I ordered new dust shields but found that the center opening did not fit my bracket. I got the part number for the proper one but our supplier said they couldn't get them. So I opened up the hole with a die grinder.
While I did this and almost finished the two halves came apart, looks like they were glued together with some kind of adhesive. Also looks like some slight rust has started on the unpainted sections. Not sure what I what I will do just yet. Maybe paint the insides with weld thru primer and spot weld the two halfs together, will think about it.
In the meantime I found this old huge mid '70's(?) GMC flat deck delivery truck that had a factory tach in it. I thought it was worth a shot and took it out. The tack at rest does not sit at zero but I was hoping once in the truck it would work properly.
I wired my aftermarket tach wires directly to this and same with the fuel gauge terminals as the original cluster basket did not have the proper connections. I carved away some plastic that held the idiot lights and located the brake and seat belt warning lights to another section of the dash and everything fit nicely. The tach does work properly when running but still takes it's resting place at 1000rpm when the engine is off. Very happy with the final result and the little bit of work involved, well worth the effort. Good luck taking a picture of gauges in the daytime, whew!
