70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s

Posted By: JamaicaBlue

70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 03/28/09 11:40 PM

Hey guys I need some help.

First, I just received my new wood grain from BE&A. How has everyone else bent there's to fit? I would hate to screw it up and be out all that $$$.

Second, cosmetically my rally dash is near perfect but how do I go about testing the gauges to make sure they work? The car was off the road for 13 years before I got it and I have never driven it so I'm not sure the gauges are functional.

Third, has anyone converted there rally clock to quartz movement? If so, how did it go?

Thanks

Posted By: JamaicaBlue

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 03/29/09 05:55 PM

BTT

Posted By: denfireguy

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 03/30/09 12:20 AM

Quote:

Hey guys I need some help.

First, I just received my new wood grain from BE&A. How has everyone else bent there's to fit? I would hate to screw it up and be out all that $$$.

Second, cosmetically my rally dash is near perfect but how do I go about testing the gauges to make sure they work? The car was off the road for 13 years before I got it and I have never driven it so I'm not sure the gauges are functional.

Third, has anyone converted there rally clock to quartz movement? If so, how did it go?

Thanks

I have done the quartz conversion. It was in a later rally dash with the set knob through the clear bezel. It went very well and the clock keeps great time.
Craig

Posted By: jrwoodjoe

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 03/30/09 01:56 AM

I used some step molding that had a rounded edge that was left over from redoing the staircase in our house. I put the old bezel on molding and slid it up to where the bend met the rounded edge. I made some reference marks. I then put a piece of thin material as not to scratch the new bezel and aligned my reference marks and then carefully bent it around the rounded part of the molding. Came out perfect and did not scratch.

On the clock, I just got one from RTE that had already been converted and traded mine in. For me, it saved time and hassle even though it may have cost a couple of dollars more than doing it myself.

Attached picture 5128438-dashresto1.JPG

Posted By: JamaicaBlue

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 03/30/09 09:35 PM

Thanks for the reply's. Nice looking dash by the way.

How did you go about testing your other gauges?

Posted By: JamaicaBlue

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 04/05/09 10:41 PM

Has anyone tested their gauges outside of the car?

Posted By: YYZ

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 04/05/09 11:24 PM

You can test pretty much everything but the speedometer without too much difficulty.

The clock runs on 12 volts DC - so it's just a matter of hooking up 12 volts to it at low current (i.e. DO NOT hook it directly to a car battery). Odds are it doesn't work anyway

The ancillary gauges (fuel, oil, etc.) are powered by 5 VDC, so again, getting a source for say 6VDC (4AA batteries in series), you can see whether the gauges function. In my experience, these particular ones seldom break, so you should see the needle sweep as you apply voltage.

Tach involves a bit more work - ideally you have an older 8 cylinder car in running condition with a separate coil. Connect the tach as it would be in the dash - i.e a positive lead from a 12VDC accessory circuit such as the radio, and a negative lead from the -ve side of the coil. If it moves, then hey, it works. Bear in mind that the originals were notoriously inaccurate.

I believe that RT Engineering http://www.rt-eng.com makes a 'tach exerciser' which you can use to test and calibrate the tach - might not be a bad investment

As for the speedometer, well, you're on your own. You'll know soon enough whether it works.....

I suppose you could put a spare speedo cable into a drill chuck and see what happens, but I have no idea if it will spin fast enough to allow you to test it properly

YMMV

Posted By: JamaicaBlue

Re: 70 E-body Rally Dash-?'s - 04/06/09 02:18 AM

Quote:

You can test pretty much everything but the speedometer without too much difficulty.

The clock runs on 12 volts DC - so it's just a matter of hooking up 12 volts to it at low current (i.e. DO NOT hook it directly to a car battery). Odds are it doesn't work anyway

The ancillary gauges (fuel, oil, etc.) are powered by 5 VDC, so again, getting a source for say 6VDC (4AA batteries in series), you can see whether the gauges function. In my experience, these particular ones seldom break, so you should see the needle sweep as you apply voltage.

Tach involves a bit more work - ideally you have an older 8 cylinder car in running condition with a separate coil. Connect the tach as it would be in the dash - i.e a positive lead from a 12VDC accessory circuit such as the radio, and a negative lead from the -ve side of the coil. If it moves, then hey, it works. Bear in mind that the originals were notoriously inaccurate.

I believe that RT Engineering http://www.rt-eng.com makes a 'tach exerciser' which you can use to test and calibrate the tach - might not be a bad investment

As for the speedometer, well, you're on your own. You'll know soon enough whether it works.....

I suppose you could put a spare speedo cable into a drill chuck and see what happens, but I have no idea if it will spin fast enough to allow you to test it properly

YMMV

Thanks, your response is much appreciated