The yard here doesn't have any civics last time I checked but there's probably a couple somewhere in the surrounding towns.

No check engine lights so far.

As far as troubleshooting a bad connection, do you mean on the gauge cluster itself or wherever the tach connects to the coil?

This may not be related but when the engine's warm and at normal idle if I push the brake pedal the revs drop 100 to 200 rpm and then go back up when I release the brake. I've noticed dimming of the interior lights when you push the brake on other cars which doesn't happen on this car but not a noticeable drop in revs. I thought it might be plug wires (all the bat. cables, grounds, plugs are new) but does that sound to you like a problem with or under the dist. cap? If so I won't bother messing with the tach.

Thanks again.