Art & Inspiration The Power of The HAMB

Sometimes it takes a village and in this case that village is the HAMB.




We can all relate to the daunting task of accumulating difficult to find parts. Occasionally, we set out in search of the unicorn of parts. This is my journey and how the power of the HAMB made it possible.

My interest in vintage gauges began when I was in the midst of building my first hot rod with my friend, Kevin. An integral part of that process was spending weekends at swap meets. I vividly remember finding my first 1950's Stewart Warner 2 5/8", smooth bezel, curved glass, long tail crescent needle front mount oil pressure gauge; I was captivated! To me, it felt as if I was holding a fine piece of jewelry, the style, the weight, the craftsmanship and of course the sheer beauty; in that moment I was hooked. Intrigued, I began looking into American made gauges from the 1930's through 1950's.

It wasn't long before I stumbled upon photos of a 1939 Chris Craft dash filled with MotoMeter (MMG&E) gauges. (I have since written a thread on the HAMB about the history of that company). My eyes were spinning at this point and like a kid in a candy store I knew I wanted what I was looking at. So began a 5 year journey to try and make it happen...one piece at a time.

One Saturday morning I was looking through the HAMB classifieds when I came upon a listing from @AldridgeDW it was just the dash I had been looking for. Like many of us, Dan has a great appreciation for vintage gauges and has a very nice collection himself. I was a little surprised he was letting this one go. I quickly sent him a DM and the dash was mine.
Over the next 2 years I was able to track down the beautiful Gasoline gauge which had been converted to 12V as wells as the working mechanical water temp gauge. I was fortunate both these gauges were in excellent condition.







Several years into the search it was becoming quite apparent the 5,000 RPM clockwise spinning tachometer was the unicorn. As it turns out, there is a good explanation. Here is the advertisement for the instrument panel from the late 1930's (thank you HAMBer @fleetside66) Unless requested, customers were sold the counter-clockwise spinning (or as they say, the anti-clockwise rotation) 4,000 RPM tachometer. Well shit! The 5,000 RPM Clockwise spinning tach had to be requested upon order. Why do I always want the rare stuff??!!



Over the next year I was able to find a beautiful 100 psi 3 3/8" oil pressure gauge in great working. condition.



So there I sat, looking for the illusive tachometer. I sent photos to Kocian Instruments in Stacy, MN. They specialize in vintage MotoMeter restorations and make gauges for the vintage wood boat crowd. It's run by a couple ladies and they're an absolute hoot if you ever get the pleasure of speaking with them. You'll soon understand the meaning of "Minnesota Nice". As we discussed the tachometer she said, "Yeah...you don't see those that often, that's a rare one".

More time passed but fate was about to step in. I was once again cruising the HAMB Classifieds.........and that's when my jaw hit the floor. There...right in front of me...was the tachometer that had alluded me for 5 damn years. HAMBer @terry k had listed one for sale. It's one of those moments when your hair stands on end, your hands begin to shake, your vision goes a little blurry and you have to look at it for a moment to believe you're actually seeing what you think you're seeing. Terry stated in the description that it was basically a core because it would need a complete rebuild....but it was all there! I saved the ad and here is it...
Terry and I have bought and sold a few items between us over the years and he's always such a pleasure to work with. He embodies why the HAMB was created...a legit old skool hot rodder.



I've had the pleasure of knowing Rusty HAMBer @e1956v for many years and have sent him several projects. For those of you that know Rusty, you know the quality of his work is second to none. He's also a lot of fun to chat with as he's a wealth of knowledge and has many great stories. Once I received the tachometer from Terry, I sent Rusty an DM with photos and the explanation that it would have to be completely gone through. As you know, Rusty fears no gauge and told me to send it his way. With that, the tachometer was off to Colorado Springs, CO. Within a few days I received a DM from Dr. Rusty LIVE from his operating room.







With the tachometer completely rebuilt it was time for calibration.




Thank you, Rusty!!!! Seriously, if you guys ever need a gauge repaired or calibrated, Rusty is THE MAN!

