Really cooool thread.... If someone was to 'peel' the bezel circumference off a gauge, and remove the face to change numbers, or repair innards/reface needle... I'm sure most would enjoy (and use) the tutorial! My pal Bonneville Butch (San Jose, CA) took a number of S/W's apart, replaced the faces with 'Wings', and the glass was replaced with convex watch crystals! Two years later, S/W 'repopped' their convex lensed Wings' gauges...Butch's are prettier! Just never saw his technique. He said, "Just peel 'em off, go easy...they go right back on, just 'roll' the circumference."
Don't take anything I say seriously. I'm just being salty because I set up this impossible quest for myself...just to make it more interesting.
2 gauges down, 4 to go to complete the set. Problem is, I haven't even seen examples of 3 of the guages I still need!
I recently came across all my ebay pics from 10 years ago. here area few I sold, I still have the tach though. I sold a lot of gauges, I don't think I have any more pics.
Here are a few of mine. DeSoto airflow gauges in our '36 pickup. Not very good photos on these. '33 Dodge I got for my Model T project. '41 Graham Hollywood gauges for my Model A Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I had a wonderful set of SW gauges for my coupe and when I turned the gauge lights on, they were so dusty inside I couldn't even make out the numbers! I haven't had much luck with disassembling/reassembling gauges so I sold 'em off at swap meets and bought a new set of these cheapie So Cal gauges....I hate them! But at least I can see them.
I love those '40s tuplip needle SWs like alchemy posted. And you can still find them. Here's my dash:
What color is ur 32 I really like that color, the dash really looks great very nice job on those, hotrod harry Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app HotRod Harry
The outside is black, the interior paint is just Krylon spray can rubbed out. I would have to go out in the garage to get the color name.
Lots of interesting guages on this thread. Here's the dash in my 1932 Austin Special -hopefully not too off topic- It's a mixture of period gauges and (relatively) modern gauges modified to look period. The speedo and tacho are from a Bug Eye Sprite with the faces re-painted and the new letters done with Letraset rub down letters/numbers. I made the bezels (which are typical for Brit 20s-early thirties cars) from brass. I'd have needed to sell a kidney to afford the genuine 100 MPH/6000 RPM guages which use a strange and not fantastically reliable watts governor type centrifugal movement. They are a reasonable style match for the stock '32 switch panel. If I was doing this work now, I would print the whole instrument face numbering etc. onto inkjet or laser printer water slide film instead of using the rub down lettering.
Early Plymouth insert I put in my 32 3 window Stewart Warner rear mount in my roadster Stewart Warner rear mount with a 1930's Nash Speedo going in my 32 5 window project Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
On a slightly different vein, I have tried for years to find out EXACTLY what VDO stands for. Something to do with Deutshland perhaps? Any ideas?
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