hi sages - prior question on shorted out duster dash cluster reminded me of a current problem with my 76 feather duster. i did a moderate rebuild onthis car about 15 years ago. the dash cluster was shot up . all i could find was one from a 73 duster which looked almost the same except for a faster mph speedometer. i swapped it in and it works fine. later i aquired a mint condition cluster from a 76 swinger which i want toswap in. only one problem not sure how tofix. one of the pins/prongs on the male plug of the cluster is missing. the traces on the circuit board appear to be perfect. any ideas on how to fix it? thanks bob fisher

if I remember right, '76 is an odd ball year where only '76 clusters line up right.

I suggest you ask (personal message) either slant six dan or duster idiot.

sick 6- actually the 73 duster cluster switches right in the 76 with no problem. the 76 swinger cluster i aquired which looks brand new has a receptacle pin missing on the plug in contacts. need an ingenious theory on how to replace the contact before i swap it in. have messaged slant six dan and the di before on this forum but dont know how to do a personal message tothem. do you? hope they pick this up. both sages are sharp and sure they would have a shortcut for me. thanks anyway. bob fisher

I should clarify- what I meant was the housing itself will slide in with no problems, but the guts of the electrical are different.

to find either member, do a search for thier names, and at the bottom of one of thier posts, there will be a button marked "PM" for personal message.

Oh, geeze, yeah, there is a difference in '76 clusters: They use an external-shunt ammeter! If you hook this up to the wiring on a '75 or earlier A-body, the ammeter will probably go up in smoke within a few blinks of an eye after applying power. I am guessing the '73 ammeter could be swapped in, but it's only a guess...

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

If you'd like to keep the old ammeter, you'll need to be sure to remove the wimpy connections on the newer cluster so you don't get confusing current paths.

The pin can be resoldered & recrimped, but it's difficult to make it as strong as before. I would plan on a long thin screw from the backside for strength.

Successfully mixing & matching electrical parts from different years usually requires you have the diagrams from the FSM from both years.