Thanks to all of you that provided help for my vdo guage troubleshooting.
The three gauges now work, the cht wasn't working because the two wires were
bridged where I had spliced into the wires to add length (oops) and the oil
pressure wasn't working because the sender was dead.  I really wish that I
had checked the sender before installing it because i have it mounted
straight into the block and had to mess with the engine tin to get the old
one out.  The bad sender was new and unabused so apparently they need to be
checked before use.  The test that would have confirmed the oil pressure
senders effectiveness was to test for continuity between the each terminal
and the sender body.

Now I just need to learn to keep my eyes on the road and off of the
gauges....

Jonathan Poole