1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

[James G.]

To me the oil pressure gauge lettering looks white VS green on the other guages...

44k miles - Never restored, never apart, engine never removed, original interior...
Last owner since 1973... says he didn't ever replace the gauge, can find nothing regarding an oil pressure gauge in the service records which date back to 1973.



My only thought was is the 72 Oil pressure gauge different & being a late build could this be the an explanation?

[Joe L.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

To me the oil pressure gauge lettering looks white VS green on the other guages...

44k miles - Never restored, never apart, engine never removed, original interior...
Last owner since 1973... says he didn't ever replace the gauge, can find nothing regarding an oil pressure gauge in the service records which date back to 1973.



My only thought was is the 72 Oil pressure gauge different & being a late build could this be the an explanation?

James------


Other than a gauge replacement, it's the ONLY explanation.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

Page 25 of the current 70-72 JG says the color of the guage lumeninence changed from green in '71 to blue in '72. If this was a running change, it seems this would have been late MY71 or early MY72.

So this car is a mystery. Maybe an early life failure using green service parts?
What color is the speedo, tach, radio?

[James G.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

Mark,
This is in a 1971 model year car- built 18 cars from the end of 1971 production, all other gauges are green tint and match... EVERY gauge including oil pressure has the same patina on the rivet heads showing on the faces.

I agree, the possibility exists that it was a warranty item in the first 18 months of the car's life (the period for which I do not have records).

[Mark E.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

Mark,
This is in a 1971 model year car- built 18 cars from the end of 1971 production, all other gauges are green tint and match... EVERY gauge including oil pressure has the same patina on the rivet heads showing on the faces.

I agree, the possibility exists that it was a warranty item in the first 18 months of the car's life (the period for which I do not have records).

Sorry. I didn't read this carefully and thought you had a MY1973 for some reason. Late '71 production opens up the possibility of a running change. You'd think the intention would be to keep the gauges in a given car the same color, but maybe the supplier got a bit sloppy.

[Ken A.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

The supplier was AC Delco & your gauge was replaced before you got the car, probably by a service part.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

The supplier was AC Delco & your gauge was replaced before you got the car, probably by a service part.

Ken------


The 1968-71 gauge, GM #6461212, ("green" numerals) was available in SERVICE until May, 1972. After that it was replaced by the 1972 gauge, GM #6462928 (white numerals).

Except for the fact that this particular car was produced so close to the end of the 1971 model year, I would have strongly suspected a replacement. On the other side of the coin, I would find it very unusual that GM would have installed mis-matched gauge faces in any car.

[Ken A.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

Thanks Joe, I am quite familiar with 60 -82 gauges.

[James G.]

Re: 1971 Oil Pressure gauge question- LATE CAR - 21783 -photo

Joe,
My first thought was warranty replacement... but then because of the late build I thought it could have been a 1972 gauge installed at St Louis.

I am going to guess that the center clusters were pre-assembled & fed to the assembly line - was the pre-assembly done on-site or at an AC Delco electronics off-site facility?