History MotoMeter Gauge & Equip. Co. (National Gauge & Equip. Co)

A long while ago I purchased this Lathrop panel at a swap meet. It had two ignition switches with the keys, one of which I used in my roadster until it failed. Although it was badly pitted, I used the big oval bezel and made a panel out of stainless for the roadster. (The Stewart Warner temp gauge shown above came from this panel). I love the old 2 5/8” tach. (2500 would probably be okay for the way I drive my roadster now).

 

Beautiful collection, HFH! I like what you did utilizing the Tulip Pointer amps to make the oval panel work. It would definitely have been too crowded with three 2-5/8" front mounts. I recognize all of the gauges except for what looks like a 120 mph speedometer? I'd love to see a close-up of that one for my photo collection. Keep up the good work & thanks for sharing. Using old gauges is the way to go.

 

Thank you Fleetside66. The amp gauge was on an old stationery generator in a junk yard in Northfield, MA. It had been out in the rain for years but it seemed to match my other gauges and I liked the smaller size. The speedometer is actually a wannabe. It’s a Studebaker gauge, I don’t know the year, that I took apart, replaced the needle with one from a defective SW gauge, and replaced the glass. In the process I realized that the glass in the magnifying glass I was using to get the needle in place was the same diameter as the flat glass on the gauge. So I put the curved glass from the magnifying glass on the gauge. There is some distortion when looking at the speedometer from the side but when driving I am always looking head on so it’s fine. I wish I knew how to get the bezel shape to match the other gauges but I don’t. HFH.

 

Aha! As soon as I saw your picture, I knew what the speedo was. It's from the Studebaker Hawks from the mid to late 1950's. Since Stewart-Warner didn't place their emblem on the face, it definitely is a match, graphics wise. They also made a 160 mph version, which was reserved for the supercharged Golden Hawks. Unfortunately, I too have not been able to find a smooth bezel to replace the step bezel. A donor crescent needle with the proper length & style is also almost as hard to find. Sorry to get a bit off the MM topic, but creative HAMB engineering should not go unnoticed. You had me tricked.

 

In getting these gauges apart does anyone have thoughts on whether lubrication would be helpful or risky?

 

There's some good tips in this thread, right around post #43 or 44.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/save-the-gauges.1187643/page-2#post-13488018

 

Wondering if I could ask another question. On my Oil Temp gauge I need to replace the bezel. The line coming out of the back looks like it will need to be replaced. It will be a lot easier to remove the bezel if I can first remove the line on the back. I have removed the nut but still it won’t come apart. What else do I have to do? I will probably not want to get this gauge working since to do that I would need to remove the oil pan and get a fitting welded in. But I do not want to do anything that will permanently hurt the gauge. Thanks, HFH.

 

Snug that nut back up on the back. You aren't doing anything except letting the guts shake around and scratch stuff up. You will need to remove the bezel first with the thin blade method. After it's off you can remove the nut and take the guts out.

If you are going to buy a Pat Pryor replacement bezel you won't need to worry about being too gentle on the old one. But maybe someone out there might still like the original, so see if you can remove it cleanly anyway.

 

Yes, like the very knowledgeable man said, tighten up the nut & don't let the guts rattle around. The big question with it is does the gauge work as it stands? If so, IMHO, I wouldn't try to replace the line, because that's an expensive & time consuming job that can only be done by very few people. It's only original once, as they say around here. The gauge, including the bezel, actually doesn't look too bad. A little patina is perfectly fine with theses old gauges. Perfection is only an illusion, anyway. Before you try taking the bezel off & going through a complete expensive restoration on the gauge, which would at least include a new bezel & lens & a repaint of the crazed needle, you might just try some Barkeeper's Friend, which is a very fine cleanser that does wonders on light oxidation on such things as your bezel. You might be surprised. If you're stuck on a new bezel, glass & gasket set from Pat (which is very high quality), it really doesn't matter if you ruin the bezel trying to remove it. I've done it & it's easy...ruining it, that is. Good luck either way!

 

Thank you again for your help. The bezel is actually rough and the glass is scratched. The line is missing the end that goes into the head so It will need to be replaced. Any idea who could do this? I did take the bezel off today. They are getting easier. Two more to go. HFH.

 

How are you all doing, I have a question for anybody with knowledge of the NG&E fuel gauges, I don't usually join forum groups because I can usually get the info I need without joining, even this message board has been a wealth of information for me and I appreciate it, as it is, I currently work at the St.Louis car museum and am currently working on a 1935 Deusenberg II replica built in the early nineties on a Ford chassis/drivetrain, my problem is that it has 4 NG&E gauges and all work except for the fuel gauge(stuck on overfull and doesn't move at all) and I can't find any info on it at all, it has 3 wires going to it, one power, one ground, and the other I assume to be the signal wire, I've verified power and ground and used a gauge tester on the signal wire to vary resistance to ground and it still fails to move, normally I'd just condemn the gauge and move on but with the admiration these gauges receive I'd like to know for sure, I may have to remove the whole dash to remove the gauge for repair/replacement which I'm not looking forward to, any info, wiring or otherwise would be appreciated, thanks. -Mike R.

