Tech - Gauge Face Customization/Restoration

That looks good. Great job nice tech piece. Thanks for sharing.

 

Outstanding, thanks for sharing

 

Nice tech! Thanks for sharing the info.

 

I made a bunch of circles, of varying sizes, printed them, and compared them to the actual gauges.

Then worked with the circles that matched in size.

Rich

 

Photoshop has some measuring tools (actually used for medical and forensics, ive been told) that would make the initial guessing a bit quicker. Outstanding tech rodster, great job!

 

That's a Kentucky speed secret.

Used to only run 80. Now it'll do 100.

JH

 

Dunno, sounds kinda high-tech I really don't think it's that important given the way the gauges are backlit.

 

I wondered about that.

The clear that is applied over the decal should provide some UV protection, and the gauges should never see direct sunlight, unlike a window decal.

 

that looks awesome! Great job!

 

You caught me.

My original odometer was locked up, I bought a rebuilt one on Ebay for $30, which came with new odometer numbers, and new speedo guts. I mounted it temporarily, to see if it worked and noticed the numbers were off, then realized it was a 100mph speedo, possibly from a car.

So I went on a test drive, with a borrowed GPS, and marked on the blank face, at 10 MPH speed increments.

The speedometer is 100% accurate, GPS verfied

 

thats what hot rodding is all about.

 

No.

The oil pressure and temp are mechanical.

The ammeter doesn't care about voltage.

The gas gauge is a newer 12 volt.

Rich

 

WOW!!! I LOVE that!!!!! GREAT job!!!!

 

Cl***ic Instruments will do the same thing for about $600.00

SCREW THAT!

This kind of stuff is what makes this site GREAT!

 

Great Job! I hear that United speedometer is looking for help, if your looking for a job. Ron

 

You just made every faded ****py gauge cluster at this summers swap meets worth about double what they were worth before you posted this.

 

Maybe "glow" was the wrong word to use. I was under the impression that older gauge needles, numbers & labels were painted with some kind of paint that enhances them when the instrument's lights are on so they show up better. Iridescent?, incandescent?, florescent?, phosphorus? dunno the word I am looking for but I know the paint had something in it!
Great tech info here and will be stealing some of your ideas on my next project. Thanks!

 

Very impressive work!!I must try this sometime soon.If you`re running these in an open car,a clear coat with UV protection would be appropriate.Like the clears they use on wooden boats.Great tech,thanks for sharing!!!

 

Great home grown tech! Thanks for sharing your creativity.

Could you elaborate on the brand and type of clear coat used?

 

You need to spray something like this over the decals after you print them:
http://www.testors.com/product/0/9200/_/Decal_Bonder

The reasoning for this is that 99.9% of desktop inkjet printers use an aqueous (water) based ink. So if you dip them into the water the print will dissolve.

I haven't used water-slide decal paper in a very very long time. Here is a reproduction Bombardier sled gauge I made. It was printed on both a high resolution Mimaki solvent based ink-jet printer, I also made on using a Gerber Edge thermal transfer printer. Both have their strengths and weaknesses and in the end it's still vinyl which I'm not a fan of... even though I'm a sign guy.

It would be great if the-rodseter could get some better photos to show the quality around the edges of the print. I'm curious as to how well the water-slide paper vanishes into the paint or if model building tricks were used to remove it. When I get some time I'll run around and see what I can produce.

Thin white circles represent blade/cut marks

 

Dang dude, that's cool as hell!

 

Nice job!
Thanks for the info.

 

oooh! I dig this...and hope to do this to my gauges too! Thanks for the tech!

 

That's a ten..."borderline eleben".

Doc.

 

A neighbor works for a trophy store that has a laser etcher. Usually it is used to burn through a layer of paint on a metal substrate. If you can create a JPG of the design you want it can be engraved onto the metal, which would give a permanent solution with no possibility of paint fade. We have messed with team logos, etc.. for gags. The JPG can be done as a positive or negative - i.e. the Letters can be paint over the metal, or metal showing through the paint. It would make more sense if I had an example. Does anyone have a JPG of a gauge they can post?

 

Nice job

 

Very nice job, thanks for posting.

 

great tech post, thanks for sharing

 

100% Cool. Thanks for a simple solution. Slim

 

looks great. does the added paint weight on the needles affect their accuracy?