Ok Gearheads, I have had no luck what so ever in finding actual gauges for my 68. I have idiot lites and no tach. The tach I feel is just a pipe dream as there seem to be only about 6 ever made and they sell for about 3.7 million dollars! HAHAHAHA I see there is an aftermarket tach that can be installed in place of the clock so I will prolly do that. But I really want to replace the idiot lites with factory gauges. These seem to be rare also, or I am looking in the wrong places. Does anybody know if they are repros being made? is there a stash of them somewhere in a rebuild or silkscreening shop? Or do I just quit whinning and keep looking, hoping I will stumble on a set someday? I Really dont want to put a aftermarket set in my car so if someone has any leads or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks Bill

only place I've seen them is on E-bay
some times you'll see a set without the tack making them almost affordable
I will give you a little encouragement tho ... they made 7 sets not 6 :D

Just an FYI, if you do buy a gauge cluster, be sure to get the instrument wiring harness with it, and if he has it, the oil line and fittings for the oil pressure gauge. You can wire the gauges in yourself, but you better know what you're doing. You will also have to run some wires through the bulkhead connector into the engine compartment to get the charging gauge to work correctly. It's not a plug-and-play operation. Unless you're really into a correct restoration, it's a lot easier to buy and mount some aftermarket gauges. BTW, the tach is pretty useless to watch it for shift points, it's too small and mounted too deep in the cluster to see it very well.

BillL

Bill good advice
but you forgot to tell him that to make it totally plug & play ...
it take all three harness .... dash , engine , front lighting ....
but then we wouldn't want to discourage him .......
last time I checked the prices
instruments 1000 if you can find em ...
dash harness 400
engine harness 200
front light harness 200
oh.....$ 1,800.00 OUCH !!
this is for a numbers matching restore right ???

autometer under dash gauges 75 bucks.....

UMMMMMMMMM owwww! The tach too small for shifting. Is that the original tach or the one that goes in place of clock. I am shooting for this car to be all original so...... I am still trying and will pay what I have to. I understand the engine and dash harnesses but why the lighting harness? thanks Bill

Hummmmm Just checking to see where you are located and all your post. The original tach is very small. I have two of them and an extra set of gages. for a spare incase mine goes bad. I have a sun tach works just fine for the street playing shifts. Are you trying to go drag of cruise??? Just curiousJimB In Georgia

UMMMMMMMMM owwww! The tach too small for shifting. Is that the original tach or the one that goes in place of clock. I am shooting for this car to be all original so......

I meant the original tach, I've never had the clock replacement style. Here's a picture of it-it's small, the needle is thin, and it's mounted deep in the cluster.
BillL

the lighting harness has the wire's for the amp gauge ....
if you want original .... its going to cost you :eek:
I almost forgot .... you better get the trim for the tack when you buy it !
as it can be very hard to find alone ... not to say anything about the price !!

Also what alot don't know about the 68 tach is there is (3) different redlines.

5000 RPM, Small block -Except L79

5500 RPM, 327-325 HP, 396-325 HP and 350 HP

6000 RPM, 396-375 HP

The hard to find tach bezel just sold on ebay last week for $100 alone. I've seen the repro's sell for over $75. I have my 68 original and a spare incase it ever broke.

To be honest i'm like Bill the tach is useless but looks cool. Maybe someday i'll ebay the whole setup for the cash.

you have three red lines... correct
you also have three gear indicators
one for power glide PRNDL
one for TH400 PRND21
one with nothing for stick shift
it makes it more fun with options .........
but you can cut any dash for the AC vent an control & tack hole :D

you have three red lines... correct
you also have three gear indicators
one for power glide PRNDL
one for TH400 PRND21
one with nothing for stick shift
it makes it more fun with options .........
but you can cut any dash for the AC vent an control & tack hole :D

yep and i have them indicators somewhere in my parts junk from 68's i parted out.

I am in Michigan and I cruise most of the time and go to the track maybe 3 or 4 times a year. the tach would be great with any redline! The pic is awsome looking! Now you ruined me I WANT THE ORIG TACH NOW TOO! And I am sure I can get it all wired right. I have two dash panels so if I screw up I will have one more chance. But havent had any luck finding either the tach or the gauges. A full set of gauges just went on ebay for 230 no tach or harnesses. But I got out bid in the last 15 secs! I was not aware of all these roadblocks but I am willing to do what it takes to get it done. And since no one has mentioned it, I take it that no one reproduces the gauges. I know they dont make a tach. Ahhhh the pitfalls of owning a 68. =( Bill

68 is the odd year it seems with no one reproducing the dash parts, so your only option is to find OEM stuff somewhere. Parts cars, swap meets, other owners, and everyones favorite, E-bay. I managed to put a very nice tach/gauge dash together using stuff from various sources, but it wasn't easy and took a long time to do since I wanted to keep the cost down as much as possible. Be patient, keep looking, and be ready to buy when you find anything. I did discover, as others have mentioned, the dash bezel/housing can be modified to accept the tach, the cutout dimensions are in the fisher manual as I recall and thats how the factory did it, they cut the opening and finished off with the tach bezel. I've compared the repro tach bezel to OEM, and you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference once installed so thats a good short term option until an original comes along. I have seen gauges offered on E-bay, and some of the gauge repair places sometimes have them. The large green rear plastic housing, that accepts the speedo/gauge pod, can also be modified to accept the tach as well, just work slow and careful. If cost is a concern, as it is with most of us, you may have to piece it together, and that can be done, but it takes time. The alternative is jump on the next setup that surfaces on E-bay and pay the going rate, then hope you got a unit that will work. I used the piece by piece method and had all the items overhauled as I got them, so as I did the rest of the project I was searching and collecting dash stuff, getting it all ready to assemble and install at the appropriate time. Now I need those wiring harnesses everyone was mentioning, so I guess I'll go the repro route there and order those in a month or so. What fun, eh?

Oh, you could also ask Santa, but he hasn't ever really been that good to me, not sure why....

Jeff
68SS in TX

Yep the only thing you can do is keep looking, ebay is probably the best but the most expensive. The dash harness is the most important one, you can add wires to the engine bulkhead for the tach. That is what i did on mine. I still added aftermarket gauges under the dash for the oil, temp. As the original only have lines no numbers. Good luck, i still like the look of the roller tach. 68 only. As is alot of other parts for this year.