1969 Cluster 1970 Cluster
As you can see in the photos above, 1969 and 1970 instrument clusters are NOT the same!!! Sources like Ebay and others are selling instrument clusters and saying that they are 1969/1970 items. They are not. Yes, they will interchange but they are correct only for their particular years. Look at the pictures above. The main difference is that the size of the opening around the steering column is different. The 69 cluster is smaller due to the fact that the 69 Mustangs had a complete solid steering column with the ignition switch on the lower metal dash. The 70s had a larger opening with a cylindrical plastic cover installed over the turn signal switch wiring and the ignition switch, which was mounted on the steering column. Yes, this also means that the lower metal dashes of these two years are different as well. Also notice the 69 cluster has two small screws below the two larger gauge pods and the 70 does not. This difference also requires the correct year lower steering column cover. They are different as well. These differences exist in all of the 69 and 70 clusters, whether they are woodgrain deluxe units or the standard interior units you see here. Please be aware of these differences when you are purchasing replacement clusters for your particular car.
 
1969 - 1970 Steering Wheels
1969 Standard 2 spoke
1969 RimBlow 3 spoke
1970 Standard 2 spoke
1970 RimBlow 3 spoke
   
1970 Deluxe 2 spoke
 
 
The steering wheels are also different. The 69 2 spoke wheels are perfectly round and use a lower horn ring to honk the horn. The 70 2 spoke steering wheels are oval for more leg room and the horns honk by pushing the ends of the padded center. All of the deluxe 3 spoke steering wheels are the rim blow type and woodgrain rims. The 69 center pads have a series of small round buttons in the spokes while the 70 center pads have a single long two piece insert in each spoke.
 
Gauge Pod Arrangement
 
Standard Gauges with Tachometer
Without factory tachometer, the gauges were arranged from left to right: Ammeter, Speedometer, Fuel/Temp gauge combo, oil pressure.
Tachometer equipped interiors were arranged from left to right: Temp, Speedometer with Trip Odometer, Tachometer, Fuel. The ammeter and oil pressure gauge is deleted and an oil pressure warning light and charge indicator light moves to the lower tachometer face.
 
 
Standard and Deluxe Gauges
 
Standard Gauges
Deluxe Gauges
 
 
Beware when purchasing. Here is an example of standard gauges
incorrectly installed in a woodgrain cluster.
 
 
Standard Interiors. These interiors had black camera case instrument panels that were flatter or more recessed than the deluxe units. The guages and extension inserts were black. The speedometers had only 10 mile increments. Speedometers without tachometer had the high beam indicator as a small red horse at top center. If equipped with tachometers, the speedometers had trip odometers and the high beam indicator was at top center of the tachometer.

Deluxe Interiors. These interiors had woodgrain instrument panels that were thicker than standard panels bringing the woodgrain closer to the driver. The woodgrain deluxe front panels are a two piece unit with the woodgrain attached to the plastic panel by metal tabs that insert through square openings and twisted to hold the woodgrain metal applique tight to the panel. The gauges and inserts were gray blue in color. The speedometers had 5 mile graduations on the dial. Speedometers without tachometer had the high beam indicator as a small red dot at top center. If equipped with tachometers, the speedometers had trip odometers and the high beam indicator was at top center of the tachometer.

Deluxe woodgrain: The Deluxe interiors came in two different shades of teakwood; light and dark. The Ford parts book refers to the light teakwood clock panels as applicable "before 1/6/69" and the dark teakwood as "from 1/6/69". With January 6, 1969 being the break off point, some of the later 69 units would have been dark.
 
Light Teak Dark Teak
 
Clock Equipped Interiors
 
The clocks for the standard interiors were small rectangular units with a black face with a small maplight and grille just above the clock. With the clock delete option but maplight, there was a small rectangular plate with a horse emblem where the clock was placed. The clocks for the deluxe interiors were larger round units with the gray face and the maplight option was on the under side of the woodgrain panel. 1970 offered a clock delete option for deluxe interiors where the passenger side woodgrain panel was solid with no clock opening.
 
Standard Passenger Panel
Standard Clock Panel
Standard Clock Delete Panel
Deluxe Clock Panel
Deluxe Clock Delete Panel
 
Instruent Panel Circuit Boards
 
Printed Circuit Board for Gauges without Tachometer
CIRCUIT BOARD: The printed circuit boards of these clusters should be replaced with new ones. This is highly recommended if possible. Over time, these get fragile but mainly the two plastic sheets that hold the runners can separate. This leaves open the possibility of accidental shorts or runner breakage. "In the old days," jumper wires were just soldered across breaks to complete the circuit. Also the runners at the harness connector can become loose and move out of alignment causing mysterious bad connections. A new circuit board will eliminate this problem and they are available from many vendors. The tach and non-tach clusters are different so be sure you acquire the correct one for your Mustang.

NOTE: The tach and non-tach Mustangs were different in more than just the instrument arrangement. The entire wiring harness assemblies were different including the instrument cluster main harness, dash to engine feed, dash to alternator, and printed circuit board. Swapping between a tach and non-tach instrument cluster is not simple.
 
