Folks Of Interest Early Stewart Warner gauge thread

Hey guys, I forget about this place sometimes.
Here's some pictures of my bezels people have bought and installed. Also I'll post a price list.

 

Those do look nice, Pat! I'll be getting some when I get to the gauge resto.

 

Thank you, they will be here when your ready.

 

Time to give this outstanding thread a bump.

I recently found a MotoMeter temp gauge. I'm happy I had the opportunity to purchase this as I've wanted one for a while. Now, I know this is a Stewart Warner thread, but this gauge is incredibly similar to a S.W. rear mount.

I'm admittably a bit of a gauge nerd. This temp gauge is 2 3/8" in size. Note the unique crescent needle MotoMeter used. SW has a similar needle, however this crescent has a sharper curve to it. Also note the contrast in number sizing.




When it arrived the bezel had 2 cracks in it. I'm friends with HAMBer @fleetside66. He is one of the HAMBs resident gauge gurus. We are fellow gauge dorks. He happened to have an original 1940 MotoMeter aka (MMG&E) rear casing and front bezel in great condition and with great glass. We struck a deal and he sent the NOS bezel. (Photos above are with the bezel Greg sent me) Thanks Greg!

This temp gauge is approx. 79 years old, so it needed a little cleaning. It looks incredible after some polishing.






Now I have an extra original 1940's MotoMeter 2 3/8" (MMG&E) rear casing and front bezel. It has some awesome patina and looks really cool in my Stewart Warner cabinet.


I could have easily polished this to a perfect finish. However, as I polished a really cool brown and red tarnish began to show. It was just too cool to polish off. So I left it and applied some GIBBS spray on it to give it a little sheen.


Sorry for my rambling. I wish this thread had more action/participation as these old gauges ( especially Stewart Warner) are so damn cool.

Thank you @fleetside66 once again for all your help!

 

Perhaps some of you have some Hershey Swap Meet scores you're willing to share?

 

Not the best, but here are my gauges in my dash now.


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Added this nice gauge to the collection. NOS, still in its original box, in mint unused condition. This 1940's Stewart Warner 2 5/8", smooth bezel, curved glass, tulip needle AMPS gauge is super rad!

 

Don't know what make, but this oval ammeter and oil pressure gauge came with my 29AA when I got it in 1974.

 

I picked up this beautiful 1948 3 1/2" Stewart Warner air pressure gauge from a fellow HAMBer. It has curved glass and a red tipped needle. I have a couple cool ideas for this one.
Note how large it looks compared to my 2 5/8" S.W.

 

Great Posts...keep them coming! I learned a lot.
Thanks


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Stogy


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I bought this original 1940's Stewart Warner 2 5/8" Temp Gauge last year. (smooth bezel, curved glass, crescent needle, front mount) I recently sent the gauge in for a rebuild/repair. I arrived home from work with a pleasant surprise as it had been delivered.

Work performed: New capillary tube/gas, calibration, oiled the needle, reset the needle stop and re-meshed the pinion gears. Cleaned the face of the gauge and inside glass. Now that its rebuilt and calibrated/accurate I couldn't be more pleased!

I also have a 1940's New Old Stock Stewart Warner light kit for it, too!

 

@Speed~On you may have said, and if so i apologize but who is doing work on your gauges?

 

@cadillacoffin DM sent

 

Hey everyone... some know, some don't, but Stewart Warner is one of my clients and I'm working on some new gauge designs.

One of the designs will be similar to the late '40s curved glass, smooth bezel style. (either really close or heavily include by)

Any other requests?

 

What speedometer and tach match these gauges? In all of my searching, I can't find any that match, at least by modern standards. None of my catalogs go back to the late 40s.

 

They didn't match. There was no bezel that was a perfect match, but there was a close one in the 5" size.

 

Heres a request
How about improving the quality of the gauges that Stewart Warner makes now ?

 

Yes, we've had that conversation before, especially during SEMA.

 

It may end up having to be "inspired by" then. They will certainly look more vintage than the current "Wings" line.

 

Hey Chad great to hear your doing the redesign of the wing gauges. Love to see some new vintage looking gauges and they have the right working on it.
A few of the one I saved

 

Thanks John! Great to hear from you. Hope all is going well!
Is that pair 5"? They have a 5" multi-gauge series that I want to borrow parts to make 5" vintage style gauges.

 

@Django here are a couple original matching set of SW gauge sets these are rear mount but the faces were basically the same as a 2-5/8 smooth bezel, they just never made a speedo/tach that really matched

 

I,d like to know the same thing
I have a couple of gauges that need work

 

Here is a panel I restored after buying it from Titus...

 

Greg, that work on that broken panel is amazing. That framework is pretty complex & delicate & to pull that off the way you did is a real fete. I recently did a similar reclamation project on a similar panel where I had a good framework & insert, but no matching backer plate. I had one CNC'ed & re-established all of the gauge & panel mounting studs. Another one saved!

 

And speaking about saving stuff & utilizing special parts, I recently made a couple of these from two old trashed Clum style boat switches (the ones with the word "anchor" on them). Those old originals had a very delicate & precisely machined bezels that press fit into the 2-3/8" holes of those early S/W panels. Here's a pic of one of them, where I reclaimed the bezel, found an old style ignition switch & assembled a unit with a washer & a retaining bracket that holds it all in the hole.

 

@Django Wow, what an incredible opportunity!! I really wish I was tasked with that as it would be a lot of fun.

It would be outstanding if these gauges were 2 5/8" and have a smooth bezel. You can never go wrong with a crescent needle ...imho of course.