So I'm in the middle of attempting to swap my broken temp gauge (the needle spins freely all the way around, this ain't just in need of the wiring fix although that's next), and after a whole lot of cussing I finally got the gauge cluster out, got it disassembled and replaced the gauge. My main fear at this point is doing something to trigger the tamper indicator in the odometer (I'm treating the whole cluster like defusing a bomb), but one other thing I noticed was the old temp/fuel gauge has a ring of foam stuck to the face of it. I tried to pry it off to stick it to the new gauge, but like all that horrendous black foam stuff behind the dash it just disintegrated into a black gluey mess. How important is this foam for keeping the gauge from rattling, etc, and how important is the rest of the stuff stuck to most of the panels around the gauge cluster? I want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for more failure before I try the wiring fix and put everything back together.

I dunno, but here's a bump.

The foam is for light isolation and vibration damping. Grab some foam at the fabric/craft store and make your own replacement. They have rhe proper adhesive there as well.

Happy trimming......

Don't worry about the odometer. I've taken multiple out for cleaning and it has a plastic tab (almost like the type used for garbage bag ties).. You can jostle it around and it won't impact anything with the numbers. I took mine out because I noticed the numbers were dark with soot like dirt on them. I took a microfiber and Pledge Multipurpose cleaner and the numbers were restored. It even cleans the blackface with no smudges. I hope they never discontinue this stuff! http://www.pledge.com/en-US...cleaner-natural.aspx

quote Originally posted by sricka01: Don't worry about the odometer. I've taken multiple out for cleaning and it has a plastic tab (almost like the type used for garbage bag ties).. You can jostle it around and it won't impact anything with the numbers. I took mine out because I noticed the numbers were dark with soot like dirt on them. I took a microfiber and Pledge Multipurpose cleaner and the numbers were restored. It even cleans the blackface with no smudges. I hope they never discontinue this stuff! http://www.pledge.com/en-US...cleaner-natural.aspx

Yep. The only way to make the "tamper" indicator come up (lines between the numbers) is to force one of the wheels to turn. Unless you intentional do that, they won't show up. I too completely disassemble the odo and trip to clean off the dirt. There is zero risk if you don't force the numbers to turn.