Decided to redo the face on this 35 Dodge speedometer to match the other Stewart Warner gauges I'm using in my Model A. Made a curved lens for it in the oven. Heated the 1/16" plastic to 300 degrees and shaped it between two glass bowls.
Awesome. That gauge brings back memories, I had a ‘35 Dodge coupe, and spent many happy miles looking at that beautiful speedo gauge. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I make signs for a living, so I built the Stewart Warner logo and the numbers in my sign software. I painted the face and applied cut vinyl lettering. To make the lens, I cut the circle out of 1/16" plex on my cnc router. I removed the paper protective coating and put it on top of a t-shirt on a cookie sheet. I baked the plex at 300 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes and put it in a bowl with the correct radius. Once in the bowl I put a second piece of t-shirt material with a smaller bowl on top and let it cool. Here's my Model A project. 32 front roof section and windshield. I have a 32 frame for it as well. 270 Dodge with a 59 Corvette Fuel injection adapted to it. Have the hemi heads to convert the poly. I made the intake.
Expensive cut! Can you buy an after market baby hemi tack drive dizzy and if you can would the gear ratio be enough to compare to the GM pressure? Count the teeth count on the gear of that FI dizzy and maybe the diameter. I would like to know if it's close to my SBC magneto's, if it is you could cut a mag instead of the FI dizzy?
Brian Bass is going to cut it for me. He has cut several sbc magnetos to fit Hemis, this is no different.
Take spare cables with you when you drive, they are prone to brakes and when they do the it will start and idle fine but won’t accelerate. I broke many in my C1 Vett always carried a spare.
That gauge looks amazing! I need to redo mine and I am going to give it a shot, thank you for posting Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Great work Noah. I’ve got a few 5” gauges that need new faces similar to that. Wish I knew how to do that part. I’ve learned how to disassemble and reassemble but don’t have the computer skills for the faces.
Nice work! Personal opinion: I'd keep the Poly heads on that motor. There are a lot fewer of them in hot rods than are hemi headed. Most people have no idea what they are. People think the scallops on the valve covers of the Chevy 348/409 are cool. That being the case, 4 scallops on the Poly vs 3 on the Chevy means the poly is 33% cooler.
I have always liked that look, and have thought long and hard about doing it that to my '29. Trouble is finding the roof section and windshield frame.
I would as well. Someone on FB just posted some killer NOS, in the box, Edelbrock finned poly valve covers. They are so damn cool I muttered to myself I would drop the coin and build a car around them.
That's a nice job on the plastic lens and having the right equipment and experience does make sense to do it yourself. But the rest of us who don't work with plastic might struggle with the task. Using the wrong technique to remove dust from a plastic lens happens too often for some of us mouth breathers, also. So what about glass lenses? A few years ago, I broke the convex lens in one of my pocket watches. I learned that off-the-shelf, round, replacement lenses are available in sizes that vary by the thousandth. Subsequently, I found out that vintage mantle clock lenses are also available. Some right off-the-shelf and some custom made. I did a short search and here are a couple of high and low links....... and there are others........ https://www.ronellclock.com/Convex-Glass_c62.htm https://www.brueningglass.com/tag/replacement-clock-glass/
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