The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Gauge reface - "Remove gauge face plates"(?)

The instructions on the gauge refacing kit for my '54 says "Remove the gauge face from housing", then sand, paint, and apply the decal. The faces are held on with tiny rivets. I'm not comfortable drilling them out, then pounding new ones back into the delicate gauges. Has anyone removed the gauge faces as instructed and successfully reattached them? If not, how did you sand and paint the faces? The speedo unscrews, so no problem with it.

FYI decals are from The Truck Shop and from Classic Chevy Truck Parts. Both are the same decal. Classic Chevy told me that they buy theirs from Jim Carter - so decals from all three suppliers are the same. All have a flatter sheen than the originals.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie,

I removed the gauges from the housings.

Then, I carefully sanded the faces of each gauge, trying not to hurt/bend the needles (the speedometer needle can be removed, if you are a careful and a brave man).

Then, I covered the needles and painted the gauge-faces flat-black.

Then, I put a piece of newspaper over each gauge face and carefully poked the needles through the newspapers (I used Op-Ed pages of the newspaper; I probably should have used the funnies/cartoons pages).

Then, I spray painted the needles bright white.

Then, I applied the decal to the painted gauge faces.

While the paint was drying on the gauges, I painted the inside on the gauge housings (a light green color that I found in Ace Hardware - an excellent match to the original light green on the inside of the 1954 gauge housing). I'll look for the brand and color code, if you are interested.

I found that the speedometer decal was the hardest to properly apply to the prepared/painted speedometer-gauge face.

If you wait for Denny to work on his 54 truck, he will probably post a much better way to do this (I am an amateur - Denny is the pro).

When putting the decals on my 52 guages I found that it worked good to be sure the guage face was wet/damp so I could work with the decals just a little. ANY tiny grain of dust/dirt will show. I had one but when installed it is not noticeable.
Give it a spin. You can do it.

EDIT: here is a pic of mine.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r19/LutherParris/52Panel/picsforphotobucket001.jpg

Maybe I'm reading the instructions wrong. I thought they meant to remove the face of the gauge from the body of the gauge ... eg separate the face of the gas gauge from the electrical movement of the gas gauge. That's the part that I'm uncomfortable with. You didn't remove the face from the gauge did you?

Tomorrow, I'll hold the face; avoid the needle; and lightly sand/steel wool the face; then paint. Should be able to attach the decals on Sunday or Monday. I plan on brushing flat white onto the needles.

Tim - I used paint from a hobby store for the inside of the clusters -- looks like '55 Chevy car turquois. I used Rustoleum Satin Hunter Green for the "stripes" inside the clusters. They look pretty near original. Still searching for material for the cardboard tubes and colored lenses for the hi-beam and turn signal light baffles in the speedo housing.

Alvin - I had read a previous post by you regarding dust nibs under the decals. That will be my biggest hurdle.

Luckily I have one or two non-operating gauges of each type and four sets of decals, so I can practice. I have to reface my new temp and gas gauges because they have more gloss than the decals.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie,

Would you please post a photo of the inside of your housings? The paint in mine was dull and flaked-off. I'd like to see the stripes.

When I refurbished mine I took pictures along the way and Peg posted it as a tech tip. Check it out to see if it gives you any help. John

TechTip on Gauge Decal Replacements.

++ 53John3100 -
I am using your post and pics to guide me. Thanks.

++ Tim -
Here are pictures of my '54 gauge project so far, plus a question at the bottom of the post. I haven't completed the gauges yet. Pics include two sets of gauge clusters and speedos.

Click for slideshow of my gauge resto pics.

Click for album of the same pics.

> GREEN STRIPES
The speedo and the gauge cluter had green stripes on the inside of the housings. Possibly to provide a green glow to the gauge faces. I have a stencil of green stripes inside speedo housing. Let me know if you want it. Forgot to cut a stencil for gauge cluster housing. Eyeballed the outline with tape. You can use the notch in the gauge housing to position the stripe. Painted with Rustoleum Satin Hunter Green, because that's what I had. Pretty good match.

> HOUSING AND INNER BEZEL GREEN PAINT
Painted the lighter green inside the housings and the backs of the inner bezels with Model Master "Fifties Again" '55 Chevy car turquois rattle can paint from a hobby store. The original housings had a slightly darker shade of the turquois green inside the housings than on the backs of the inner bezels. This was a good compromise for both. Center of the gauge cluster housing is bare. After blasting the gauge housing, I sprayed the center with varnish (I was out of rattle can laquer) then painted the rest of the housing. Sanded the varnish off to the bare metal under the gas gauge. No pics of the newly painted gauge housings yet.

> INNER BEZEL BLACK PAINT
I will paint the fronts of the inner bezels with Rustoleum Flat Black or with Dupont A-5099S Satin Black Bumper and Trim rattle can paint. Depends on which matches the sheen of the gauge decals. The original gauge faces and bezels were about the same sheen as the Dupont trim paint. I may use an air brush on the black parts of the back of the inner bezels.

Note black ring around bottom of the center bullet in gauge inner bezel and center bullet of speedo. The black accents make the bullets visually stand out. I will spray the gauge inner bezel black, then cover the bezel with a stencil that exposes the bullet before spraying it with Rustoleum Aluminum paint. I'll try to paint the ring on the speedo bullet by hand.

> CARDBOARD TUBES AND LENSES
The original cardboard tubes are attached to the speedo housing with the green interior. This is the original paint. A broken tube lies in the speedo housing with the incorrect silver interior. A pic of the red and green lenses is also in the album/slideshow.

>>> QUESTION ABOUT THE BACK OF THE SPEEDO BULLET:
I blasted the speedo bullet without photographing or recording the color(s) of the back of it. What color is the inside/back of your speedo bullet? Does it have the black outline on the inside similar to the gauge cluster bezel?

I completed refacing my gauges and replacing the temp and gas gauges with reproductions. I'm real pleased with the results.

The decals for my '54 may be thicker than the ones that Alvin used on his '52. Dust was not a problem with my decals. I found that a rubber eraser on a wooden pencil was good to squeeze out water and to get a good seal. I refaced the new gauges and the old ones to get a uniform look. I didn't have the nerve to reface the odometer.

I used flat black rattle can paint on the gauge faces and the inner bezels. Brushed flat white on the gauge needles. See pics in previous post of the inside of my gauge clusters. Bought new chrome plated outer bezels.

I did not add plastic lenses to the cardboard tubes for the high beam and turn signal indicators. I painted the bulbs with red and green rattle can paint.

The needle on the new 12v fuel gauge does not return to Empty when the ignition is off. Gravity pulls it past Full. But it works. I don't have to keep a gas can in the bed anymore!

Here are the gauges in the daytime.

And here they are at night.

Thanks to all who helped me.

Very nice job! gain any ground on the dash lettering yet?

Greg -

Thanks. I'm happy with the gauges.

No luck with the '54 dash letters yet. I've been working on a dozen little to mid size projects getting ready for the Winter Park Concours d'Elegance this weekend. I'll resume searching for a logo next week. I feel pretty sure that the vinyl sign shop that made my valve cover decal can cut letters for the dash if I can get a logo.

Wow, that looks great!

It's a nice feeling having a working gas gauge isn't it?

Thanks, Christopher.

Yes - a whole new world opened up since I know how much gas is in the tank! I was glad to get a working temp gauge in the cluster, too - and get rid of the funky aftermarket temp gauge that hung below my dash.