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Old 05-17-2022, 09:29 PM
John V. John V. is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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I have considered the lack of Rally Gauges being offered for the '64 a big bummer and the Rally Gauge option for '65 rectified that. Many have swapped the complete '65 Rally cluster into the '64. I'm a '64 guy but the Rally Gauges are one of a few things that I envy about the '65.

However, it would be tricky to swap a '65 Tach by itself into a '64 which, if I read your question correctly, is what you are asking.

In '64, the RH pod location was independent of the rest of the cluster. Standard car simply got a "dummy" blank-off plate in that pod, '64 and '65.

The other 3 pod locations used a common cluster housing.

As optional equipment in '64, you could choose the Rally Clock (which I always thought was awesome looking) or a Tach. Since the Tach and Clock were designed to occupy the same RH pod location, you could NOT order both.

In '65, that changed. The Rally Clock could be had with the standard idiot light instrumentation, same as in '64.

Same as in '64, you could not get both the Clock and Tach.

But the '65 Tach was made part of the Rally Gauge option and was placed in the right center middle pod location which was in the common 3 pod housing. The independent RH pod location was used for the Temp and Oil Pressure gauges within the single pod housing (see the pic Ron posted for the layout as seen from the front side).

Aside from the '65 Tach having a Black face while the standard instrument faces are Blue, I'm not sure how you could install a '65 Tach in combination with the '64 cluster. Perhaps the '65 Tach can be fit into a '64 Tach housing? If that worked, I would try to have the dial face changed to a Blue background to match the other gauge faces, maybe Peter Serio could make that happen.

Point is, unlike '64, the '65 Tach is not directly interchangeable with the Rally Clock since it does not install in the same pod location and did not use an independent housing.

Personally, I think the '64 Tach gets a bad rap. I'm not a racer but I don't have trouble checking revs on my '64 Tach, I think it looks cool too. The smaller sweep I suppose makes it relatively less accurate. But if I needed precise accuracy, I probably wouldn't trust a factory Tach.

The lack of gauges in '64 is the bigger issue so I have added a set of Autometer gauges which for someone like me who prefers factory original is a bit of a disappointment.

In later years, PMD figured out a way to have gauges, Tach, and a Clock. In the early '70s I would drag home Rally Clocks from salvage yard early GTOs and other A bodies whenever I was there to find a needed part just because I thought the Clocks looked so cool. In the end, I installed a Tach that I had scored but I've always been torn in choosing one over the other.

If you are looking to put a complete '65 Rally Gauge cluster in a '64, I'd say go for it. I agree they look great.

One caveat, the '65 fuel gauge sender is different from the '64 so I believe you will need to use a '65 sender. You would also need the appropriate Temp and Oil Pressure senders to make those gauges work in place of the idiot lights.

One thing I like about having the underdash Autometer gauges, I get to retain the original Oil Pressure sender for the idiot light and I also have a Voltmeter in addition to the Battery idiot light. The analog gauges are good but the idiot light, especially for Oil Pressure, might draw more immediate attention in the event of a serious issue. I don't have a working Temp light although even that could be done.

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