How To Build a Trick Dashboard

It almost looks stock until you light it up.

To complete the look, we are going to need to repair the steering column. For a more '60s feel, the shift knob should be switched for one that is all white, and the TCI shifter housing needs to be painted either silver or blue.

If you have a stock and/or rare dash, the Redline Gauge Works guys can get it working without resorting to the use of aftermarket gauges like we did. This is a gauge cluster from a '54 truck. The original 6-volt gas gauge was converted to 12 volts, the temp gauge was converted from a capillary tube to electronic, and the ammeter was converted to volts.

This '55 Nomad dash uses the stock faces, but the gauges have been converted to VDO movement.

This panel from a '69 Dodge Charger demonstrates the use of color and font changes to completely change the feel of a dash. The gauge faces were changed from black to white with a custom royal blue font, and the pointers were painted glowing red orange to make them easier to see. Companies like Redline use laser printers to design any style font in any color you want.

On the left are the original tachometer innards from a late '60s Mustang. On the right is the new VDO movement. You can also get a clock changed to a tach or a speedometer with any rpm or mph with any font and even get a built-in shift light installed.