The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - 73-87 recessed gauges with BIGBLOCK73'S brackets

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- - 73-87 recessed gauges with BIGBLOCK73'S brackets (https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=429954)

73-87 recessed gauges with BIGBLOCK73'S brackets

well thanks to Jeff's brackets i finally got the gauges mounted! as a few of you know i went with the 5" tach & speedo and the smaller 2 1/16th" fuel, oil, volt, & temp autometer ultra-lite II LED gauges. the reason i went with the smaller gauges is because the 2 5/8th gauge face seemed to large for my stock bezel. i didn't want to cut on the bezel itself either and the smaller ones worked out perfect.

i received Jeff's kit in the mail and was very surprised at the quality of the brackets. He included the 3 main brackets and 4 pieces of aluminum stock that have to be bent and screwed onto the bezel. he also includes 4 nuts and bolts. installing these brackets was very easy. i only needed a 11/64th drill bit and drill, a punch, screwdriver, epoxy, and a vice.(i actually made a vice with 2x4's) but thats an entire different write-up!:lol: i took a ton of pics and i'll do my best to explain most of them.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6720.jpg
i had glued my gauges in before i got Jeff's brackets. ITS NOT RECOMMENDED OR NECESSARY!! i had to drill out the slots on 2 of the brackets because my glue job was slightly crooked. that is another great problem solved with these brackets... they will align and center the gauge faces perfect!
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6721.jpg
here i used the nuts that came with the gauges as a spacer to raise the brackets up away from the negative nut stud on the gauge.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6722.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6723.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6724.jpg
as you can see i left the trim rings on the larger 5" gauges. they fit around the ring on the bezel very snug.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6725.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6726.jpg
these are the pieces of aluminum that you will have to bend. (you only need 2 of the 4) Jeff threw in the extras incase i messed up the 1st go around.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6727.jpg
here i cut 1 in half so i could bend and trim to size easier.

Re: recessed gauge write-up/ BIGBLOCK73'S BRACKETS

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6736.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6737.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6738.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6739.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6740.jpg
i bent the aluminum stock up and around for the small gauges. this takes some time and patience to get right. i ended up using spacers and ran all the diagonal brackets under the gauge brackets that way the gauges could be removed without any trouble if the need arises.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6741.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6742.jpg
i epoxied the diagonal brackets down onto the bezel.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6743.jpg

Re: recessed gauge write-up/ BIGBLOCK73'S BRACKETS

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6744.jpg
you can see the nuts i used as a spacer so it holds the gauges down with just enough force to hold them.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6745.jpg
here's the gauges all mounted. they are PERFECT!!!:D
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6746.jpg
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...3/IMG_6747.jpg

Re: recessed gauge write-up/ BIGBLOCK73'S BRACKETS

here's some of the finished product

Re: recessed gauge write-up/ BIGBLOCK73'S BRACKETS