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hey guys,

last night i was looking at some dashboards from 1st gen toros...

my 1970 toro only has these idiot lights but a 1966 toro has real gauges for water temp and battery.

do you guys think that it is possible to put that water temp gauge in my 1970 toro?

i guess i need to change at least the temp sending unit(s)? what about the wiring? you can see that the 1970 panel has 7 connector pins while the 1966 panel only has 6.

here are the panels:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Oldsmobile-Toronado-Gauge-Cluster-with-Bezel-and-Switches-lights-wiper-/271022538989?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1a33c0ed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-Oldsmobile-Olds-Toronado-Dash-Cluster-67-Instrument-panel-/130751364445?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AToronado&hash=item1e71637d5d&vxp=mtr

Eightballz wrote:hey guys,

last night i was looking at some dashboards from 1st gen toros...

my 1970 toro only has these idiot lights but a 1966 toro has real gauges for water temp and battery.

do you guys think that it is possible to put that water temp gauge in my 1970 toro?

i guess i need to change at least the temp sending unit(s)? what about the wiring? you can see that the 1970 panel has 7 connector pins while the 1966 panel only has 6.

here are the panels:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Oldsmobile-Toronado-Gauge-Cluster-with-Bezel-and-Switches-lights-wiper-/271022538989?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1a33c0ed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-Oldsmobile-Olds-Toronado-Dash-Cluster-67-Instrument-panel-/130751364445?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AToronado&hash=item1e71637d5d&vxp=mtr

I have wondered this myself. I seriously hate idiot lights. I have been extremely tempted to just buy a gauge cluster from a 1966 or 1967 to see if it would work. However, I would seriously hate to go to the trouble of removing my instrument panel, moving over my speedometer, hooking it back up, and it not work...

That entire dropping the steering column and removing the drivers side portion of the dash is a serious pain. Although that is the only way to get access to everything...

I have planned to do this on my '66; there are gauges on one side and the other side has the fuel gage and an idiot light.
If you look at the circuit boards for the gauges they will fit on either side so with some creative wiring and fab work this can be made to work.
In the case of a later car with only idiot lights you will need the gauge parts from 2 early cars, probably the hardest thing to find..

This will require changing both the engine and interior dash wiring harness ... or ... at the very least screwing around with the 70 harness to accommodate the 66 temp /oil sending unit comparable with gauges for temp /oil. As one (sending unit for gauges) will not work with (lights) and vice-verse in-addition the 68-70 used the two lights for engine temp 'Hot' and 'STOP engine'. The hot was a hot water switch and stop engine was driven by a sending unit attached to head bolt on the driver side and when that sucker lit up you better shut it off.

The wire of the plugins that drive the gauges and light on the 66-7 might /could very well be in a different position on the 70 plugins this is not something for the novist, it might be possible .... but ... do the home work or risk seriously screwing something up.

Also and Lastly the gauge cluster housings might simply swap out the only way to know would be to put them side by side on the bench. I would also highly recommend studying both wiring diagrams in detail .... miss anything and could very well could be screwed!