The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1952 GMC Panel Truck - "Army Ambulance"

March/April 2022

I purchased the Classic gauges early on in the build. Liked the ivory face and red needles. My originals were toast, no glass, face paint all cracked. I started buying parts as soon as I got the car. Every time I got a little extra money I'd add to the inventory. I now know that was not the way to go. Classic Instruments came out with gauges not long ago that are original in appearance. I would have liked them. Anyway, I wasn't looking forward to the install. working with universal brackets behind the dash in such a confined space with miniature nuts and lots of wires in the way and my large hands is not a good combination. You all know what I'm talking about. But I got it done and am happy with the results.

If you zoom in on that pic you can see all the cracks in the steering wheel. A tapered Dremel bit made fairly easy work of notching out every one of them. Talk about a nasty black mess! Nest 2 pics show how I filled in all the cracks. Used PC7 2 part epoxy putty. Then a couple of days forming and sanding and filling in pin holes til I had it back close to original. Son Clayton said it needed to be painted white. Done. I didn't like that at all. That big ole white steering wheel stuck out like a sore thumb. Then I had the idea it should be the darker blue of the exterior belt line. Done. That was just as bad as the white! So settled on body blue. You'll see it in later photos. You can also see the Vintage Air bezel under the dash painted body blue. I also cut the cables off the back of the choke and throttle knobs then glued them back into the dash. I just think it looks cool as original.