Hey everyone, i just drove my chevelle home today and i got a couple questions. The gauges do not work, the fuel gauge and speedometer. What could cause this? And the shifter seems to be in a weird location. It is a 4 speed and it kind of sits towards the driver seat alot. Its a 68 SS. I think the location should be centered right? Thanks alot!

Are you sure it's an orginal 4 speed car or the orginal 4 model 4 speed? As for the speedo and fuel gauges, check your fuses and maje sure the speedo cable is connected at both ends.

Good luck with the car ... and Enjoy!

Sounds like you got a great car.

From my limited experience... the speedometer could be disconnected because it made alot of whinning and grinding sounds. Mine is currently disconnected under the car (1970 Malibu) at the tranmission end. The cable just screws out with a gear inside which turns the cable. I took out the gear just to get rid of the noise. I got couldn't get behind the speedometer in the dash to lube the cable. graemlins/sad.gif

Fuel gauge may be a problem with the sender unit in the gas tank. My 1976 Camaro need it replaced and then it worked perfectly. Must take down the tank to get to it. It is a one person job with a rolling floor jack.

Send a picture when you can to ryanpope1046@yahoo.com, please state in the subject what you are sending so I don't delete it in fear of a virus.

Congraduations! smile.gif

Congratulations and if this is your first Chevelle, welcome!!

Take the top of the console and see where it's screwed down. On my 70 there were 2 sets of holes. If you use the wrong set you have the problem you described.

I can't believe you just bought a 37 year old car and everything doesn't work ;) . Kiddin'with ya.This is what it's all about,grab your wrenches and get to know that thing.Some pics would be cool.Congrats,you're in for a good time.

Congrats on getting your 68 Chevelle SS smile.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/beers.gif I just love 68 Chevelle's and 68 El Camino's,they are my personal favorites. Like was said above earlier ,check to see if your speedo cable is connected at both ends. Make sure that the inner cable is engauged far enough into the fitting on the transmission.Also that its screwed onto the back of the speedo at the dash.If its still not working then you might want to unscrew the cable at both ends and pull the cable from the casing completely and inspect it for any breakage or badly worn areas. A new one if needed is a simple fix. On your fuel gauge check to see that the correct wire that goes to your fuel gauge is fully connected to the prong on the back of the gauge. If still not working check the contact on the back where it plugs in to make sure that its not rusty and not making good contact. You might have to remove the dash cluster to see everything closely. Unless you can get under there and see everything clearwith a brite light. When I got my 68 and drove it home 2 years ago,my gas gauge didnt work either and I removed my dash cluster,marked all the wires with tape with a number and marked a number with a marker (sharpie) on the gauge housing so that everything would go back quickly,and then I put the cluster on my workbench and cleaned everything up including my contacts and hooked everything back up and my fuel gauge has worked fine ever since. Thats also a good time to change all of your dash bulbs then to. Just use super glue gel to glue the end of the metal pieces back into the bulb holders. This is typical of the dash bulb holders on the 68's,when you go to pull out a bulb socket the bulb drops into the cluster. If your fuel gauge is still not working after that then post a topic in the electrical forum and im sure that John Muha or others can tell you what to look for next. Take lots of pics. of your Chevelle in everything and all phases of work that you may do on it. Youll be glad you did. And yes,post-up some pics. of it. Enjoy.

Welcome,Definitely what el68elky said.Speedometer could have been unscewred because of noise,just squirt real good inside with cable fluid.Possible cable broken ,ground up cares them.Get a assembly book& wiring diagram from them also.You can look up from underneath dash to see if fuel gauge is plugged in,or may just need the post cleaned.May also be in the fuel sender,a lot of people find there buildsheets on the tank if you heve to drop it,as a perk.Definitly mark your wires,pry real easy one the bulbs.Easier on the back if you take out the drivers seat.Just takes couple hours to do if your real anal like me.Does it have the roller tack(pretty neat looking tack).Mine had little spider cracks in the black paint,just cleaned the face real good with alcohol and gave it a couple coats of with a black marker.then brushed the riges that the light shows threw with light sandpaber real easy.Mines got AC so I also change out the ducting to.Ground up& true connections carry the dash lenses now,if there scracked or can't be cleaned.Also carry the little bezels.Alot of good how to stuff in the tech archives.Good to have another 68 on the road.Your the last year for the 138 vin.Have a 68 el camino ss396.

You didn't say if you have a console or not. Mine is a bench seat car. The shifter is supposed to be offset toward the driver. My carpet is out so I can send you a picture if you want. Glad to see another 68 owner onboard.
Cheers
Steve

I was wrong graemlins/clonk.gif I went out to the shop and looked at mine and the shifter is right in the middle of the trans tunnel. The shifter tunnel is offset to the left for clearance of the shifter. Possibly you have an aftermarket shifter that does not have the offset to set the shift lever in the center.