Merle Coggins Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 I got a quote from Scott Young Auto Instrument Face Restoration yesterday. $550 to restore my speedo, oil, temp, amp, and fuel gauge faces. OUCH!! And I have to disassemble them and send only the face plates to him. Maybe that's not out of line, I don't know what all he puts in to doing them, but it seems kind of steep. So, unless I can come up with a less expensive alternative, I'll probably cave in and send them to him. This brings up an interesting question... How does the speedo come apart to remove the gauge face? It appears that the corner eyelets are what holds the front bezel to the case. Do I have to grind off the eyelets to dissassemble it? Then how do I reassemble it? Where do I find replacement eyelets to hold it together again? Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm's Coupe Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 That sounds about the going rate for restoration shops on the gauges. Your amp gauge looks almost like new. Those gauges look like the ones on the cars. You should be able to bend the tabs on the corners and remove and clean the face on the amp, oil, temp and fuel. If they won't clean up good, I'd look for some with good paint and clean them up. You see them selling on ebay and swap meets. Can't help on the speedo. That looks like it might be hard to get apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm's Coupe Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Merle, Can you show a close up of the back on the speedo? That thing has to come apart somehow without messing up the bezel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Gengo Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 I needed the outside ring for my truck. You can just drill the rings out and it will come apart. I don't know where you can get new rings from but when you screw it back in the dash it will stay together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm's Coupe Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 I needed the outside ring for my truck. You can just drill the rings out and it will come apart. I don't know where you can get new rings from but when you screw it back in the dash it will stay together. In that case you can probably get new stainless rings (metal grommets/eyelets) at the hardware store or a fabric shop. They come in all sizes. They're easy to put on with the tool for them. Works like a pair of pliers and cost around $20 for the tool. Just put the grommet in and squeeze them together. Or, like rich said the screws alone will hold it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Evans Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hey...I sold that business to Scott Young back in 1979 for a whopping $500. It included hundreds of different dash glasses and all the art work I had done and the silk screens. My butt is still sore from kicking myself. Here's a photo of some of the lenses I made and sold. I have some much better looking gauges and speedo if you are interested. Just PM me. Reg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Furman Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Merle, When I went thru the same thing you are doing, I did as follows: 1. Bought NOS speedometer with "0" miles. About $100 2. Bought NOS guages. About $30 each. (As someone else said, your amp guage is just fine the way it is) 3.Tossed the old speedometer (actually, still have it) 4. Drilled out the ring grommets on the guage bezel. 5. Cleaned the bezel glass. 6. Rechromed the bezel. About $25 7. Repainted the black and white parts of the guage housing with rattle cans. About $6 8. Installed NOS guages and reassembled guage assembly using ring grommets and tool Don Coatnet referred to. About $5 Grand total for me was under $300. Prices may have gone up a bit over the past few years, but you only need three of the four gauges. I hope this helps. Charles Furman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm's Coupe Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Merle, If you want to try the speedo yourself, I have the tool for the rings. Also have several sizes of the rings. Don't know if I have your size though. They are dirt cheap though at the store. Once you get to the point of reassembly just give me a call and you can bring the speedo over to put the rings on. Will only take a few minutes to put them on. It will take longer to get the tool out of the drawer than to put them on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted February 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Thanks guys, That's the kind of feedback I needed. I know the Amp gauge looks good in the picture, and it's definitely the best of the bunch, but if I had the rest restored, it would look like crap next to the others, so it got included. However, if I was getting other good used gauges, it would stay. the Heat gauge looks the worst now, but most of that is my fault. I had the gauge out to see if it would clean up. With a VERY light wipe with a cloth the black coating just fell off. After that I reassembled the gauges and left them alone. I have a friend that has a sign and vehicle graphics business. She's done some other vinyl decal work for me. I wondered if I was able to scan the faces if she'd be able to make decals for the faces. I'd then clean and repaint them and apply the new face decals. Do you think that would work and look OK? I suppose I could stop out at her shop for her opinion too. I'm not building a show truck here, but I don't want to get done and have the gauges look like $h!t either. At least now I have other options to pursue. (PM coming after sending this, Reg.) Thank, Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Muma Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 I received a quote from United Speedmeter Service for $875 to restore my guages. This actually included putting in modern movements that looked like the old and work on 12v. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Merle, If your friend could scan and reproduce these faces in vinyl stickum' I'll bet there'd be a lot of takers on both the car and truck forum. Then all a feller'd have to do is dissassemble his gauges and stick a new face on 'em. Wow! I'll take a set of them, myself. I can't believe the prices I hear quoted on this thread. There are instrument service places that convert old car clocks to quartz and put new faces on for about one hundred bucks, and these guys want more than that just to do new faces? Mebby I'm in the wrong hobby. :( . . . or mebby I'm just cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dohr Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 These guys seem to do a good job of resto. Link to some work they did on a 49. http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/sretro_mopar.