Accuracy of Ralle Gauges???

[70GranCoupe]

Hi Guys!

I have a possible chance to pick up a car with some stuff I want for my restoration. One of the items is the ralley dash. Currently I have an Auto Meter Tach as well as their small water temp, and oil pressure guages which I am really happy with but mounted wherever I could find the space because of the non ralley dash I have. Actually the tach is mounted to the steering column. I gotta figure the original gauges can be tweeked or something to make them accurate because a lot of people have them, but I don't know about how often these cars are run at hi revs or actually driven, I also have a 6AL box so I can break down the spark with the chip so that may be the answer but I would prefer to have accurate gauges.

I have 2 questions:

1- How accurate are the original gauges (I'm thinkin not very)?

2- Does anyone rebuild or tweek them so they are as accurate as the after market stuff like auto meter so you can have the ralley dash but the accuracy of after market guages?

I'd hate to blow my '69 340 because the gauge was inaccurate but the ralley dash looks cool.

Thanks a bunch!

Sean

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I wouldn't bash the original gauges too much. No, they won't be dead on accurate, but they aren't bad. The thing here is the original tach had a heavy needle, so it was a bit slower to react than an aftermarket tach. The original clocks lasted about 6 months  , so most people have them converted to a quartz setup.

  Mike

[inot2old]

There are a couple of places that rebuild guages, I know Reline guages is on of them,  they aren't cheap though. I know there is a thread somewhere on this site about the different companies that do this.  I also saw in one of the Mopar mags someone selling a kit that you could rebuild your own tach.  I think the kit was $75.00.

[70GranCoupe]

Hi Again, sorry I didn't mean to come off like I was bashin' the original gauges. The dask looks really cool with everything incorporated in it much better than my aftermarket stuff mounted around the car although it still looks cool. I just wanted some feedback from the guys who have the gauges and dash and use them on a regular basis before I spend some big bux on something I may regret. I remember someone tellin me to stick with the aftermarket stuff because of inaccuracy because of the time period, but I figured I would ask you guys for your input. Thanks for the info. We'll see if I can still obtain this car.

Thanks again!
Sean

[inot2old]

Heres a link to a thread where we talk about companies that restore gauges.  http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=19718.0Some guys have made their own custon dashes using aftermarket gauges also.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Sean,

  I didn't think you were bashing the original stuff. You had a legitimate question. The originals as far as temp, oil pressure, and amp meter.. offered no set numbers on the gauges. So you just looked at a guestimate as to what was happening. As for my experience, your tach and clock are the only thing to worry about. This is where I had mine rebuilt.  http://performancecargraphics.com/

  Mike