Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025

Today was the car show at Nelson County High School. I wanted to go, but my back was still hurting. Back spasms were killing me Friday night through Saturday morning, and I had to cancel our plan to attend the anniversary Mass in Louisville Saturday morning.

I haven’t done much on the 55 Chevy this weekend. I did get the 4-gauge panel, and it is very nice. Now I need to transfer the gauges to the new bezel. This gets complicated by the water temp gauge, however.

To remove the water temp gauge from the current 3 hole bezel, I have to remove the temp probe from the block, pull the unit and capillary cable back thru into the lower dashboard. I have to thread the probe back through the front of the new bezel, then route it back into the engine compartment, and reinstall it in the driver’s side of the engine block.

I lost a lot of coolant the first time I removed the old temp gauge, so I’ll have to reinstall that old gauge temporarily to minimize coolant loss.

The other gauges don’t present a problem. The oil pressure line easily disconnects from the back of the gauge; the volt meter easily disconnects too. The main issue will be removing the old bezel and installing the new one. Why? I’m certain none of the mounting holes from the 3 hole bezel will work with the new bezel. But I can take care of that. I’ll have to drill new holes for mounting.

Did I mention that I successfully modified my chrome Batwing air cleaner and installed it on the Chevy?

The problem was that the air cleaner body was hitting the aftermarket windshield wiper motor. I had to cut the carb mount out of the base and reinstall it nearly an inch rearward. I cut the mount out, cut out a strip of metal, and mig welded the base back in with it shifted rearward. Then I cut a strip for a filler panel and welding it all up. I was in a hurry to get it done, but I did finish it out with fiberglass reinforced bondo.