The electric tach on these early (post mech tach) cars are notorious for failing.  When I got my 76, it was working, but read wrong at every point on the scale.  One of the first things I did was pull out the driver's instrument panel (as you are doing now) and get the tach repair kit (common item at most of the vendors and consist of a new electrical board).

Who did you have your odometer repaired by?  The one quote I got was for over $300.00.

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I had my Speedo head rebuilt by a corvette specialty shop locally in Denver (Corvettes Only). I am sure they sent it out, but don't know to who. It was not cheap either and the reason I did it was that I could not source a replacement odometer gear. It was replaced with a steel gear, so I was happy with the result (almost 10 years ago now). I think I saw a previous post recently for a source for these gears, so maybe that could work for you. I can get you a phone number for the shop in Denver if you need it, but you hopefully can find something local or closer for you.

I just ordered new seat covers, so I added the odometer gear and tach circuit board to the order.  When I have the seats pulled I'll pull the dash and see if I can fix them.  I'll also take the clock apart again and see if I can get it working for more than a day.

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dont forget about the tach filter....  if its "blown"  your tach will not operate, or operate radically

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StingrayJim
NCM Lifetime Member #1936

Stingray's '76���������������������������� StingrayJr's '78���������������������������Lil Red '94

(click each one to see a bigger version)

Thanks, I ordered the filter from Ecklers and it arrived today.  I'll pull the dash after I finish recovering the seats, while they are still out of the car.  I also got the new circuit board for the tach.  I'll also take another stab at getting the clock running again.  If all goes well, I may have all of the original gauges working again!

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Here's a quick update.  I replaced the odometer gear and it now works.  The reset function also works -- evidently many of these don't work.


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Well, I found out that calibrating the tach to zero is simple -- but it needs to be out of the car to do it.  You simply apply 12 volts to it, pull the needle off  and push it back on at the zero position.
Problem is that I had installed the dash before I knew this -- I wish Corvette America had included that in their instructions.

So today I got brave and pulled the dash again, calibrated the tach to zero, and almost got everything back in place.  I say almost, because it seems like the dash grew an inch while it was out!  It is just too wide now!  I took a break before I broke something, but at some point I need to figure out why it doesn't fit.  Anyone else had this issue?

When this is back in place, I believe everything on this 75 will be working!  When I got it, the only gauges that worked was the speedometer and gas gauge.

I like to do most of the work myself, but I just had my mechanic replace the emergency brake shoes.  He had no end of problems, mostly because the stainless hardware kit I got had parts that did not fit, or were not made right.  He used parts from two other (non-Corvette) hardware kits to make everything work.  I'm glad he did not charge extra for the frustration aspect!

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Update:
I got the dash back together -- the first time I had a problem getting the left side in place, and this time the left side went right in, so I put a screw in it.  Well, I found that I needed to remove that screw so the dash could go to the left a bit, then the right side went in.

Now every gauge works, even the trip odometer, but when I turned the key to start, nothing!   This happened last time I put the dash back in place.  I thought it was the ignition switch on top of the steering column, so I had pulled the column, adjusted the switch, and it then  started.

But this time I could hear the switch click, so rather than going through that again, I ran a wire direct to the starter from a button under the dash.  It now starts and everything seems fine.
Maybe someday I'll get curious and brave and pull the steering column again to see what is going on with the switch, but it runs so I'll let it rest for now.

I have learned so much through the guys on this forum and I very much appreciate all the help I have gotten here!



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Nice story Bill.  Did you follow any particular instruction to repair your clock?  I've seen it done on Wheeler Dealers (!) but don't recall anywhere else.   I'm hoping it's still working!

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I did find instructions to repair it, basically how to get it apart and clean the points.  I then lubed it with WD40.  But it only ran a day.  When I took it apart again, it appeared to be shorted, so I bought a quartz clock, which looks the same, and keeps perfect time.



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