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted February 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 OK, I have my friend working on duplicating the gauge faces in vinyl, but the Heat gauge is too bad to get a good copy. However, Reg was kind enough to sell me a good used set that he had. Now I'll have a better one to copy. And I'm covered either way. One good used set (temp gauge bad, but the face is good) and possible a set refurbished in vinyl. Now for the problem. I got the speedo bezel and glass off by drilling out, and chiseling off, the eyelets at the corners. But how does the needle come off? If I could get the needle off the face comes off easy with 2 screws. She says that she can do the speedo face too, so I want to get it apart. HELP!!! Thanks, Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Merle, Most speedo heads I have worked on use a needle that just press-fits onto the shaft. Try a thin needle nose to hold the shaft, and wiggle/pull on the needle a little. I've never had trouble getting one off. They're much like the hands on automotive clocks, if that's any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Muma Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 You can get gauge pointer pullers from many sources. Here's an example: http://www.gms-instruments.nl/dswmedia/pdfcatalogue/_pdffolder_/gauge%20point%20puller.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red48b1c Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Last night I was just given a gauge cluster with a functional temp gauge by a stranger at a cruise-in (!), which prompted me to pull the gauge cluster, which prompted me to want to pretty up the gauge faces. I'll use the best of either set if I have to, but the vinyl overlays sound good to me, and I'd buy a set if I knew where to get them (1948 style). Did anyone ever get repros made that I could buy? Also, does the glass come out of the gauge cluster? It looks to me like drilling the metal grommets at the ends will only cause the housing to seperate from the face/glass assembly. I need to clean the glass and there is gunk between the glass and the face between the gauges. By the way, I am also now probably going to replace the main wiring harness, and I need to replace the oil gauge line. Any tips on the oil gauge line? This thing is cascading into a major job - I'll probably wish I'd just bought an aftermarket temp gauge and hung it under the dash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red48b1c Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 I found another thread where the source for the decals wasn't willing to make them for everyone, so I'll go with the best gauge faces I have. Looks like the oil pipe should be steel, perhaps with a rubber flex piece in it, though mine didn't have one (it did have a short steel jumper, maybe where the rubber piece should be.) I don't know if I'll go back with a rubber jumper or not, it worked fine without one for the last 23 years that my dad had the truck. And once I removed the eyelets the glass DOES come out (I tried it on my new "spare" cluster first). So now all I have to do is some painting on the cluster housing parts, build and install a new wiring harness, get some steel tubing, and the truck will run again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 My gauges are ready to go back in the dash. This and the dash wiring connecdtiosns are all I have left before my own truck is roadworthy. Got a working fuel gauge from Dale Uhrich and enough decent gauge faces from parts trucks and other sources (Thanks, Allan) to make up a full set. Had to change faces on my fuel gauge - no small fete for a guy with numb hands and no fine motor skills - man, those screws are SMALL! I drilled out my gauge grommets and rattle canned the gauge mask with flat black - looks good to my eye. Same with the speedo. I have an extra speedo head if anyone needs one - nice and free but the face is crazed. As David Mumma said, you don't need to fool with grommets. I kept my gugew cluster together with rubber bands until the screws are in the dash, then it's no prpblem and I just cut the bands off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 What is the easiest way to check if a guage works. I know that the oil gauge requires pressure but the others??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted October 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Temp gauge - put the bulb end in a pot of hot water. Use another thermometer to compare readings Amp gauge - pass current through it. Connect it in series with a light bulb and see if the needle moves. Fuel gauge - more difficult. Connect power to the correct terminal. The sender treminal needs a variable resistance to ground for the gauge to work. As I recall the resistance in the sender is between 10 and 90 ohms. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Fuel gauges are easy to test. No variable resister needed. Just hook them up like the wiring schematic shows - one wire from the gauge to the sender and another from the power supply to the gauge. Only one other thing you must do for this to work is run a third jumper wire from the sender ground to the gauge base. This part of the circuit is not shown on the schematic and is sort of "assumed." Ran me in circles till I figured it out, then it worked fine for me. JCW's $20 dollar sender works just fine wiith Pilothouse gauges, btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big50Dodge Posted October 17, 2008 Report Share Posted October 17, 2008 There must be some sort of procedure for making a stencil or something to mask off the areas to not paint. Once that is determined - it's just a matter of scuffing up the surface and using a quality paint. Anyone know what the procedure is for making the stencils..? What material is good for making the stencil..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 In the "for what it's worth" department, I had a fuel gauge with a perfect face that was inop. Got a good gauge from Dale Uhrich that had a bad face, and was able to swap gauge faces by carefully pulling the two small screws. Now if I can do this with my numb hands, it should be doable for others as well. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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