Some were cheap junk gauges and some were better quality gauges. I've had mechanical oil pressure and temp gauges fail, didn't bother to check if the problem was the gauges or the senders, just ripped them out and started fresh. Had a mechanical oil pressure gauge fail on my Monte last year, scared the piss outta me and I have a bad mechanical temp gauge sitting on my run stand right now. Never really bothered with electric gauges until I used them on my 77 Camaro because I wanted keep everything as close to factory as possible as far as wiring and dash. Have to say, didn't think I would but I like the electric gauges more.what was the brand of the mechanical pumps and what was the cause of their failure. We ran mechanical gauges in all the circle track cars we built and through all the crashes where front and rear clips were bent no gauge ever failed.