 
SPECIAL NOTE: Be absolutely certain that you center the gauges in the metal housing when you tighten the brass nuts on the back. The posts of the gauges should not touch the sides of the gauge openings of the cluster housing or the gauges will either short out or read full when you turn on the key. Originally, there were small rectangular stiff paper inserts slipped over the gauge posts to help hold them centered while the printed circuit board and brass nuts were installed. These can become loose fitting or get lost over time. The best way to verify the gauges are centered after the printed circuit board is installed is to unplug the Constant Voltage Regulator, then, using an ohmeter, test continuity between each gauge post and the metal housing. If you get a reading, then a gauge post is possibly touching the edge of the opening and will cause problems.
 
Underdash Courtesy Lights
 
1969 Courtesy Lights
1970 Courtesy Lights
 
The underdash courtesy lights also differ between 1969 and 1970. The 1970 units seem hard to find of late.
According to the Ford Master Parts catalog, they are the same as 70 and 71 Torino's.
 
Consoles
 
1969 Deluxe Console
1970 Deluxe Console
There are also differences in the consoles of the 1969 and 1970 Mustangs. The photos above show the differences. The 69 consoles had the inserts to allow you to place the seat belt buckles inside for convenience. Again this also shows that there were differences in the seat belts of the two years. The 1969 seat belts had separate belts for the lap and shoulder and the buckles were larger. The 1970 buckles were smaller and used the "uni-lock" system, where the shoulder belt came across and down to latch into the lap belt buckle. There was no storage area thus leaving a flat area in the console top. The 69 consoles also had a cigarette lighter just below the console lid facing the radio where the 70 did not. The console tops will interchange with the bottoms so often there is confusion as to which console you may have or be looking at. All 69 and 70 Shelby GT's had the 69 console, since the 70 Shelbys were left-over and re-serial numbered 69s. The console tops differed also between standard and automatic transmissions. The shifter opening on the automatics had shorter inside walls than the standard transmission units. This is because the standard shift cars had a thinner chrome bezel surrounding the rubber shift boot and the automatic shifters had a thicker chrome bezel surrounding the shift lever. These differences apply to deluxe and standard interior consoles. The console lids were plain flat with a slight ridge running the length of the lid. Often you may see ribbed lids and these came from Cougars and Shelbys. Interestingly, the Ford Parts Catalog shows there were some console lids that had catches to hold the lid closed. From 9/2/69 to 12/1/69, consoles came with magnetic catches on the lids. From 12/1/69, the lids came with a "positive catch", meaning there was a button to push to lift the lid.
The 69 and 70 consoles also came in standard and deluxe versions. The standard interior consoles were plain black and the deluxe interior consoles had woodgrained inserts like the photos shown above. As with the deluxe instrument panels, the woodgrain was light teak for cars up to 1/6/69 and dark wood afterwards.
Door Panels
 
1969 Deluxe
1970 Deluxe
1969 Standard
1970 Standard
Here you can see the differences between the door panels of the 69 and 70 Mustangs. The 69 driver side deluxe panel was equipped with a rectangular cutout for the chrome bezel that held the remote mirror adjusting knob. The 70 deluxe door panel used a smaller round cutout for a chrome bezel nut and inside support washer to hold the adjusting knob. The deluxe door panel handle cups are different, 69's being longer than the 70's. If purchasing new door panels, be sure you are getting the correct year for your car.
 
Instrument Gauge Applications and Part Numbers
 
Below is a chart of the different gauges, their applications, part numbers, face color, and whether they pertain to deluxe or standard interiors. This information is based on the Ford parts books of the day so "grande" was used often to denote the deluxe interior for easy reference since all Grande's were deluxe interior.
 
Year Instrument Description Part Number Color Standard Deluxe
             
1969 Speedometer with tripodometer C9ZZ-17255-B Black X  
1969/1970 Speedometer Shelby GT 140mph with trip odometer C9ZZ-17255-N Gray Blue   X
1969/1970 Speedometer without trip odometer 10 mile graduations D0ZZ-17255-A Black X  
1969/1970 Speedometer Grande no trip odometer 5 mile graduations D0ZZ-17255-A Gray Blue   X
1970 Speedometer with trip odometer 10 mile graduations D0ZZ-17255-C Black X  
1969/1970 Speedometer Mach 1 with trip odometer 5 mile graduations D0ZZ-17255-D Gray Blue   X
1969/1970 Ammeter All except Grande and Shelby C9ZZ-10850-A Black X  
1969/1970 Ammeter Grande except Shelby C9ZZ-10850-B Gray   X
1969/1970 Oil Pressure All without tachometer except Grande C9ZZ-9B308-A Black X  
1969/1970 Oil Pressure Grande without tachometer C9ZZ-9B308-B Gray   X
1969/1970 Temperature All except Grande no tachometer C9ZZ-10883-A Black X  
1969/1970 Temperature Grande without tachometer C9ZZ-10883-D Gray   X
1969/1970 Temperature All except Grande with tachomter C9ZZ-10883-B Black X  
1969/1970 Temperature Grande with tachometer C9ZZ-10883-C Gray   X
1969/1970 Fuel / Temp All except Grande C9ZZ-10B966-A Black X  
1969/1970 Fuel / Temp Grande C9ZZ-10B966-B Gray   X
1969/1970 Tachometer 8000 RPM All except Grande C9ZZ-17360-A Black X  
1969/1970 Tachometer 8000 RPM Grande C9ZZ-17360-B Gray   X
1969/1970 Fuel All with tachometer except Grande C9ZZ-9305-B Black X  
1969/1970 Fuel All with tachometer Grande C9ZZ-9305-C Gray   X