Since the tachometer had come this far, it was time to look into a cosmetic restoration. For those of you that know Chris Schlaf from Michigan, you know this is his specialty. My tach had just arrived from Colorado, when it was off jet-setting again, this time to Michigan. Chris has a 3 month waiting list once he receives your gauge. We had a detailed conversation as to what I was looking for. It was very important to me that the tach be restored to factory spec. I wanted it to look identical to the day it left the MotoMeter factory. 3 months later, this little beauty had come full circle.





It took some time and perseverance to acquire the set, but it was well worth the effort.



My friends know I'll engine-turn their projects for free because I'm set up for it and I enjoy that type of work. My pal Brian had some parts to drop off and when he stopped in he noticed the Chris Craft dash on my workbench. I explained the project I was working on and he said, "I can cut you an insert for that if you'd like." Of course my response was, "That would be outstanding!" He has access to a laser cutter and can write the CAD. I gave him my dash and he scanned it into their computer/laser cutter. It's a several million dollar machine that can detect and scan 1 strand of human hair. He said the insert would be a perfect fit. A few days later he dropped off several perfect stainless steel dash inserts for a 1930's Chris Craft dash!


It was time to get the insert on my buffing wheel for a mirror shine.

Then for some hand polishing...



Well, you know I'm going to engine turn it!!





It was finally all coming together. In a way it was hard to believe. It may have taken 5 years but it was a fun adventure and I'm happy with where the project is today. The dash surround needs some massaging and re-chroming but I'm thrilled with the progress.



And that is how the power of the HAMB can help your project come together.

HAMBers Rule!

 

Awesome story and pix! Love your engine turning ability, too.

 

Great thread, great story, great result!

 

Spectacular.

 

WOW! What a great story, that dash is perfect! Back in the 1970's I engine turned several Bugatti G.P. car dash and firewalls, they were aluminum, I've never seed chrome engine turned and never on a panel with pre cut gauge holes. The thing I can't get over is your swirl placement, they are perfectly placed a mirror image side to side, and equal swirls between the gauges. Makes me want to call the right people now and get an Auburn dash panel cut for easy to find Cobra gauges. Thanks again for a great read, reminds me of the Old HAMB. Bob

 

Very cool

 

I read your whole story above (some parts multiple times). about this gauge set up.

 

Just beautiful.

 

Terrific story and pictures. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. And congratulations on your finished gauge panel, top class.

 

Wow, that is a piece of Art! Just Beautiful.

 

What a cool story. People like you set the bar for patience and attention to detail. Well done.

 

Fantastic. Hope the rest of your cr matches your dream, but doesn't take as
long!

 

Outstanding

 

WOW!!...Beautiful! One could build a car around that...Outstanding work. Jewel.

 

Crazy beautiful. When you stand in front of a completed Hot Rod all these little things (which are huge) sometimes get lost in the bigger picture. Great result, great story. Keep 'em coming!

 

Very cool story and an awesome looking dash!

 

I'm not much for spending curved glass gauge type money, and "rare" usually means "outside of budget" but damn I cant argue its beautiful.

now what car are you putting it in?

I had the dash of my T for at least 10 years waiting to build a car around it.

 

what a journey and project - Thanks for taking us along

 

Cool.

Chris

 

Just beautiful TJ and your engine turning is fantastic. Depending on the lighting angle you can see circles, stars, diamonds and 3D cubes. As stated, it takes perfect rows and spacing to make that happen. Great work! Thanks for your kind words. Chris does awesome work and I have sent projects to him that I didn't have the artistic talent to pull off. The mechanical I can handle, the artistic not at all. This is an early fire engine tach dial he did for me.

 

Awesome! Thank you for sharing that.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Thank you for all the great comments! I greatly appreciate it and it's very humbling coming from this incredibly talented group. What I enjoyed most was the interaction I had with people along the way. It's more than just a dash to me at this point; it represents friendships, relationships that were forged between like-minded people, and a great appreciation for the talent that surrounds us all.

 

Awesome story TJ and great job on the engine turning. The dash looks fantastic and look forward to seeing it.

 

That is amazing. Your post reads like an old fashioned cliffhanger! What a story. These "Holy Grail" pieces can make some of us do stupid ($$$$$) things, but I get it. Thanks for posting the journey.

 

Amazing well written story. Congratulations for your perseverance. Your end result was worth the time and money.

 

Sweet!

 

Nice. Well worth the wait.

 

Beautiful! You get an A+ for patience and perseverance!