When I bought my truck from a government auction a few months ago, I was pleased with the overall condition... but I wanted a gauge cluster with a tachometer. It didn't take me long to find one at a junkyard, and it was VERY easy to upgrade... but when I took the cluster bezel off I realized how poorly it was attached to the dash.



My fuel tank switch was dangling when I bought the truck, but was functional. When I realized how broken my whole surround was, I decided to start looking for a replacement at the Pullapart. Well... most of the ones at the Pullapart were as bad or worse than the one in my truck!





Then, one day, when in Atlanta for work, I decided to stop by the Atlanta-East Pullapart, and I'm glad I did! They had a '96 that had just been put on the yard!!! The fuel tank switch was not only there, it was still mounted to the cluster!!! The rest of the cluster was in pretty good shape, except for the two holes that secure it to the dash behind the trim strips.





I decided that since it was intact (mostly), it would be a good candidate for a repair. So I mixed up a cup of JB Weld, and added a few 1/4" fender washers.






I popped my cluster out... here's a couple side-by-side shots:






And here is the repaired cluster installed!





I'm very happy to have a fuel tank switch that is firmly attached to the cluster... I always keep one tank full and alternate whenever I fill the empty tank. The JB Weld seems to be holding up so far! I'm guessing the remaining plastic will be the limiting factor... I'll be keeping my eyes peeled at the Pullaparts for good ones to keep on hand!

 

Great job, very cool! I want one with a Tach too! I have a '96 F150 4x4 XLT.
Does the tach work if the instrument panel is just plugged into the original wiring harness or whatever? In other words, you don't have to run new wires, right?

 

The gauge cluster is in three pieces, the non-tach cluster has two gauges-speedo-two gauges. With the tach, you have four gauges-speedo-tach... all you do is pop the speedo section out of the middle of your OEM cluster and stick it into your junkyard cluster (so your odometer will stay accurate)... it's 100% plug-and-play as long as you get the same year cluster.


The hardest part (for me) was the shift position indicator... but that's only because I was trying to undo it with the lower dash trim still installed. Once I removed it (only a couple screws), it went really smoothly. Most of the F-series I see at the Pullapart have the standard (no-tach) gauges... or no gauges :P

 

Good job. JB Weld is pretty dang strong as long as the part does not flex or otherwise move. Should be fine on that cluster surround.

 

Keep us posted on the JB wield. I too like to know the long term outcome.

On the 92 F150 I have, I cut up a old license plate and made up a back plate directly mounted to the back dash area (not on the bezel). After some tweeking it works good and I don't have to mess with it when I take the bezel out.

 

A separate bracket just for the fuel tank switch?...


BRILLIANT!


If my J-B Weld fails, I will be doing something similar for sure. If you take your bezel out anytime soon, mind snapping a photo of the repurposed license plate?


Thanks!

 

Some where on the web I seen a photo of that and I copied it. Now I cannot find that site! Once its daylight I'll try to get a photo.


Hotdog! found the photo hiding in 77GB of data I have of just automotive info.... still can't find the web page...


I used a old license plate instead of galvanized sheet metal. Used what I had laying around and was easy to cut also.

 

I've saved that photo, if (when?) the J-B Weld fails, I'll be constructing something similar. Odd that they didn't come from the factory mounted like that, makes a lot more sense to me.