De-stinking Penelope

[rustybronco]

Pete, I need to thank you for paving the way. your effort trying to remove your tripminder knob make removing the one on mine a piece of cake!

 

[rustybronco]

Just out of curiosity..will she be ready in the spring (MI spring) which is around May????

I don't know If it will or won't be done. I'd like to see it finished by then.

I un-staked the support bracket inside the tach this morning so I could 'extract' the pivot shaft in order to remove the dent and straighten the 'bell' which was damaged in an accident. the magnet's housing was also broken during the accident and I robbed a spare off of one of the tach's Steve had given me. spent a few minutes during lunch straightening the gauge bracket so it could be sand blasted after work.

little by little, bit by bit...

***edit*** for those who are planning on lubricating the needle's pivot's, I thought some might like to see what it looks like completely disassembled as it may give you an idea where to lubricate.

after the tach is removed from it's case and the 'pointer' is removed, you lubricate the small hole in the far left bracket from the bottom side and the brass tube, third from the right.
(there's no need to disassemble it like I have done, if you plan on lubricating it!)

 

[chuck hahn]

Get it done before they schedule any back surgeries...that will set you back many months!!!

 

[Guest]

Pete, I need to thank you for paving the way. your effort trying to remove your tripminder knob make removing the one on mine a piece of cake!

Haha no problems Dale, glad to be of service

 

[chuck hahn]

Also be mindfull that the connecting cogs between the dials are just plastic and the dials are designed to turn only one way...dont turn them against the cogs the wrong way and risk snapping them off.

 

[rustybronco]

I stripped the gauge bracket down to bare metal after work yesterday. the gauge pod cleaned up well with just plain soap and water. both the speedo and tachometer are back together, so I'm hoping it's above 40? tomorrow and I can paint the gauge bracket and start putting it all back together.

I robbed the best from all that I have, it should look real nice when it's done.

 

[Guest]

Dale,
Are you going to paint white the top of the lettering above those idiot lights?
I've been trying to figure out a way to paint mine without messing them up.

 

[rustybronco]

Yes I plan on painting them. so far the plan is to use white acrylic enamel with a hardener in it. how I'll apply it is up in the air for the moment. I'll probably roll the paint on a rigid foam pad and lightly press it against the letters

 

[Guest]

Yes I plan on painting them. so far the plan is to use white acrylic enamel with a hardener in it. how I'll apply it is up in the air for the moment. I'll probably roll the paint on a rigid foam pad and lightly press it against the letters

I was thinking of using an eraser, or even a flat piece of plastic, put a light coat of paint on it and lightly press it against the lettering, haven't figurued out what type of paint to use though. White being white often doesn't cover well over black, so it can't be too thick, but needs to cover
evenly.

 

[chuck hahn]

Tip of a flat wooden toothpick with white enamel model paint...place under a good stand supported magnify glass and dab the letters.

 

[Guest]

Tip of a flat wooden toothpick with white enamel model paint...place under a good stand supported magnify glass and dab the letters.

Chuck,
Did that work well for you? Sounds like alot of meticulous work. I think I'm gonna try just mating something with paint on it against the letters. Don't know how it will work out yet though, but I think with the right paint it might do well, otherwise I'd try your way and any paint the overflows the edges I could trim off with a razor blade. Be my luck to get some paint that washes off, like what was used as OEM. Don't see too many gauge clusters out there with white on the lettering.

 

[chuck hahn]

It was and idea off the top of my head..i do know that whatever you do try it on something scrap that has the raised letters on it first. Lots of variables may come into effect such as the viscosity of the paint..too thin and it runs off the letters..too thick and its clumpy. The substrate your using to press against is gonna be a thing to experiment with also. Dale has a jewelers loop that he can probably get some good results with just a super thin brush??

 

[chuck hahn]

Oh...restoring the letterings on the switch boxes and emblems are all meticulous too..noone said theres an easy swipe and wipe and your done...LMAO.

 

[brslk]

Just an idea here. I have never tried it but perhaps a spray on mold release agent and then lightly sand the raised letter and paint. Then rinse off the water soluble mold release agent. (you can buy the release agent from fiber-glass suppliers)

Bruce.

 

[chuck hahn]

Thats a possibility..but remember these letters arent that tall off the base plastic. One tiny misjudgement in pressure when sanding and you may not have any viable lettering left to paint.

 

[Guest]

Chuck,
You're right experimenting prior is the key. I was thinking of going to Michael's Craft store and getting one of those blank linoleum stamps.
I think that might work, now it's down to the paint. Testor's?

 

[Flyboy]

Bruce is on the same track as I am, spray the middle of the cover white, to cover the letters, I recon about 3 or 4 coats, then spray the black over, try and keep the amount of black over the letters to a minimum, GENTLY sand with 1000grit over the letters until the white just comes through....nice crisp white lettering.
Chuck, I hear you about sanding away the letters, but I recon a piece of 1000 grit crazy glued to a suitably cut down ice cream stick, under a magnifying glass, used with care should do it.

 

[chuck hahn]

Heres some pics of the 1000C switches I rehabbed...

 

[Flyboy]

With a steady hand like that you should have been a surgeon Mr. Hahn.

 

[Guest]

With a steady hand like that you should have been a surgeon Mr. Hahn.

But he is already Stan! A GS surgeon