An Instrumental take.
The Corsa Dash is a triumph of design, at least for American cars. There were several high-end European cars that had similar designs, but even with the precursor of the earlier Spyder dash design, the 65-66 Corsa really stood out. In the last 60 years many owners have chosen to add new gauges, or swap out gauges with others. The gauge plate kit I supply, originally designed in Oregon, thanks Eric, allows swapping in individual or pairs of gauges. In years of racing, I had seen about every different way other gauges could be hacked into a Corvair dashboard. This seemed like a better solution, and reversable if you change your mind.
I ran into one issue during installation. It is easily addressed, so I thought I would go through the solution. With hundreds of these kits now sold, I am sure others have found their own solutions, but here is mine.
The plates function by allowing the gauges to mount to the plate (not directly to the dash) then the plate mounts to the dash. Above the upper pair of gauges there are three warning lights mounted by the same plate as those upper gauges. The lights snap into the plate. The stock dash has a pair of green flat plastic discs. Between the discs and the plate are, originally, a pair of thin wall cardboard tubes, one per side. The outer tubes display the turn signal indicator lights. Those cardboard tubes are often crumbling in place, and will seldom move over to the new location without dying. The third tube, the one in the middle, provides the high beam warning light. That indicator is fed through a red plastic piece, red=warning? But the red piece is not a flat disc, like the green one. It is a cup design that snaps into the end of the cardboard tube. Unless the tube has disintegrated over time.
My solution was simple. White schedule 40 PVC tubing, in the ½” size, has the same outside diameter as the cardboard tube, and a 1.5” length of tubing will easily replace each of the two tubes for the turn indicators. The light bulb sockets clear just fine up at the plate and the white inside color of the plastic probably passes more light. But, the high beam indicator is an issue. The red plastic cup does not mate with the inside diameter of the tubing end, since the Schedule 40 tubing has a thicker wall. The red cup doesn’t flip over. It won’t snap into the plastic dash housing. I just counter-bored the end of the tube to fit the cup in place. A lathe is on par with a mill for usefulness. See photos.
Of course the OEM style cardboard tubes are only a few dollars apiece at Clarks. The green disc for the turn signals is also a few bucks. But the red warning cup isn’t listed at Clarks, so hold onto yours, or find some plastic for a replacement. If you need more info, or dimensions, just ask. – Seth Emerson
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