
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My 67 was an early May build, and it has the natural metal.
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The Following User Says Thank You to boltbuster For This Useful Post: | ||
#4
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Never seen the back side of one of the early cars in anything but natural metal. Seems like the inside might have been that color???
__________________
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HE!! OUT OF THE WAY!!! HONEST JERRY'S SPEED AND EQUIPMENT
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#5
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If the car wasn't so amazingly original, I'd be really tempted to say that someone
swapped it. But *that* is based on the full blown restoration mindset that's so prevalent nowadays. Let's look at it as some random used car in the 70s/80s. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY went through that kind of trouble just to end up with a standard gauge cluster. For whatever reason (overspray, weird looking plating, boredom) one of their paint guys decided to spray the entire housing. Done. I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it not having being done on Day One. The only nagging question I have is did it sit in inventory for ages because it was an oddball, or was it used immediately? At any rate, it was the end of the year and they didn't have much of a choice. Survivors are awesome. |
The Following User Says Thank You to 242177P For This Useful Post: | ||
#6
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Yup,
Nothing better than a Survivor GTO. About that baby blue gauge cluster ..... send out a tweet to Elon Musk asking him to go through the old ‘67 files of the late build Tempest Series cars from his Fremont plant. Maybe there’s a memo in the file cabinet explaining that Blue. 60’s
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1) 65 GTO Survivor. 43,440 Original Miles. “Factory” Mayfair Maize Paint with Black Pinstripe, Black Cordova Top, Black Interior, OEM Numbers Matching Powertrain. Purchased from the Lady that bought it new. Baltimore Built (11A). 2) 66 GTO Survivor. “Factory” Cameo Ivory Paint with Red Pinstripe, Red Interior. OEM Numbers Matching Powertrain. Tri-Power (OEM Vacuum Linkage), Automatic "YR" code (1759 Produced). Fremont Built (01B), with the Rare 614 Option. |
#7
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Date stamp or ID tag somewhere?
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Ed 1968 GTO (Thanks Mom) 2006 Silverado 2007 Cadillac SRX 2015 Chevy Express |
#8
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My 06B ‘67 has a natural finished housing.
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1999 WS6 Formula, 1 of 175 1967 GTO Linden Green 4 spd, A/C, survivor 1967 Lemans convt 1967 Firebird 400 bench seat, deluxe interior, auto 1965 GTO 462, KRE unported D-port heads, Bullet 234/244 cam, th400, tight 10" converter, 3.73 gears, 87 octane, 3440 lbs. empty,1.59 60ft, 7.159@95.33 (1/8), a real daily driver, been totaled, rolled 3 times, hit a tree airborne. 1961 Catalina 2 door htp 1960 Ventura 4 door htp wife's car 1960 B'ville 2 door htp 1960 Catalina Wagon wife's car too |
#9
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Not having an ID tag on the bottom is peculiar, too. If this wasn't such a low-mileage car, I'd feel very confident in saying that the gauge housing was removed and painted at some point. But given the car in question, I don't know what to think.
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1966 Pontiac GTO (restoration thread) 1998 BMW 328is (track rat) 2023 Subaru Crosstrek Limited (daily) View my photos: Caught in the Wild |
#10
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Yes, I expected to see a nice crisp ID tag, but there's no evidence of it having one. I really doubt that this cluster or dash bezel has ever been messed with.
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#11
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More Photos Today
I was replacing the turn signal flasher today and took a few more photos. Sure looks untouched under there to me. Also, I noticed this harness has all plastic bulb sockets, not metal ones like most I've seen.
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#12
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Ever try playing hide and seek with a freaking Ninja?
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#13
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Is that the ID tag?
LOL... thankfully, no! I did see that, but was unsure what it might be. Looks like possibly some black overspray from the dash bezel there?
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#14
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I'll bet that the plastic sockets go in and out of the bezel easier than the metal ones! I put new LED bulbs into the bezel while it was in the dash, resulting in some serious hand cramps, a lot of sweat and some cursing...
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#15
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Although its been many years since I replaced any cluster bulbs in an early GTO, I do recall those metal sockets being extremely tough to pull out.
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#16
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Looks like a tag that's circled. Warranty perhaps from an under dash fire?
__________________
Ed 1968 GTO (Thanks Mom) 2006 Silverado 2007 Cadillac SRX 2015 Chevy Express |
#17
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Modern plastic dash lamp sockets vs. metal ones.
Just FYI: Those plastic sockets have a built-in improvement over the older metal can sockets.
You can use an open end wrench on that back of those (with a twisting motion) to gain some leverage to make it easier plug and unplug in case you someday need to replace a bad bulb.
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Peter Serio Owner, Precision Pontiac |
#18
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OEM gauge clusters
Bare metal outside with their paper ID information sticker.
Three of my 66 “XE” cluster. Note the Red overspray on the bottom of metal cluster and sticker. Last two of my 65 “WA” cluster. Chris.
__________________
1) 65 GTO Survivor. 43,440 Original Miles. “Factory” Mayfair Maize Paint with Black Pinstripe, Black Cordova Top, Black Interior, OEM Numbers Matching Powertrain. Purchased from the Lady that bought it new. Baltimore Built (11A). 2) 66 GTO Survivor. “Factory” Cameo Ivory Paint with Red Pinstripe, Red Interior. OEM Numbers Matching Powertrain. Tri-Power (OEM Vacuum Linkage), Automatic "YR" code (1759 Produced). Fremont Built (01B), with the Rare 614 Option. |
#19
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Bingo!
Great photos, Chris! Thank you for confirming my thoughts regarding the overspray. I'll try to get some better photos of that tag.
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#20
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Now that I remember, the rally cluster in the last 65 I owned was that color blue on the outside also. But I always figured it was a reproduction as the car was mostly restored when I purchased it.
__________________
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET THE HE!! OUT OF THE WAY!!! HONEST JERRY'S SPEED AND EQUIPMENT
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