The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Gas gauge needle sticking

Have read several posts about replacing the gas gauge, and then discovering that the needle on the new gauge sits up higher than the original. I now fall in to that group. Several people have said the 'fixed' it, but nobody really goes into specific detail.

1. How do you fix the needle so that it doesnt stick anymore...specifically.

Old gauges fit together nice and snug but it looked like someone had 'crimped' the edge of the bezel to the housing. I dont know if I need to crimp my new gauges or not.

2. To crimp or not to crimp? And if so, how exactly do I do it without A) scratching my new bezel, or B) breaking the glass?

Thanks all in advance...
KINGLONESTAR

Chris, I replied to your PM in more detail but I'll leave the info here as well for others.

1. The needles are thin metal. You can simply bend it with a pair of tweezers. I'd bend from the base so you don't distort the visible portion of the needle or crack the paint. My fuel new gauge was slightly different than the original and hit the lower edge of the painted bezel too. I ended up bending it down at the base to clear the bezel then up a little further down the needle to clear the gauge face. My ammeter needle still sticks a bit...nothing a tap on the glass doesn't free up tho.

Also, while we're on the topic of the fuel gauge... when you first fire up the truck with the new gauge in place, if it's off, you'll need to adjust the sending unit float arm by bending it a little to read higher or lower.

2. Crimp. It holds everything in place before mounting them in the dash. I used a set of pliers with tape wrapped around the teeth to avoid scratching them. Ended up scratching them anyway but the crimped edge is hidden by the dash so it doesn't really matter. The glass sits up around the top section of the bezel so I doubt you'll break it.


Here are the blog entries I made when I did mine...
Pt.1 - http://rustyfiftyone.com/gremlin-hunting/
Pt.2 - http://rustyfiftyone.com/248/

Don't know if the bezels on your '50 are like my '54 ...

I crimped the new reproduction chrome bezels when I refurbished the gauges on my '54. I crimped the tabs, plus I bent the edge of the bezel opposite the tabs. I wouldn't crimp the edge if I did the job again, and I probably wouldn't bend the tabs as much as I did. It's just one more thing to screw up or to pop the chrome. Too much crimp makes it difficult to separate if you need to work on the gauges again / too little may cause the cluster to fall apart when removing.

You can hold the bezel and glass to the housing with blue tape while you insert the cluster into the dash.

I crimped the tabs on the bezels with narrow pliers. Protect new paint on housing with blue tape.
> Crimp in progress
> Crimp completed

Gauge refurbish album. I didn't have the confidence to reface the odometer.
> Gauge refurbish album

I can't help you with the gas gauge needle touching the glass. My 12v 1954 reproduction gas gauge is "taller" than the original, but it doesn't touch the glass. I was not successful in bending the supports. I stopped fearing that I would break it. That was a new experience ... I usually break something, then buy another.

- Lonnie

Now that I think about it, in addition to bending the needle a bit I had to file down the edge of the bezel for the 47-53 gauges right above the word GASOLINE. You could probably file enough away for the needle to clear but I wanted to avoid the permanent alterations as much as possible so I opted to bend the needle a bit.

Lonnie, it doesn't touch the glass, it hits the bezel at the base of the needle.

...I need to update my blog post.

I cut apiece of gasket paper and glued it to the back of the bezel
...pic...
...Pic2...



I think you could just put your thumb on the back of the bezel and give it a little push. Slight adjustment should clear the needle but I haven't tried it.


I Did not crimp. Installed with a couple of pieces of tape.
As many times as I've had the thing apart I'm glad I didn't crimp.