The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors gauges

hi all just pulled out my gauges today and am wondering how you all restore yours. ive seen places that do but how uch does that cost or is easy to buy a resurfaceing kit? thanks jake

Jake, there are several answers to your questions as well as questions to be answered. What are you driving? A daily driver or an ocassional driver that you want to look real nice?

Personally I have used the reface kits and they have held up very very good. Its expensive to have someone screen print them like originals but it can be done. Also ask around. There are still some NOS guages floating around from time to time and also some nice looking old guages or at least the faces look nice.

The most expensive one will probably be the temp guage if the one your using is original with the capillary tube on the end of it. They can get expensive to rebuild but I found a NEW repop for less than some vendors want to rebuild yours or exchange with you.
I have had restoration work done near me by D&M Restorations in Greenville, S.C. and Mike does really good work. Your speedometer could get expensive if its bad. I refaced mine then paid $135 to get have it reconditioned which included a NOS "head" for it.
I suggest taking them apart and clean/paint them up yourself and shop around for what you need to replace or rebuild.
Hope all this helps. I'm sure others will be along in a little but if I can help anymore drop me a line.

now when resurfaceing does the old letters need to come off or not? or do you layer over?

The old letters come off. If its for show, you should go to Jim Carter, or one of the many other dealers and have it done by a pro. If you've had some experience rebuilding on your own, or its a daily driver, then by all means give it a try. Cecil..........

Most of the vendors sell the little vinyl decal kits (under $12.)that can be used to cover the faded faces of your gauges. If your temp gauge is still intact and operational the kit will work wonders. The trick to applying the stick-backed decals is to lightly wet the face of the gauge with same water so the decal can be slid under the needles and properly positioned. A q-tip will squeege out the water/air bubbles and you'll be good-to-go.

Actually the solution is a glass of water with a couple drops of dish washing detergent added. Alcohol is used to wipe down the surface of the old gauge as a prep.

I used the decal kit from Classic Parts of America and found it to be a great way to make the gauges look like new!

Dave

ok but there is just a tiny bit of rust on the face is it to delacate to sand blast or should i just put on a rust converter? and do the kits come with a speedometer needle? thanks Jake

I did mine as they describe above and since I am doing my dash with some red accents I painted them to match. Follow Dave's advice and do it! If you screw it up start over you will only be out $11.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2559121240102454676CCyzbH

littleman: the speedometer needle does NOT come with kit but they are only about $3.50 maybe $4.00.
One word of caution putting on the decals, in addition to whats been said. You can use some fine sand paper to sand the guage faces....just TAKE YOUR TIME and be patient.
My tip>..be sure you do not have any "trash" on your fingers when handling the reface kit. SMALL particles will stick to the decal and when you put it on the guage face you will see it "poking" through and think you didn't clean, or left something on the guage face. These decal kits are nice and look good. I've had one on my 37 for about 9 years and its still looks great. Also most reface kits have TWO decals of the oil and temp. A temp that goes to 180 and 220 and an oil guage decal that goes from max of 30 or 40 to 60lb (if my memeory is correct)

If you are just getting started good you may want to consider making a donation to the Stovebolt Page for which JimCarter will give you a 10% discount all year AND JCarter only charges the ACTUAL shipping charges.
Good luck...take some pictures and share with us. We like pics.

little man,

In addition to the good advice above, if you will be applying decals yourself (it is not difficult), carefully strip the old paint from faces, rust treat the metal if necessary, prime the faces, seal the faces with a paint that somewhat matches the decal color, then apply the decal. This will keep rust from forming under the decal.

Also, you can leave the needles in place and paint them in place by "poking" the needle through a piece of paper that will lay between the needle and the gauge-face. The paper acts as a masking of the gauge face.

Tim

okay but do places sell needles for the cluster gauge? I can not find any. JAKE

I have seen 1947-1953 speedometer needles but not needles for gauges.