kinda my thoughts too Gary.. was thinking of buying 2 new goodyear belts and doing the swap all at once, just to keep consistency.

i didn't know if the massive power and stump pulling torque of my straight six would require a dual belt setup to prevent slippage.

the one nice thing, i filled up today and was greeted with 17.9 mpg. i wish i had a trip odometer to help me keep better track of mileage.. did they offer a trip odometer in a non-tach dash?

 

No, the trip odometer was part of the tach package, only. 17.9 is quite good. As for the dual belts, are you running the tranny with them?

 

dangit, i was hoping to find a trip odometer. makes things a lot nicer, it does.

and Gray, maybe I AM running the tranny with em, lol.

Really, i just want the squeak to stop, soi may just loosen the belt i have on there for now. Then wait till i win the lottery and replace all the belts at once and go dual belts.

 

Nope. I have a trip odometer installed factory on mine and I don't even have a marked spot for where a tach would have installed on the steering column. I do however have a working tach factory installed in the dash with the rest of the instrument cluster but I believe that's standard equipment.

Besides the 3 extra Suntune gauges we installed this is all factory equipment. All of its original, even the dash. The interior is in pretty decent shape in that regard.

 

I've got the same setup. Factory.

 

Did they change the color of the dial needle per trim option and what gauge it was? Mine are 3 different colors.

I think the trip odometer became standard in '83 but don't quote me on that. Even still only in a rare case I can fine one around. Most of what I find doesn't have it.

 

They originally are all orange like mine. They fade out over the years. Mine were yellow like yours before I used the paint for it.

Fluorescent Speedo & Gauge Needle Restoration Paint - HiPo Parts Garage

Edit: before anyone asks about the color of my tachometer needle. It is the same color as the rest of the gauges. Bad camera angle and I couldn't get a good picture of it to save my life.

 

My speedo is like a medium orange, tach light yellow and the rest a bit darker. Been like that for years with no noticeable fading.

 

All I know is what I was told by several people on here. I've noticed on our Dodge van the orange needles have faded a little bit over the last 10 years I've been paying attention to them.

Notice your gear selector needle, how it's still orange?

 

I did notice that. Must be they did fade pretty good. Surprised they did. It's not like they see sunlight often. I always liked that lighter orange color but if the dark orange is original ill revert them back when I restore it.




Btw, my dad said he rigged the odometer on top so it picks up full miles instead of a tenth of a mile to prevent it from rolling over every 100k. It now rolls over every million. What you see there is the actual mileage of the truck itself, maybe a few thousand more that didn't get added in the 2 years we didn't own it.

 

That's right before I did mine. Notice the fuel/oil/water/ammeter gauges, how the bottom part is still orange? that's where they didn't really get sunlight lol.

 

I never knew they were orange. Always thought they were the medium orange kind of yellow. Like I said I actually prefer the lighter colors but ill make them orange when I restore it. I edited my post btw.

 

665,000 miles? if you see mine, currently it reads 31,485. But add a two in front of it lol.

I used to like the light colors better, too. Until I painted mine. Granted, my gauges are slightly lighter than the picture makes it out to seem. I've found they glow a little bit at night.

 

Yes sir 665k on the bad boy. Mostly on the frame though. A lot of the body has been replaced several times due to road salt living in the snow belt. The front fenders are going into their 3rd set for example. The tailgate has already been replaced 3 times, going on 4. The drivers side rear bed panel is going on number 3 lol. Rear window going on number 3. It goes on and on.

231k isn't bad. My dad got tired of having to remember how many times it rolled over in previous cars so he modded it.


They glow? That's pretty cool. Wonder how that looks with the back lights on in the dash. You still have the factory green lenses or have you changed them?

 

Guys, you've proven my point - the only odometers came with the factory tach.