I changed my lights on the instrument panel to red...simply took it out and replaced the bulbs. However, I noticed that the lights still were not that red...the numbers on the gauges were more pinkish than a real red like the Bonnes. So since I like taking stuff apart, I took the instrument panel apart to see if I could put some red tint film behind the numbers. Well, to make a long story short, I tried to 'pop' off the temp. gauge'* arrow, since I thought maybe it would pop off. Well, I almost gave up but then all the sudden it popped out...but I noticed upon further inspection that it broke at the metal rod. I tried to epoxy it back in, but no luck of course.. I stopped where I was and put it back together before I broke something else. Now my temp gauge does not work.. and it is a pretty important thing to have

So.... I know this is on a Cutlass and not a Bonne, but is there a way to replace just that gauge (doesn't look like it IMO) or will I have to scrounge for a whole new instrument panel? I bet these are expensive unless I find one at a junkyard. At least I can swap the odometer on the new one if I have to get one. :? Last time I ever try to do something like that. :(

My guess is you will have to replace the cluster, but I don't know for sure.

The key here is to find out how the gauge was installed in the faceplate in the first place. My guess is that if you've got a gauge with a separate plastic hub on it, the needle is attached to the shaft somehow, then the little plastic hub is snapped over that to make it look neater.

That is, all the gauges are plugged into the cluster with their shafts installed but no needles in place. Then they put the faceplate over the cluster, and install all the gauge needles at once.

Since you've now broken the needle off the gauge, does it in fact have a separate plastic cap over the hub of the needle? If so, can you carefully pry it off and see what'* underneath? If so, this may tell you how you can extricate a junkyard donor gauge without either breaking it or having to buy (and swap in) an entire replacement cluster.

Finally, you could also try the dealer and see if the gauge and needle are available separately (i.e. not as part of an entire replacement cluster). If so, they'll certainly be shipped unassembled so that they can be installed in the existing cluster.

Don't you hate it when you try to fix something and make it worse.... drives me nuts.... and yet I never learn.

I'd say try the junkyard..... I'm not an expert but I think the cluster is probably one piece. :(

Well, the gauges plug into the circuit boards; each gauge has four pins on its back. The trick is to figure out how the needles are installed on the ends of the gauge shafts after the faceplate has been installed on top. (The actual construction of the gauge cluster varies among different years of car; e.g. some gauges are plug-in units while others are part of a larger single unit, so don't take this all as accurate for every car...)

I tried to figure out how the gauges were installed before I broke it...looked very complex. I'll hit up a parts place and see if they sell them separately. If I have to get a whole new cluster hopefully I can find one in a junkyard. And then I can fool around with the broken one to see if I can take it apart with no worries of breaking anything again. Thanks guys for the info

In the Supreme, you'll be better off (quicker/cheaper) to replace the entire cluster. They're on eBay all the time and the yards are full of 'em.