Belts and Doodads

[SomeNewGuy]

Any reccomendations on where to get a new cluster and dash? Ive seen all sorts all over the internet but have no idea if what is adverised is actually going to work... I defer to yalls experiance.

As a side note, they gave me the wrong belt for the driver side alternator and driving into town is 45 min each way... so I used one I had laying around to go from the fan to ps to alt, skipping the crank. Is this... acceptable? It seems to work fine, but am I making a mistake in the long run?

 

[vanaisa]

You must find cluster, where 4 small pods are:
4x4 light;
oil/temp light;
gen1;
gen2;
Like this: https://eu-browse.startpage.com/av/...88d7afc3fb7b7d1e869529ff3e6a54b0ec3258bbaa3be

Civilian versions have there gauges, so probably wiring is different.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/cucv-helpful-threads.123199/ Here is great information about instrument panel, also other very useful writings.

 

[cucvrus]

Rarely you will find a civilian model truck, blazer, suburban model that had 4 idiot lights. They were rare. But I remember many fleet vehicles having that option because it came standard and cost less. Pickings on these 35+ year old trucks are far and few between at this point in time. If you have a cluster and it is not broken in half I would opt to repair and replace what you have to in order to get it functional again. The printed circuit boards are still available and the cluster housing can be reused and fixed with no notice after a proper repair. The final assembly may require some alterations to get things mounted correctly but no permanent modifications until you can find a suitable replacement or just live with what you have. I mean I sold a guy a new GM tailgate for his civilian Chevy truck that was lifted , bent and rusted beyond anything I would repair. But he wanted a new tailgate. Getting things functioning and clean at this point is the best option on many of these older vehicles. The day of being prime and clean again has long passed for many. Keep them rolling. Good Luck.