Gauge Cluster Rebuild, Testing Oil & Temp Gauges, Painting Numbers (’65 Thunderbird) Ep. 50!
All right, welcome back to Buck Don’t Know — we made it to Episode 50! I never thought I’d get this far when I started, but here we are still deep in the ’65 Thunderbird gauge cluster project.
In this one I’m tackling the dash gauges: testing the oil pressure sending unit with a cheap Harbor Freight setup, checking the temperature gauge, verifying the fuel gauge, dealing with a bad voltage regulator, and cleaning everything up. I also tried the Sharpie paint pen trick (thanks to Vitus Garage) for refreshing the numbers on the speedometer — it turned out way better than I expected.
Shout out to Exit 45 Restorations, Vintage Thunderbird, Nick Pepe, Joernone and the other T-bird guys whose videos helped a ton on this electrical and gauge work. Lots of trial and error, some smoked parts, and learning as I go.
We’re making progress on the car — still a ways to go, but the goal is to have it driving by around episode 75.
Thanks for watching, liking, subscribing, and commenting — I really appreciate y’all and try to reply to most comments.
If you’re working on a classic car gauge cluster or T-bird resto, drop your questions or tips below!
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction
2:28 - plan to test pressure sending unit
4:07 - studying the wiring harness
5:26 - voltage regulator, good or bad?
10:09 - Cluster in pieces
12:05 - Paint the speedometer
14:49 - Testing the gauges
24:00 - reassembly
Amazon Affiliate links to some items used in this video:
Silver Paint pen - https://amzn.to/415dwaR
Jumper wires w/ clips - https://amzn.to/4pilqs0
Cloth Tape - https://amzn.to/4mZFfCL
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