1968 450 Straight replacement guages?

[ar13227]

I am rebuilding a 1968 450 Straight Dozer that was hit by lightning and suffered some significant damage from the resulting fire. To date, I have replaced all the hydraulic lines, fuel lines, power steering lines, rebuilt the power steering boosters, and and replaced all the supply wiring which somehow was the only real electrical damage aside from some wiring from a couple sending units. All the wiring harnesses were undamaged. I am desperately searching for a replacement instrument cluster/ignition and have been striking out at every potential lead. My local JD dealers have all told me they are no longer available and can't refer me to any aftermarket products. Anyone have any idea where I might be able to find some guages that will work for my dozer? It only has 4 guages, engine temp, oil temp, oil pressure and amps. Any help will be greatly appreciated. [/img]

[gregjo1948]

They are probably 2" gauges and can be bought at auto parts stores. You can also try Ebay or Amazon.

[Lavoy]

I had a small amount of aftermarket gauges available, but I would guess you would need senders as well?
Lavoy

[ar13227]

Thank you for your replies gentlemen. The problem I am continuing to have with aftermarket gauges is that all the pressure and temp guages (engine oil and transmission oil) that I have found have a port for either a pressure tube or a thermocouple. The guages on my dozer only have two post terminals, no pressure or thermocouple ports. So I'm struggling to locate anything that has that particular sending unit configuration. The easiest replacement in my situation will be to simply rewire each gauge, one at a time (they are all still attached to the original wire harness ) and butt splice into the existing harness. Also, I'm not positive of the working condition of the sending units. I was told from the previous owner that none of the guages worked when he purchased it, but I have found evidence that they were disconnected from the power supply (alternator ) for some reason. Thanks again and I am working with the dash that has 4 guages; engine temp, engine oil pressure, transmission temp, and ammeter. Could also use an ignition with 4 spade terminals (male) as they seem to be nonexistent as well.

[jtrichard]

Best to replace with cap tube (both trans and water temp) and copper line (OIL PRESSURE) IF not then replace with electric BOTH sender and gauge (SO THEY MATCH) AND GO with VOLT meter instead of AMP meter

[whiteclipse16]

I agree with JT. If you don't care that much about originality, then go with all mechanical stuff. I've fought the electric gauges on my 440 and now a Moline. They are a pain getting the grounds right, polarity right and figuring out what (if anything) is not functioning.
There should be a spot somewhere that you can tap into to put the copper line for oil pressure and the same with the trans.
As far as temp goes, the newer capillary or thermocouple style should go in the same hole that your existing sending unit is in.
Then you can get all the gauges at an auto parts store or ebay and will match.
Otherwise, I've contacted Bob's Speedometer about some gauge work but ended up not spending the money.
Also, if you search "Moline gauges" on ebay you'll find a full set of gauges that are lit up a bluish green color. Contact that guy because he deals in gauges for other stuff as well. I got a coolant and amp gauge from him and they're pretty good quality.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Two words: Stewart Warner. If you're gonna move from the originals, might as well go for the best.

And, I am of the opposite opinion. Electrical gauges are far easier to install than mechanical. I guess this comes from each person's own point of view. I would much rather run a wire than a tube....

Plus, it is no fun when a tube to an oil pressure gauge cracks and sprays hot oil all over your legs. I had that happen one time, and that was once too many.

Stan

[Jd450/6-way]

I put in Murphy switchs (murphy switchgage®) on my 450. Oil pressure and coolant temp. Because I'v heard of people getting their oil pan punctured or their rad pushed in and blowing a motor.

Plus when you have them. You can spend more time seeing what your doing / not your gauges.

[ar13227]

Decided to go with Stans advice and contacted Stewart Warner. They were very helpful and were able to pull prints and cross reference new gauges and sending units for me. Received the new gauges yesterday and installed them today. I can now begin reassembly and hopefully have this sucker running before the snow falls. Thank you all for your comments and knowledge, I really do appreciate it!

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Excellent!

Not because you took my suggestion, but because they still do good work at Stewart Warner and made this easy for you!

Stan

[oldmetalmender]

Fantastic that you found a good solution for new instrumentation. The Stewart Warner Deluxe series have always been a favorite and go in most all my car or jeep restorations. Only recently did I open a SW gauge and found the gauge face was crimped out of position and could not be mounted straight in the panel. That's the only problem I have seen with them ever. I bought a deluxe series oil pressure gauge for my JD400 backhoe. It matches great.

For others looking at this for the same type of fix, I wanted to mention Isspro gauges. Don at Isspro in Portland Oregon is super helpful at finding or building what you need. He helped me build some custom gauges for a Military deuce and a half I used to own. And I put a crank based tach from them on a 6.2 diesel and it was a nice unit. The engine is worthless but the tach is great. So keep Isspro in mind also. Both companies are super. Congrats on a good solution.