I agree. That is just a beautiful gauge setup and it's all the gauges a guy needs.
I like the 66 GP gauge setup I have. Once I install the cluster with oil and temp along with the factory tach, the car will have all gauges too. However, it will still have that horrendous long speedometer which is nothing compared to the one in the picture above. One thing they sure did right on first generation Acadians was design a nice cluster with the gauges.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Yes, if I do decide to swap, the original would certainly sit on the shelf.
The beauty of it is, it's a very very simple swap. Everything is identical on the back between the two except that I have to run wires for the tach which is sure not a tough job.
The cluster comes out by removing 4 screws and the speedometer cable, unhooking the oil line for the gauge as well as unplugging the other electrical, then pulling it out. It's not like it's a nasty cramped dash full of a/c stuff and wiring. Pretty basic cars.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Remember that this is coming from a guy who put a Firebird Trans Am 160 MPH speedo in his LeMans cluster so you know what is coming.....Go with the Tach, that Nova cluster is one of the nicest I have ever seen, and as already mentioned keep the original too.
Yes, if I do decide to swap, the original would certainly sit on the shelf.
The beauty of it is, it's a very very simple swap. Everything is identical on the back between the two except that I have to run wires for the tach which is sure not a tough job.
The cluster comes out by removing 4 screws and the speedometer cable, unhooking the oil line for the gauge as well as unplugging the other electrical, then pulling it out. It's not like it's a nasty cramped dash full of a/c stuff and wiring. Pretty basic cars.
Don't forget the shunt, necessary if switching to the amp guage.
Use the Acadian gauges and the Nova bezel and tach, you can always change it back....That Nova tach is pretty rare, I have only ever seen one in the "flesh" and I was always on the lookout for one when I had my '65 years ago.......I thought that was the beast when it showed up on the forum a few weeks ago...good find!!
I have to do some measuring. I'm not sure how well the Nova tach will fit the Acadian bezel but you're the second guy to tell me I should do that! I agree, would love to have the Acadian look and the Nova tach.
Now they repro the 65 Nova tach so a guy will likely be seeing them in lots of cars.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Well, I haven't been well the last 4 days so basically I've just spent some time thinking of this project. I did get the tach and slip it into the Acadian cluster as a couple of guys suggested and I think if I open up the centre hole it may well work. Any thoughts how I can remove that centre ring (bezel) that used to outline the clock face. I need the opening to be just a touch bigger than the outside diameter of that bezel. I've had many thoughts from scroll saw, hole saw, cut the hole rough smaller than what I need and file it out larger..........?
Here's how it looks-
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson on Saturday 27th of April 2013 09:34:34 PM
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
pretty nice lookin for sure.I will go triple aftermarket under dash-leave origional untouched
, I think the tach looks great, so it aint original, but looks great! 
