Projects Save The Gauges

Max,
Concise direct and to the point as always

 

Nice work those look great ! Nothing ruins a nice old car like a cheese ball set of modern guages, and the vintage reproductions are cheaply made junk in my experience.

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Nice collection of gauges. It's great that you are trying to save the old gauges. The new SW are junk and are not worth buying.

 

Great post, thanks

 

Moriarity....of course....
Man I fell in love with those Eelco gauges . I don’t remember ever seeing a silver faced gauge. You wouldn’t part with some would you?
r


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Well, assuming you're talking about the removal of the bezels that wrap around the lip of the cup, I use some very simple hand tools. The ones that I use the most are these three...two pry tools & one jewelers hand roller. Like anything else, there are variations to the types of bezels. Because of the varying nature of the metal that the particular bezels are made from, some are easier than others. It is possible to remove & reinstall a wrap-around bezel without ruining it. And, like anything else, there is a learning curve. I ruined more than one. You place the gauge face down on a firm surface that will not mar the bezel (like a magazine on hard surface) & slowly start to pry the edge of the bezel away from the wall of the cup. I try to pry just enough so that I can "pop off" the bezel with my hands. The less you distort the edge of the bezel during the removal process means that you will have an easier time reapplying it (and it'll look better). I use the jeweler's roller to press & roll the bezel around the lip. It is important to remember that there definitely is a learning curve & that the bezel edge is not going to look like it did from the factory once it's reinstalled. But, you will never see that area once it's installed in your dash or gauge panel. I think there are machines out there that serve to ease the process, but who wants to make things easy? Like a lot of other restoration techniques, there's no magic to it, just the desire to do it & the realization that there's a learning curve. By the way, aside from that hand bent screwdriver, I got the pry tool & roller for real cheap on Ebay.


Also, although I usually just do this process for my own gauges, I did recently replace the bezels (and glass) from a couple of old Stewart Warner Wings gauges for a HAMB friend using the bezels from donor gauges. Who doesn't like a before & after shot?



Also, here is one of mine that I recently did (an old S/W Wings amps gauge), so you can see how the reinstalled bezel looks after it's hand rolled & kneaded & massaged with the hand roller. Not perfect, but completely acceptable for something you're really never going to see.

 

I have a nice gauge but when I asked one of the gauge restore guys he said he could not fix the broken tube

 

It has taken me a while, but I have finally assembled most of a set of gauges that I am satisfied with. I tried to make a complete set of Niehoff gauges with the same dial graphics and coffin pointer. Niehoff was made by Stewart Warner, and sold as the house brand at Napa stores. Unfortunately, they didn’t make a complete set of matching gauges. I had to fudge on the fuel gauge (it’s a military gauge out of a tank) and the tach. Also found a cool dash clock. Still looking for a vintage SW speedo that will kind of match.

 

Yes, Raven, Eelco did make those over-the -top silver faced gauges for a short period of time. They are very hard to come by, for sure. Professor Moriarity has ones in a box! Yikes! Here's a picture of three I have, mounted in an Eelco panel. Here are a few pictures of old ads, etc. that you'd be interested in seeing.

 

Here,s a 1935 Pontiac speedo that had shattered convex glass. Local thrift store just 1 kilometer away had a few old antique/junk project clocks for 5 euro each. One of those was perfect for the glass. Sold the remains of the junk clock for 15 euro . Went back and bought the other four junk clocks as well. Sold them all for BBQ & beer money .


The 150 is KPH .

 

Here's a thought for you gauge freeks. A friend of mine had some flat glass gauges and thought curved glass would be cooler. He got some curved glass from a watchmaker's shop. Glass from old pocket watches.

 

What have you got against Retards?

 

Nice speedometer, but oddly it reads in km/h (presumably) and Fahrenheit.
Of course with the proper speedo gears it would read MPH.

 

Thank you @fleetside66 Removing the bezels that wrap around the lip in the casing are challenging. Sharing your technique is greatly appreciated!

Removing Bezels Continued...
Other gauges such as the 2 I featured in this thread as well as the 2 5/8" Stewart Warner, smooth bezel, curved glass, crescent needle gauges have bezels that meet flush with the rear casing. Here is how I removed my bezel from the casing. Fist I gathered these tools, a glasses screwdriver kit, knife and a small standards screw driver. Also, use a glove! @flat 39



Hold onto the gauge firmly and very carefully place the knife blade between the bezel and case. Work your way around the entire circumference of the gauge. You just want to get that blade between the two, just enough to make a purchase point. The seal between the bezel and casing on this gauge was amazingly tight. I had to take my time, but eventually I made progress. I went very slow as I did not want to mar the bezel or casing, nor do you want the blade to slip and damage your glass....also, completing this project with all your fingers is optimal.



Continue around the gauge...this will most likely be time consuming.....



Eventually, you will get enough of a gap that you can use a wider tool. Then I use the small Standard screwdriver from my glasses kit. Continue to work your way around the entire gauge....


As you progress the bezel will being to dislodge...