 

Mike, there's mention of NG&E in TJ's first post of this thread. Gas/fuel gauges of any sort are tough to get an handle on, as far as function & accuracy goes, no less such an early & uncommon version. I'd be the last person in the world to offer any advice on the theory of any electric gauge, but I'm pretty sure there's someone out there in HAMB-land that can give you some knowledgable input.

 

I'll bet your fuel gauge matches this pressure, style wise. They're still out there, so there a possibility you could find one with a little patience & detective work. I, for one, will be on the lookout for another for you.

 

These are the gauges, do they look legit to you guys? They almost look too clean/nice to be 100+ years old, I wonder if repops were ever made.

 

They do have a custom aura about them. I've never quite seen gauges that are that old that look like that, so I'm not quite sure if you're going to ever find a replacement. But, you never know. Cool dash, nonetheless!

 

These are the gauges, do they look legit to you guys? They almost look too clean/nice to be 100+ years old, I wonder if repops were ever made.[/QUOTE]

I agree with @fleetside66 that they have a custom aura about them. In fact was National Gauge & Equipment Co only operating between 1913-1926 according to @Speed~On's post #1 in this thread. At that time was most (all?) cars running with 6V electric systems. The 1935 Deusenberg II replica you are working on is probably 12V, right? I would be surprised if the original builder of your Deusenberg replica picked 1913-1926 6V gauges for the car.

I've never seen any gauges of that early period looking like that and especially not with that kind of pointer that Stewart Warner used on their much later gauges. I think your gauges are refaced 12V Stewart Warner gauges of this type.

That means that you can probably have it fixed by any gauge repair shop.

 

I guess a photo of the back of the gauges if possible may show the 'hidden' truth?

 

This is a “Thank You” to several people who helped me to get some of my Stewart Warner 2 5/8” gauges apart and back together again in my attempt to get my dash panel to look as good as it could. Thanks to fleetside66 , alchemy, and Speed-On for comments that helped a lot. And thanks to Pat Pryor who supplied replacement parts that are precise and made all the difference. I decided that I wanted to rechrome the bezels that I had, but I needed several glass retainers, glass lenses, and gaskets, which Pat Pryor was able to supply. My roadster got repainted over the last several months and now I am anxious to see the gauges all back in place. Thank you again, HFH.

 

Wow impressive layout of fine looking gauges HFH, nice work !!!

 

I found this gauge and 4 others like it in my grandfathers radio house.
Does anybody know anything about them? They are brand new.

 

Check out the first post in this thread & maybe it'll shed some light on your inquiry.

 

See the numbers better

 

Happy to have found this MMG&E gas gauge!!

 

That is sweet , another nice score

 

Thank you @kadillackid this was a great score. Large rear-mount gas gauges are hard to come by. Now I have the complete set (temp, gas, oil pressure, amps)

 

Yep ..you have a incredible collection of early gauges ! It was your post a while way back with your early 2 5/8 Stewart Warners all lined up that got me hooked. I dropped a ton of coin to get them but glad I did, never looked back Thanks to you Speed-On

 

Apologies in advance for the glare, reflections, dust, and dirt. Some of my National and MotoMeter gauges.

National flange mount 4 psi oil


MotoMeter flange mount 50 psi oil, same logo as previous National gauge, but with MotoMeter lettering.


3-1/2" MMG&E duplex amp/gas



NOS 2" MMG&E Temperature


A different NOS 2" MMG&E Temperature



NOS 2" MMG&E Gasoline



2" MMG&E Amperes



Filthy but NOS 2-3/8" MMG&E Rear Mount Temperature


NOS MMG&E 2-3/8" Rear Mount white face 30-30 Amperes



2-3/8" Rear Mount 20-20 Amperes



2-3/8" Rear Mount Oil


2-3/8" Rear Mount Temperature


2-3/8" Rear Mount Gas or Oil


2-3/8" Rear Mount Gasoline



2-5/8" Rear Mount Oil


Another 2-5/8" Rear Mount Oil


2-5/8" Rear Mount Temperature


One more 2-5/8" Rear Mount Temperature



2-3/8" Rear Mount Oil


Another 2-3/8" Rear Mount Oil, 75 psi on this one


2-3/8" Rear Mount 20-20 Amperes


Another 2-3/8" Rear Mount 30-30 Amperes


Another 2-3/8" Rear Mount 20-20 Amperes


Ran out of space for pictures, a few more to follow...

 

Another 2-3/8" Rear Mount 20-20 Amperes



Rear Mount Amperes parts gauges


These aren't MMG&E, but certainly held MMG&E gauges and are where some of mine will end up.











Thanks Speed-On for starting the thread, I'm quite fond of the MMG&E gauges.

 

God damn Carter....nice collection