Ok, I need to know what color the guage cluster is supposed to be in my 68ss. I have asked this before and have received the answer that it is supposed to be black. BUT...check out this ebay ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevrolet-Chevelle-SS396-CONV-1968CHEVELLE-SS-396-CONVERTIBLE-s-MATCHING-CAR_W0QQitemZ130195066150QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item1 30195066150

Just asking again to be sure.

Here's a pic of the dash in the color.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/marksextra/6f2b_1Medium.jpg

I can't find any information that supports an SS dash bezel on 68 ever being anything other than black.

seems original to me, i just dont see it having been added un an unrestored car

Soooo......I guess this is a good question after all. Anyone else care to chime in. Black or color on the SS is the question is case anyone missed it.

20 years ago was 1988 the car was still 20 years old then. Could have easily been swapped or painted. Steering wheel looks to be black along with shroud. Car looks like it led a rough life before storage so who knows what coulda happened.

JWA good catch. I noticed that too. But still....makes me wonder.

Twenty years ago it wasn't un-common to make your Malibu an SS.

Les Saville,

What? The ebay ad was for a 138(SS) car. As seen in the picture, it has a gold dash that appears to be original. So, if it's a ss car, and all SS's had black dash's then they could have had to change the instrument bezel to gold but why would they do that? I mean not likely they would want to turn their SS into a malibu. Puzzling?...

.....So, if it's a ss car, and all SS's had black dash's then they could have had to change the instrument bezel to gold but why would they do that?......

Let's see...maybe the original black one was broken or cracked. So, they looked around the wrecking yard. "Hey...this one will work! It even matches the interior!!"

DJW,

That's hilarious. The reason that's funny is because that's probably just exactly what happened and you can just hear how that conversation went? lol

Well, ran in to some more trouble today. I pulled out the new front springs that I already painted gray and noticed that they're not tapered on the one end like the ones I pulled out of the car. The box says they're tapered. So I don't know what to do. Napa says they're the right ones. but the box says something different than what's inside. I can't be sure that what I pulled out of the car was the correct springs in the first place. Any of you guys happen to know?

Oh and I found an engine!

It doesn't look to have the L2 on the indicator. So not indicating a 400 transmission. The auto on the column have the issue of the cable going from the column to the indictor box of cutting into it in time. May have been the cover got broken in the pulling out to fix and replced with one found in a malibu.

DJW,

That's hilarious. The reason that's funny is because that's probably just exactly what happened and you can just hear how that conversation went? lol

Well, ran in to some more trouble today. I pulled out the new front springs that I already painted gray and noticed that they're not tapered on the one end like the ones I pulled out of the car. The box says they're tapered. So I don't know what to do. Napa says they're the right ones. but the box says something different than what's inside. I can't be sure that what I pulled out of the car was the correct springs in the first place. Any of you guys happen to know?

Oh and I found an engine!

Chris
I am right behind you (progress wise) on my '68 project. I am soon going to purchase some new front coil springs. I did notice that the ones I removed were tapered on the top. This car was a small block originally, though. Let me know what you end up doing.

Rich

Another way to look at this might go something like this...
Twenty years ago or perhaps more, how many Chevelle owners had the savvy that enthusiasts have today for correctly returning their vehicles to that factory fresh look? I know I didn't. Fact is, when I owned my first 68SS in the late 70's, it had the Ash Gold interior, including or course, the black dash bezel. At that time, I had no idea that all 68SS cars had the black dash and the black dash only. And if there was need at that time to replace my bezel, and I happened upon a Malibu in the salvage yard with an Ash Gold interior, I would have probably been more than happy to have one that matched the rest of my interior. But again, I didn't know then what I know now.

Chris,

I agree with others, the dash should be black. However, it doesn't mean that when this car was born in BAL in Nov. of 1967 that there were no black dashes available. So...the assem. line worker grabbed what he had to to finish the car. There are many instances where this has happened.

And what others have suggested is also possible, it could of been changed somewhere along the way. But not likely given the info on this particular car.

I think you can be rest assured that the inset portion of dash is to be black.

Greg

My 68 Baltimore built (01B) SS396 Convertible with the same color interior as yours has the black dash, and I agree with others here that it should be black. I also agree with others that it is always possible to be have been installed in color due to no black ones available or a mistake by the assembly line worker. I would also suggest changing the color to black, as it will always be in question should you build it that way. Course, you may like it this way and that is OK too. Just be ready to answer the questions.

Jeff Dotterer
Dated Components
Diamond Restored Judge

the convertible with the colored dash is back on ebay if anyone is interested.