Topic: Classic industries gauges

[x1050]

Hello.
Has anyone tried this gauge package from Classic industries?  page 118 in thier catalog. It's a complete new ABS bezel with Autometer Speedo,Tach,oil,water,fuel and volts.
I bought an 81 TA with a 1965 389 in it.  Ran great and I could drive it but I have since pulled the engine and trans(going with a 200-4r)
Anyway......when P.O. pulled the 301, all the computer and wiring was removed with a side cutters!!! I have spaghetti all over the engine compartment.  (New engine harness from Rockauto coming)

So, the only gauges I have are speedo and fuel. The factory tach is stuck at 5500, not sure if it's worth fixing. Better off with autometer??

Any opinions on the gauges??

Thanks
Eric

[hada76]

ive seen some nice aftermarket gauge set ups on here...gotta luv em

[brian c]

Assuming your 389 is HEI it's very straight forward to get your tach functioning again. All it takes is (3) wires.

(1) Solid pink wire (assuming you have it) connects from your fuse block to the + feed on the back of the tach. If you don't have the pink wire, just make one yourself and connect to a switched + terminal on the fuseblock. You can either use a wiring diagram to figure it out OR get a quick answer using a test light.

(2) Solid white wire (might look brown in the engine compartment) connecting from the TACH terminal on the HEI distributor to the TACH terminal on the back of your tach.

(3) Solid black wire running from the GND terminal on your tach to a good chassis ground.

All things being equal your stock tach should now function.

After that...a wiring diagram is your friend to determine the positions of the other wires. OR you can always source a new/used dash harness. The only item I would caution you on when using a "used" harness is to check the condition of the wire itself. Any spots where insulation seems to be crumbling away and you might want to look elsewhere OR be prepared to replace the wire entirely using same gauge & color wire.