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Chevy Gauge Cluster Restoration - Good-Looking Needles

 
Restoring Gauge Cluster Painting Needle
10a.There are a few ways to... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Painting Needle
10a.There are a few ways to paint the needles. One way is to cut a slit in some paper and slide it behind the needle. Then, all you have to do is spray some flat fluorescent orange paint, and remember light, even coats. One thing that can pose a problem when doing it this way is bending the delicate needles; yes, even notebook paper can bend these, if you are a little aggressive.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Spray Paint
10b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Wipe Down
11.Usually, the gauge itself... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Wipe Down
11.Usually, the gauge itself is in really good shape and only requires a little wipe-down, but be gentle.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Spray Into Cap
12a.We prefer to use a brush... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Spray Into Cap
12a.We prefer to use a brush to apply the paint, because it gives us a little bit more control. Spray the paint directly into the cap, then all you have to do is dip the brush and go.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Dip Paintbrush
12b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Paint Needle
13.If you load the brush with... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Paint Needle
13.If you load the brush with the right amount of paint, once you touch it to the needle it will produce a little blob that you can just drag down. From experience, using a brush produces the best results with the very thin spray paint.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Mask Off
14a.One other area that needs... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Mask Off
14a.One other area that needs a little attention is the hot area of the temperature gauge. If you look really close, you can see the area needed to paint. So, just mask it off, and paint away.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Temperature Gauge
14b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Odometer
15a.Now, we could just paint... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Odometer
15a.Now, we could just paint the needle on the speedo and call it a day, but then we would have to look at dirty odometer numbers. The only way to get to all of the numbers on the odometer is to take off the needle and face.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Take Off Odometer
15b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Clean Odometer
16.Once we had the face off,... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Clean Odometer
16.Once we had the face off, it was real easy to wipe down the numbers. But, be careful, because we dropped ours while cleaning it and it basically exploded. Luckily, nothing broke and it just came apart, so we reassembled it-and yes, it just happened to go back to all zeros.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Wipe Down Piece
17.This piece separates the... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Wipe Down Piece
17.This piece separates the gauges from the plastic face and also hides all the ugly stuff on the bottom of the gauge needles. Again, a good wipe-down was all it needed, but if yours is bad, just scuff it and spray it with semi-gloss black.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Pre Clean
18.Now it's time to get the... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Pre Clean
18.Now it's time to get the little scratches out of the plastic lens. Start with a pre-clean in the sink; this will keep you from making more scratches while you are trying to polish it.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Polishing
19a.With a soft cloth and... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Polishing
19a.With a soft cloth and some plastic polish, we used Mother's Plastic Polish and began polishing. As you can see, once we pulled the tape, there was a big difference after polishing it. Most of the scratches came out and all of the haze is gone. This will let all of your other work shine through.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Polished
19b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster New Housing
20.Now for the reassembly.... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster New Housing
20.Now for the reassembly. Set the new housing on a soft surface to prevent scratching the chrome finish. The lens is the first piece to drop in.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Black Separator Piece
21.The lens is followed by... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Black Separator Piece
21.The lens is followed by the black separator piece.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Turn Signal Tubes
22.Now for the gauges. Make... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Turn Signal Tubes
22.Now for the gauges. Make sure to install the turn-signal tubes. If you leave these off, every time you turn on the signal, the whole dash will blink and that would be just stupid.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Lay New Housing
23a.With those in, lay the... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Lay New Housing
23a.With those in, lay the new housing on, followed by all of the gauges themselves.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Lay Gauges
23b.
Restoring Gauge Cluster New Circuit Board
24.After you have the gauges... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster New Circuit Board
24.After you have the gauges in place, you can install the new circuit board.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Tighten Screws
25.Tighten all of the screws... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Tighten Screws
25.Tighten all of the screws to finish the job, and make sure you don't over-tighten the areas that hold down the circuit board and tear it. Now, put it in the truck and enjoy your new good-looking gauge cluster.
Restoring Gauge Cluster Fully Restored
26.If you don't want that... 
   
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Restoring Gauge Cluster Fully Restored
26.If you don't want that fully restored look for your truck, Early Classic also offers this bolt-in cluster, stuffed with Auto Meter ultra-light gauges.
Early Classic Enterprises
www.earlyclassic.com

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