I read it somewhere online. I never took the gauge cluster out of a k5 before. It looked straight forward. Now it seems it's stuck in the dash, so before I have a coniption and get the sawsall, I'll try dropping the column. My temp and oil pressure gauges don't work either. I'll try and clean up the contacts,and change all the bulbs. I had to do that to other older cars I've had awhile back. This is the 1st car in 16 years I bought that has a carburetor. Mine is an 86 aswell.

 

You don't need to drop the steering column to get to the instrument cluster. You may need to remove the whole dash pad, but I never had to drop the steering column. Make sure you find all the screws too. In a lot of junkyards I've been to it looks like someone has started to take the dash pad or cluster off but didn't find all the screws and just ended up destroying it.

For the original poster of the thread look at pickups and suburbans too, these trucks have a lot of interchangeable parts, especially in the dash. Although you probably already know that.

 

I took the dash pad off already. It was the 1st thing I did because I need a new one. I had to drop the column to get more room. I got the gauge cluster out with a little more tugging. Nope, didnt break anything either. Now after I replace all the bulbs and clean up the printed circuit, I'll figure out why the temp and oil pressure gauges dont work. If it looks like its going to be difficult, I'll just get didgital gauges from dakota didgital and be done with it.