1969 Cluster School

davepl · Poncho Master!

1969 Cluster School

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I don't know, Dave, but I suspect it may be an environmental thing. The southern U.S., or sunny California can really sun load things like dash pads. Up hear in the Great White North it took a long time before a/c was offered, let alone considered by many. We generally don't get the intense heat & sun loading that others to the south get.

One dash that was always very susceptible to cracking were the 1971 - 76 Chevrolet Big car dashes. The one on dad's '74 cracked within 2 years and when I started looking around, I was hard pressed to find any without cracks. The dealer replaced the dash in 1976 and that one never cracked. They must have made an unseen change on the final 76 versions.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

There is a very good chance that in 69, some injection moulded interior parts on Canadian cars, might actually have been made in Canada.

Such a theory could account for the difference. I know for a fact, when I pulled my 69 apart, down to pretty much every nut and bolt, I'd been surprised to see "Made in Canada" on quite a few pieces.

davepl · Poncho Master!

Indeed certain stuff is sourced in Canada, though I don't know how much they had to. Like frames came from BUDD in Canada, I've learned, and are a little different in the US.

My steering wheel has the same part number but is a different casting/mold than the US NOS piece I have. Stuff like that.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I swear I saw "Made in Canada" stamped on a dash pad back, nose piece and moulded into that black dash bezel somewhere. I believe the door panels were made by Allen Industries Canada, and the AM radio was made here.

The interior temps between the north and south for sure could account for the damage. As we know, it gets hot up here, perhaps sometimes even as hot as the south on certain days, but obviously the duration of such is far shorter.

seventy2plus2 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

The 1969 & 1970 cluster surrounds are basically the same. A big difference is the wiper switch and how it mounts, and obviously the imitation stainless trim on a 69 vs fake woodgrain on a 70.

I'm not sure if I have a 69 cluster surround downstairs to compare, but I know the 70 cluster surrounds have the metal reinforcement across the top you speak of above.

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I had 3 or so 69 bezels. And they had the tin across the top.

All 3 were slightly warped in some manner.

ABC123 · Uber Guru

The interesting part is that my car was garaged all its life so the hot sun does not seem to be a factor.

P.S.

Looks like my gas gauge has decided to work this year wink

davepl · Poncho Master!

This is my 50 year old unit (after restoration, so the cluster is likely not the original to the car though) that has seen a fair bit of sun - enough to crack a blue dash, but not warp or crack the cluster.

There'y not perfect as you can see, and I imagine MCR tried pretty hard!