69customS

haha.... too funny. I actually spoke with Pete on the phone and he is the one that got me thinking about the setup of the gauges. He told me about the wiring being different... which lead me to finding the correct wiring after following the circuit on each of the printed boards. Great dude... and full of knowledge. He even went into detail about how the gauge needles are able to move because of the glycerin that acts as a lubricant and how the gauges almost always work unless that drys out. I thought my gauges were broken... but after talking to him I did more research and found which wires were in the wrong spots... and which sensors to swap. Without talking to him i'd still be in the mindset that the gauges themselves were broken.

Ok, so if your like me you like the rally gauges much better than the idiot lights. When I got my 69 custom S I had the rally gauges installed already but NONE of them worked...including the Tach. So I started inspecting the wiring and the gauges themselves. I did a lot of reading and talked to a bunch of people. I finally figured out quite a lot of information and now have gauges that work! 2 types of gauges (Standard & Rally) Lets start with the easy one... The TACH. If you look at the back of your tach and there is only 1 wire... you most likely have a POINTS only tach. If you are trying to use this on an electronic ignition... it will NOT work. You will have to get it updated. There are several option out there and I am not here to tell you who to use. It will most likely cost around $300 to get it upgraded. They will have to swap out the circuit board inside and add a post on the back for 12v power. Or you can get a different tach with the 2 prongs on the back. I chose to get a repop... and it works great. 1 pin (points only tach) 2 pin (electric ignition) Now the much harder one... the main cluster. If your like me and you plugged everything in and nothing worked... dont fret. It can work. The wiring pinout on the plug that goes into the back of the cluster is different from the standard gauges to the rally gauges. Its only 2 of the wires... but with those two switched, your fuel gauge will not work. Swap the wires and look out.... IT WORKS!!!!!! (ill post pics for you to see what Im talking about.) The OIL gauge and TEMP gauges have a little bit more to do. Most likely you will have the sensors that go with the standard gauges (just an idiot light) so those sensors will not be sending the correct signal to the actual gauges on the rally gauges. So you will need to swap out the oil pressure switch and the water temp switch. Dont worry... you can get both ACDELCO from rockauto for about $35. Swap out the sensors and all should be good now... as long as your gauges are working correctly. If your gauges are not working at this point I would have them inspected or follow the wires and make sure they are in the correct place. ***UPDATE*** I just got an email from PETE about the temp switch. He said that some of the newer temp switches will give you an incorrect measurement. After installing yours, you might want to check the temp with a thermometer in the actual radiator to verify if the gauge is correct. He said some of them can be 25-30 degrees off. Cluster PLUG Standard gauge circuit Rally gauge circuit Standard gauge pinout Rally gauge pinout Pin callout for connector I have tried my best to be clear on how to swap this over but if you have any questions... please shoot me a message.

Solved!!!! I'm going to start another post telling what I found out and how to get your rally gauges going.

So I got this great 69 custom S off of ebay... rebuilt motor/trans, suspension done, new radiator, new everything really..... guy was great at mechanical. Then there is the electrical.... He was not so great at that. The tach that was in it was the wrong one... and he had a replacement for me which I switched out and it works great. The rally gauge cluster however.... does not. Its the one that has the gauge for temp, oil, and fuel, with the gen light at the bottom. I pulled the entire dash apart and made sure the circuit board (new) was on there correctly and all tight, the ground points were all attached and tight, and even added a few ground wires just in case. The tach and the speedo work fine.... but the last cluster does not work at all. I see the oil pressure move a little but everything else pegs out and stays there (car off or on). I would like to bench test this but do not know how to do so. If anyone knows the proper way to test I am all ears. I have a meter and plenty of resistors or a dc variable voltage power supply I can use to test. I really like how this gauge looks and dont really want to get a repop... any advise is welcomed. Thanks. Looks like the picture attached.

crazy... who would have thunk it. lemme tell you from experience... they suck. Trying to pull off the caliper with the pads in that groove was not easy. I got my new rotors on order ... drilled/slotted for $114 shipped. :0)

It is most definitely a machine groove... no rock created that. Its exact on both sides and at the same depth and same shape.

Maybe someone can explain this one to me... its on both sides of the rotor. I just pulled my brakes apart and found this on my driver's side. I'm scratching my head on this one... along with 3 other motorheads.

I do like that wheel... but I think for my 69 it needs a little more meat on it. Where did you find that one? Id like to see what else they have. Yes, it will be for my 69. I found the 54 emblem on ebay. Guy was selling it cheap because someone got spray paint on the clear lens.... I can easily get that off. Polish it up and I'll have the centerpiece of my future wheel.

Sprint 6, Thanks for the info. I located the center button on ebay for $70 in decent condition. Now to locate the wheel!

Ok so I found a beautiful steering wheel but its just a picture at the moment... It says it was in a 41 pontiac, but that did not turn up anything. Here is the pic... has anyone ever seen this wheel?

It was a blast driving this thing cross country ... that is up until AZ... and no AC. She was real happy going 80...(60 on the speedo) and flying by everyone. Lots of stares and honks along the way. I am super pleased with this buy. Brand new 400 engine and trans, champion rad, new master cylinder, disc up front, all tubular suspension, new exhaust, new fuel tank.... damn near a new car. decent paint.... only minor rust around the rear fenders. Overall a great car.

Thanks for all the answers. I was looking at the repop version of those manuals. I think I'll keep my eye out at the swap meet for a few weeks... if not then get the repops.

Just picked up a beautiful custom S convertible.... drove it home from TN to CA. Great time. Now I'm hooked and want to fix all the little stuff. Happy to be part of the pontiac team.

So I just joined the Pontiac world. 1969 custom S convertible. As with all older cars there are some issues. I can fix most anything but would like to pick up a solid manual for electrical and mechanical. I have found a few on AMAZON but figured I'd ask before I waste money on books. With all that said... what's your go to manual(s)??