Guage bezel the same?

[UKNOWME]

Are the gauge bezels interchangeable from 73-87 or are they 73-80 & 81-87?

[jerdusk981]

From what I have seen on parts sites, when I was looking into it, I believe it goes 73-74, 75-77, 78-80, 80-83, 84-88.

[ray_mcavoy]

Yes, they can be grouped into 73-74, 75-77, 78-80, 81-83, 84-88.

73-74 bezels have a raised area surrounding the headlight knob hole and a fairly narrow hole for the wiper switch.

75-77 bezels have a larger hole for the headlight knob without the surrounding raised area. And a wider rectangular hole for the wiper switch.

78-80 bezels have some styling / appearance differences but I believe they are otherwise interchangeable with the 75-77 bezels as long as you use the corresponding lower steering column cover piece.

81-83 bezels have more of a squared off shape to the upper corners to match the shape of the dash pad.

84-87 (and 88 R/V series) bezels no longer have a rectangular hole for the wiper switch since it's on the column for these years. And the round hole for the headlight switch is moved up a little bit higher as compared to earlier years.

I believe the 89-91 R/V series bezels are very similar to the 84-88 bezels with the only difference being the radio opening.

[Damien]

They are also different for A/C and non A/C.

[motornut]

I've noticed the texture or pattern on the front ,changes.
and I noticed some turn markers change,hight?
early it's just an arrow,later it's recessed
79/78/87/89

[UKNOWME]

Reason I ask is I found one for sale but the guy just says it's 73-87. I need one for my 78 and my 80. It's non AC which is what I need but not sure about the rest. Both of mine are gone so I cannot compare. Below is a pic.

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

Reason I ask is I found one for sale but the guy just says it's 73-87. I need one for my 78 and my 80. It's non AC which is what I need but not sure about the rest. Both of mine are gone so I cannot compare. Below is a pic.

The one in that pic appears to be an 81-83 bezel and wouldn't be a good fit up against an 80 or earlier dash pad.

I can tell it's an 81+ bezel by the shape of the upper corners. Also notice how there is a "stepped down" area between the upper and lower sections. That's another characteristic of the 81+ bezels that I forgot to mention earlier.


Here are a few I found on ebay that would be correct for 78-80 without AC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/dash-cluster...-/291378256352

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-87-Chev...-/111122113332

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-87-Chev...-/310767784572

http://www.ebay.com/itm/78-79-80-Che...-/291377281925

And here's a 78-80 bezel the brushed aluminum trim that was originally used in Silverado & Sierra Classic trucks (and optional in some other trim levels too I think).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-87-Chev...-/111354162533

[DBear]

Old thread but great info

[jlmerie]

Very cool, someone moved this to the top just as I needed it. I removed a dash bezel from a 1978 Cheyenne. The face of the bezel has a distinct texture to it. I remember the smooth ones from later. I believe this is original but not sure now after checking this information. A few pictures including some close ups of the texture. Not sure I got it enough

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by jlmerie

Very cool, someone moved this to the top just as I needed it. I removed a dash bezel from a 1978 Cheyenne. The face of the bezel has a distinct texture to it. I remember the smooth ones from later. I believe this is original but not sure now after checking this information. A few pictures including some close ups of the texture. Not sure I got it enough

Yes, that bezel (with that texture) is correct for 1978. However, it appears as though someone painted it silver to simulate the look of the brushed aluminum that was used on the upper trim levels. The original brushed aluminum (like in motornut's first picture from post #5) used smooth overlay panels that covered up the texture on the underlying bezel.

[jlmerie]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

Yes, that bezel (with that texture) is correct for 1978. However, it appears as though someone painted it silver to simulate the look of the brushed aluminum that was used on the upper trim levels. The original brushed aluminum (like in motornut's first picture from post #5) used smooth overlay panels that covered up the texture on the underlying bezel.

Thank you so much. That really helps. Whoever had the truck made many other mods, but most of them were not as good as this. The paint looks very good. I kind of like it. It is just a "wall hanger" anyway. As an aside, do you know what years they switched the grain of the bezels from the early "rough" surface to the more smooth one? I am thinking mid 70's.

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by jlmerie

Thank you so much. That really helps. Whoever had the truck made many other mods, but most of them were not as good as this. The paint looks very good. I kind of like it. It is just a "wall hanger" anyway. As an aside, do you know what years they switched the grain of the bezels from the early "rough" surface to the more smooth one? I am thinking mid 70's.

You're welcome!

From what I've seen:
73-77 have the fairly coarse "leather" grain type texture.
78-80 have the fine "diamond" texture with a bit of fine grain texture in the area surrounding the steering column.
81+ have fine grain texture with some smooth areas surrounding the light switch & radio.