The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1951 Chevy 3100/3600 Project

With progress on my cab moving along, I decided I'd better get some of the interior things rehabbed and ready to be installed someday. I brought home my gauges and ordered a number of restoration parts from a local vendor. Now, my truck is a '51 and as such it had an 80 mph speedo in it. The truck came with another pair of gauges that were not in the best shape, but I took both speedos apart so I could pick the best pieces to use. As it turned out, the decal set I bought (which was advertised for 1947-1953 Chevy trucks) came with a 90 mph speedo decal. This situation seems to be an issue with the various vendors I look at. At any rate, I went ahead with what I had. I plan to rehab the pieces I have for the 80 mph speedo, too, once I get a proper decal for the face plate.

I had a lot of fun with the odometer. I don't wish that little project on anybody that doesn't have the patience of Job. The decal instructions say to apply them directly over the old painted numbers on the wheels. That would ensure the numbers all line up properly. In my case, one of the odometers had teeth missing from the gear on the end, and the other odometer's wheels were stuck on the shaft. Also, the old painted numbers were flaking off the wheels so I had to scrape them all clean before applying the new numbers.

Since I wanted to reset my odo to zero, I jumped in with both feet and took them both apart. I always wanted to know how they worked anyway. For the uninitiated, each wheel has a dimple on one side that indicates the "0" position. Between each wheel is a thin metal plate with a small gear. The teeth on those little gears are different on each side so getting them installed in the correct way is critical. The wheels are held on the center shaft with washer-shaped keepers that are pressed onto each end. Only remove one of them so that the wheels stay in the same position on the shaft. I removed the keeper on the right (gear) end as it is much closer to the end of the shaft. Getting that keeper back onto the shaft in such a way that it is not too tight or too loose is challenging to say the least.

The end result is less than perfect as the zeroes don't line up just right. This is due to my application of the decals (not getting them in exactly the same spot on each wheel) and not the wheels themselves. I'm going to live with it until something better comes along.

The steel body of the speedo was prepped inside and out for repaint. On the outside I used Dupli-Color #SS100 "Stainless Steel" to replicate the galvanized look. The inside was repainted with Krylon #2437 "Satin Almond" which I found in my wife's stash of spray paint. The pressed ring that fits between the gauge body and the glass was originally painted in Chevy's "Champagne" color (I think that's what it's called). My son found a reference to Rust-Oleum #7272830 "Dark Metallic Bronze" right here in the Stovebolt forum. I found it to be a wonderful match to the original color.

I used a new chrome bezel and found that the bronze painted inner ring would not fit inside it as it should. The inner ring's flange was too wide across about 45% of its circumference. A short time with a good file took care of the problem. Next, the replacement gaskets that I got are not the same shape as the originals. The originals were round in cross section so they sat down inside the bezel. The new gaskets are square in cross section so they sit proud in the bezel. With the glass and inner ring in place, you can't push the gauge body down far enough to seat it all together and crimp the bezel. My solution was to take a razor blade and shave one the outer corner of the gasket to a 45 degree angle so that it sat down inside the bezel.

The speedo is done and I'm most of the way through doing the other gauge now so more on that soon.