69' Charger Instrument Cluster:

[Captain D]

Hi fellas,

We've been workin' on the Charger for awhile now, such as on the motor and all of the brake components. Now, we've moved onto the instrument cluster. The mechanic whom I've been working with said that my instrument cluster is no good and none of the gauges & lights will work properly. He said that it's not a difficult fix, but it's about finding a new one altogether.

Since I'm relatively a newbie, I wanted to see what options I may have (if any) other than buying everything all out brand new. This may sound like a dumb question to ask, but is there a way to have the original restored by chance? Or is the thing pretty much shot once it's shot? I've searched around and I've come across a lot of dash bezels kits (B/E&A to name one locale), but since those dash pieces of mine are in decent shape, what is the best route to go in your opinion? Do those kits, say from B/E&A for example, include not just the front face bezels, but also all of the electrical instruments that I am in need of as well?


Another location: http://www.jimsautoparts.com/dashcaps_and_dash_parts.htm

Anyone purchase circuit boards from Charger Specialties:
http://www.chargerspecialties.com/catalog.htm

Thank you for your time and efforts,
Aaron

[1969chargerrtse]

Hi fellas,

We've been workin' on the Charger for awhile now, such as on the motor and all of the brake components. Now, we've moved onto the instrument cluster. The mechanic whom I've been working with said that my instrument cluster is no good and none of the gauges & lights will work properly. He said that it's not a difficult fix, but it's about finding a new one altogether.

Since I'm relatively a newbie, I wanted to see what options I may have (if any) other than buying everything all out brand new. This may sound like a dumb question to ask, but is there a way to have the original restored by chance? Or is the thing pretty much shot once it's shot? I've searched around and I've come across a lot of dash bezels kits (B/E&A to name one locale), but since those dash pieces of mine are in decent shape, what is the best route to go in your opinion? Do those kits, say from B/E&A for example, include not just the front face bezels, but also all of the electrical instruments that I am in need of as well?


Another location: http://www.jimsautoparts.com/dashcaps_and_dash_parts.htm

Anyone purchase circuit boards from Charger Specialties:
http://www.chargerspecialties.com/catalog.htm

Thank you for your time and efforts,
Aaron

You need to know if all the guages are shot?  If not there are people and places that will put new decals on the faces.  As for the bezels, I sent mine out to Chrome tech usa and he did a great job rechroming them.  I also bought parts from PGClassics.

[mikepmcs]

Aaron,
Many options here as well.  If you are restoring to perfection then you  can get all the gauges done over, everything rechromed,etc....
I believe REDLINE gauges does this,  I think our very own LILWENDL does something along these lines??

I'll find some threads for you. 

Also, I don't believe there is a lot of faith in Jimsautoparts.  I'd steer clear on that one for now.

Let us do a little research here first......I'll be back

Mike

[mikepmcs]

Here ya go for now....it can be done
Matter of fact this might be all you need.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,25073.0.html

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,28338.0.html

I'll check in later.

v/r
Mike

[Captain D]

Hi fellas,

Thank you for your responses n' guidance. We've put a lot of $$ into the rebuild of my 383 motor and complete brake work recently, so, I may have to save up a bit more if I decide to go this route as I recover from these lastest projects, lol.  . It took awhile for my dial-up to show most of the pictures, but I believe I read that all said & done for the restoration of the instrument cluster from RedLine came out to be $850. I'm certainly not ruling these places out, since they appear to do great work. And I'm pretty much open to any and all options.

But, just for the sake of asking...if we were to undertake this project ourselves locally, has anyone used the repro circuit boards by chance? Reason why I'm asking is because I know of someone locally who may be able to help me out, so getting the face of the instrument cluster to look aesthetically good is something we may be able to do round' here.

But, I understand that getting it to work as functional as possible is just as important. This is why I'm curious to investigate the circuit boards further if I may. I know that something like this may be best just to send off, but the mechanic whom I am working with is very knowledgeable about wiring and restoration, so I thought maybe I could learn a lil' more about what all I would need if we did it ourselves here. Not that I'm ruling out those websites, I'm just curious to ask...

"Thank you" again there Mike for your time and guidance once again in helping me out! 
All the best,
Aaron

[mikepmcs]

Let me see if I can get some big guns in here to help us out as I don't want to get over my head suggesting anything.  If it were me though I would fix it myself.  As far as the circuit board question, I'm calling on the mopar gods to come this way.

[Charger-Bodie]

Aaron,

The guy you need to contact is Mike, He goes by lilwendel on here. He is awesome with the inst. clusters and is very reasonable in price too.

As far as the bezal kits from B/E&A , They are very nice imo.

Here is a link to Mike (lilwendels) profile:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=874

[Captain D]

"Thank you" once again there gents for the guidance!  PM was just sent and I'm sure everything will work out okay to get this good ol' boy workin' again  . Take care and all the best,
Aaron

[Captain D]

Hello again fellas,

I've written a PM to Mike (lilwendels) awhile back, but I still have yet to hear back from him. I'm not in a major rush, but I'd like to try to touch base w/ him so that I know what to do from here. Does anyone happen to have, perhaps, a phone number that I may call to see if I can reach him?

Thank you again for any replies and tips,
Aaron

[mikepmcs]

Aaron,
Mike hasn't been on since 03 June so I suggest an email to see if you get a quicker response.

lilwendal1@aol.com

v/r
Mike

[Captain D]

Hi there Mike,

I had tried both as well. Perhaps they had difficulty going through, but I can always just drop another note and see what happens. I'm sure that he may be busy and this is no great emergency to ge done just yet. But, hey, I'll try it again and see what happens  . Thanks again!
Aaron

[375instroke]

Check out lilwendal's post on restoring clusters:
Cluster Restoration

[Captain D]

Thank you for the link; it's awesome  . Based on these pics, I'd like to see if he can work on mine since he seems like he does great work.
Thank you again,
Aaron