When SW moved to Mexico their quality went to hell. That helped out Auto Meter a lot. I am told that over time SW got their quality problems under control, but by then Auto Meter had taken a lot of their business.
I only run pre-mexico built SW gauges in my cars. never a problem and you can buy nos for a good price on the auction site.
electrical gauges have to be wired by some body, I'm just saying, that could be a consideration to some builders. I have read the post from "kit" wiring and 'doner " car guys.
I am having this dilema right now. I want to put a new set of guages in my Deuce tudor and I would really love Stewart Warner wings gauges, but everyone I talk to says don't do it, they won't work right and I'll have nothing but problems. I have a set of Autometer Old Tyme Black in my 40 Chev pu. They work great. I've never had a problem with them, but they still don't look as old timey like a set of stewart warner. I saw a completely restored set of original wings guages on Ebay...the bidding started at $3000!! A little out of my price range. But they were pretty nice. I read all the posts in this thread and it seems that it's split down the middle to go with either SW or Autometer. As for the old SW guages, I think it would be tough to get a matched set that worked.
The Jalopy Journal
