gauges, stock vs aftermarket

[uncre8tv]

Hi - I am a new guy. Searched on this topic and found a lot of "this is what I did" and "how to" stuff but I'm wondering, in terms of usability, if stock gauges are as good/better than aftermarket?

I just got my '76 Terra, and the stock gauges are definitely in need of attention. Temp and Oil stick on Hot/High, Volts bounces like it's a seismometer, fuel swings slowly around without giving much good info (and jitters a bit too), but the speedo seems fairly functional, a little bouncy, and the glass is fogged pretty bad. I'm sure a new voltage regulator would help some of the jitters, but:

My question is... if I were to spend the time to take apart the panel and clean and rebuild the gauges would they still bounce? and would they be accurate? I feel confident I could do an ok job on the rebuild, not concours, but putting my AS EE degree to work. But if they are going to be a bit out of whack anyways, and if they're going to bounce around anyways, then i don't want to put in the work to rebuild them and then just end up throwing in the towel and buying the $450 panel from scoutparts. If they are always going to be a little bouncy I'll just save the time and save up for an aftermarket panel now.

So.. has anyone gone through the guage rebuild, and if so were the results as solid/steady as an aftermarket panel?

thanks,
Keith

[Jay Tabor]

ive never had an electric gauge needle bounce around.
with the oil and temp on 'high' I imagine this is only with ignition 'on'?
that maybe the dash gauge's voltage regulator- common prob.
I've cleaned up- painted needles- and reinstalled lectric gauges, they all give inaccurate indications whether new-used/recycled, or blessed by the pope, etc.
theyre electric! only as accurate as the sending unit and wires and grounds ,. . .and volts allow.
I put in mechanical gauges in all of mine, only thing I have to rely on lectric wise is the fuel gauge and ammeter.
cause I get tired of using matches to check fuel level . .by the time the smoke clears the tanks are always empty!

[okkool77]

I dumped electric gauges in my rig and I couldn't be happier, but in the same sense I re-wired the whole damn thing.

[uncre8tv]

Originally Posted by Jay Tabor

ive never had an electric gauge needle bounce around.
with the oil and temp on 'high' I imagine this is only with ignition 'on'?

Yep, just pegged when on. I've actually seen the temp drop to L once for a minute or so.
The note that your electrics don't (didn't) bounce around gives me hope. I know I've got bad rats nest wiring in general (no headlights, etc) so between ferreting out my wiring and putting in a new voltage regulator I may be ok. I'll rebuild them first and see how it goes, maybe by then if I'm still unhappy I'll have enough pennies in the jar to buy one of those fancy dash kits!

[Eric VanBuren]

The stock gauges work great, when they are functioning properly. Most of the time the main problem is poor connections, though most of the time the gauges tend to read low not high. Reading high is caused by either a short to ground somewhere on the wire running from the gauge to the sender, or the CVR being stuck in the on position. In your case with multiple gauges reading high it tends to indicate a sticking CVR. Once they are sorted out they are as accurate as any reasonable priced aftermarket gauge. Sure the don't have numbered scales but that isn't important, what is important is that they give consistent readings so you are alerted to anything that is out of the ordinary.

Your ammeter bouncing around is caused by a poor connection in the main power feed between the alternator and starter with the BHC or bulkhead connector being the most likely suspect. A bad alternator is also a possibility.