Sure sounds like you have a short in the steering column. You might want to pull the wheel off and have a good look in there.

Yes, there is a "sport cluster" with the guages and tach, keep your eyes open for one in the yards.

An after-market tach will cost you roughly $50, easy enough to install. I have yet to hook mine up to the connectors in the engine compartment: mine runs off the coil and is line-fused per instructions that came with the tach. I'm holding out for a sport cluster, so for now, the after-market works fine.

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PM me if you can't find the fuse box in the junk yard: I have one from my 2.0 parts truck, and I'm pretty sure yours' is a 2.0. As with any really old vehicle, the harnesses can get pretty nasty with gunk. Investing $7 in a can of electrical contact cleaner might prove beneficial.