Continue until the bezel is finally off. Be sure to pull the bezel and glass off evenly as to not put too much stress on the glass.

 

Great tips on keeping these oldies looking good.

 

Just when I think I have a collection , Mr . Moriarity shows me I am still doing the baby steps .

 

The older Stewart Warner 2 5/8" smooth bezel, curved glass, crescent needle, front mount gauges also have a bezel that sits flush with the casing. I have had several conversations with @titus about removing these. Of course Stewart Warner had a pretty nifty tool (more like a small manual device) for removing these, we do not have that luxury. Use a tool or knife that it thin enough to work between the two. Once you have a small purchase point, placee a dime between the glass and bezel and roll the gauge until the bezel separates.

A word of caution with the old Stewart Warners....other than these are incredibly expensive and hard to find. **The bezels are pretty easy to tweak/bend. Once that happens, they are almost impossible to fix.

 

I'm going to have to find one of those retard gauges to monitor my brother.

 

For the smooth bezel 2-5/8" SW's I just carefully grind a little notch in the bucket with a cutoff wheel right behind the bezel. Enough to let the pressure off the bezel, without going into the bezel. Then I use another bucket from any other 2-5/8" SW up to modern times as a replacement. They are the exact same size. I can't count how many 70's SW's I've sacrificed for my 40's-50's smooth bezel gauges.

The terminal holes are slightly different (need a little filing) on either the new amp or gas gauges (I forget), but the oil pressure and water temp buckets are the same. Except now you have a light socket, which the old ones didn't.

I also have my machinist buddy chuck the replacement bucket into his lathe and skim a little from the inside so I can glue the bezel in with RTV instead of a tight press fit. Makes repair next time much easier.

 

@NAES Yes, I have heard of using a modern line and bulb on an older temp gauge. That's awesome you were able to do the replacement yourself. I have always wanted to try that technique.

@oldpl8s An option you should consider is sending your early temp gauge to a repair shop. They have the equipment and gas to complete the job. This will ensure an accurate reading for your gauge. There are still a few guys out there that are replacing the line and capillary tubes. I can give you some contact info if you'd like, drop me a DM.

Here are some of my vintage Temp Gauges from the 1930's thru the 1950's. It's a mix of some Stewart Warner's and MotoMeters. They work great and provide accurate readings. Several I sent in to Roy for a new line and capillary tube. The line is the same as was used back in the day so they retain the original look and function. I would much rather use one of these, than a modern gauge!

 

Thank you for sharing your collection @Moriarity @fleetside66 @e1956v As always your stuff is amazing!
It makes me feel so much better about collection. Hello, my name is Speed~On and I have a gauge problem


And all the rest of you as well!! It seems that I may be preaching to the choir when it comes to preserving old gauges, which is so great to see. It's so cool to see that so many of you are passionate about them as well and doing your part to include them in your cars. I do feel like a "minor leager" in the company of all of you, though.

@LowCountryMike @GordonC I once lived near Moriarity. The down side is all I ever wanted to do was go to his house all the time and enjoy the amazing Hot Rod Utopia he has created. It really is quite spectacular! He is "living the dream" and he is an incredible host!

I knew @fleetside66 has an exceptional collection of panels and gauges. Until now I have not seen all of his cool stuff. Thank you for sharing with us!

@continentaljohn I may have a source for the old Stewart Warner needles. I will check and drop you a DM. Folks, John is another HAMBer that has an outstanding gauge collection as does @alchemy.

@vtx1800 @NAES I should have elaborated with my oil pressure resting at 4 psi, my apologies. I got lucky as it was just stuck and is now working correctly. I am not sure if it was because it had sat for so many years and just temporarily locked or what.

Thank you wvenfield that is an amazing compliment!!

 

Here’s the Hollywood panel that’ll go in my coupe.


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I bet you can fix it. If it's like ones I've seen it's pretty simple, an electromagnet winds the clock. When it winds down points close activating the electromagnet to wind it.
I fixed wife's '55 Chevy clock which hasn't run in many years. Points were tarnished which I filed then light machine oil on gears, etc after blowing the dust out with low pressure.

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I'd like to find a pair of Sun 2-5/8 Green Line gauges. They are the nicest looking illuminated gauges I ever saw..

 

Thought that’d get a second look, the case is plastic and only had “Made in USA” have to pull it off to look further. Paid a buck for it.


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Years ago when building my Model A I found an original 1935 Dodge Floating Power speedometer. The large size is what caught my eye. I wound up designing my dash around this gauge as it's the focal point. I sent to it HAMBer @e1956v (Rusty) in Colorado Springs. He gave it a complete rebuilt and set the odometer to the millage I requested. He also made me a custom speedo cable. Still works great to this day.

When he had finished he told me if I were to ever find another that I should buy it as they're becoming difficult to find parts for. Pictured below are the 5 I have purchased since then. Not only are these super cool, I am confident 4 of these would work well with a little oil.

 

Radium paint just isn’t all that popular any more.



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is there a guide for identifying when a gauge was used popular? like when green line sw gauges were popular etc? I want stuff to be correct for the cars I have.

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