I would like to get my 49 Merc gauges restored and converted to 12 V. Can anyone suggest a company who does this? mine look decent now, but I would like to get them "refreshed" and converted. I found one company that quoted $3500 over the phone. I fell off my chair.
Mo-Ma here in Albuquerque does it, does a nice job and have a good reputation but it wouldn't surprise me if they are the ones that quoated $3500.
Most gauge shops charge about $60/Hr. $3500 to have a full instrument cluster "restored" wouldn't surprise me a bit. I'm working with Auto Instrument Repair in Chattanooga, TN right now on a 1/2 model year only late model cluster and the owner has been great to deal with. I'm having him make one good cluster from two for me, I should have it back next week. He advetises he works on EVERYTHING from the early 1900's to Present. If that works out I have a vintage tach I'm sending him.
Call Bob's Speedometer in Howell, Michigan. They did the cluster in my '40 for less than a grand and it was junk when I sent it to them. They had to make me a fuel gauge from scratch, redo all of the surviving gauges, convert everything to 12v etc. I couldn't believe it was the same cluster when I got it back it looked so good. They've been in business since the 30's, and they're as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned.
try this guy in washington state; pat swanson 253-862-2284 swansonpat@comcast.net tell him BERNIE refered you
Steer clear of United Speedometer in Riverside CA. They had my gauges for 2-1/2 years. The California Bureau of Automotive Repair gave up trying to help me. It took a promise of criminal charges to finally get them back, and they were all screwed up.
Try Scott Speedometer Service. http://www.scottspeedometer.com/ I have bought from them in the past and found them great to deal with
Not to advertise my own services, but we restore gauges. The thing to consider with your Mercury is that the original gauges and sending units work differently than "modern" senders and are also unique in comparison to other gauge designs of the time. If you are keeping the original look and thus keeping the sending units, the voltage conversion and set up is different than if you wanted to use modern senders. As far as price, $3000+ is rather steep. I can't remember the last Mercury set that required that much labor. It all really depends on what they are internally and what you want them to become cosmetically. Secondarily, I have seen some of the above listed shop's restorations come through my own shop. They were... disheartening.
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