C-3 crooked center guage bezel

[Rich C.]

It seems pretty common for the center (radio-small guage) bezel to be crooked on 68-76 cars! I've seen it on fully restored cars. At the risk of over restoring it, has anyone modified their's to not be? They seem to tilt out to the right (at least mine does) just one of those little things that bugs me!

[Jeff P.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Rich thats just one of the unique features of the c-3 gauge bezel faceing to the driver.

[Alan S.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Hi Rich,
I've notice the tilt too.
In looking at my original bezel it appears that it's 'warped', or has a bit of a twist to it.
The problem seems to manifest itself along the bezel's top edge which is not parallel with the upper dash pad when the bezel is installed. I think many of the broken bezels you see are caused by people pushing on the fragile top of the bezel to try to improve this fit.
I was able to help the alignment a bit by shimming under one of the two studs on the bottom of the bezel that pass through the reinforcment that's part of the shifter console. But it only helped a bit!
I'd be interested in hearing about other solutions.
Regards,
Alan

You can see the tilt pretty easily in this picture. The bezel's chromed edge drops down to the left of the wiper button.



It was after I took this picture through the back window that I realized how bad the fit really was.

[Rich C.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Funny you don't see that in the sales brochures! Nice shot of your interior, gorgeous! It probably would have helped if factory installed TWO screws that went into upper dash pad! (Out of the question now)

'73 LS-4 454 owned 21 3/4 years

[Bill L.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

I played around with mine for hours. It has been a while but I remember having to adjust the front center console so that both sides were even and that the console was pushed towards the front as far as I could. The J clips will have a little play where they slide on to the brackets to attach the center console. I also left all the screws in the sides a little loose until I got it aligned. The bezel turned out well. I may have just gotten lucky in that the bezel is not warped.

I recently had to loosen the bezel to extract the radio for repair. When radio reinstallation was complete the bezel went in without issue.

Hope that helps.


Bill

[Robert R.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Bill,
What you say makes sense.
Had similar issue with mine as well, and still not satisfied with results.
One note, I had an aftermarket radio (somewhat smaller case) and the bezel fit evenly across.
When I replaced with the Delco AM FM, that's when the fun began.

Plan to try once more this spring when weather gets warm.

[Joseph K.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

I must be lucky with my cluster. I have had it out several times and it seems to remain level. I suspect the radio may be part of your problem as Bill suggested. The radio will tilt your installation. There is an adjustment on the right side.

[Don L.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Even bystanders can benefit from the TDB! Thanks for this thread and for the good advice, guys. My cluster fits poorly compared even to when I got the car 6 years ago. I've had the cluster down a couple times (radio R&R, clock R&R) and now the fit is bad. It sounds like I re-assembled in the wrong sequence according to your collective information. I have to pull it down again soon to replace the oil gauge pick up tube and another radio R&R, so I'll be watching this thread and using the good advice to help improve the positioning of mine by spring.

[Terry M.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Be absolutely sure to work on the dash R & R in warm weather; even at the expense of putting the car outside in the sun for some hours before you work on it. Old dried out plastic and vinyl will crack at the slightest push/pull, so be careful.

[Don L.]

Re: C-3 crooked center guage bezel

Thanks Terry. Will do.