I got the 73 Cluster in & as you guys said the wiring harness plug will not fit. Anyone have a 76 or 77 cluster available. My sons is crumbling.
Mike, Disassemble the cluster that came out of the 77 and transfer the back side plastic housing to the 73 cluster. (or just transfer the speedo to the 77 cluster) Ken
Craig, what years did you compare? What year did they switch to a small connector? I've noticed that just about every 76-77 cluster I've had apart was turning to dust, like brittle chalk. I think Ford changed vendors for this part and the plastic they used will not stand up to time. I have never had an older one turn brittle.
I am not sure what years they were. I would say the change took place the same time they switched from a 120mph speedo to a 100mph speedo.
I'm about positive the plug change took place between 73 and 74. I've taken apart a 71, 72, 73, 74 and 76 cluster and they were all crumbleing and brittle...
Seems that plastic down "south" suffers more than ours do up here in the snow belt. I have yet to ever find an early dash in crumbles. The later dash is pretty common to find this way.
I may be able to shed some light on this, the big plug switched to a small plug sometime in 1973, the reason I know this is because I have 2 73's and one of them is a early production one, and the other a later production one, the early 73 has the big plug and the later 73 has the small plug.
Good tip on the late 73 change, I never new this. I dug out a 74 cluster I had and it is indeed a smaller plug! Also, on the crumbling housings, I've never had an early one that was bad, might be a northern thing. Also, I have only seen white ones that crumbled and not the blue ones. Here is a side by side shot of an early and late (smaller) connection
Final Update after installation Follow this link to get results of installing the 74 Cluster in the 77 car. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=20052
I looked over my "stash" and have came to the same conclusion. 1974 was the year they changed the back of the cluster....but the speedometer was the same 120mph unit. I have lots of white crumbly clusters....but the blue ones are solid as a rock.
