'67 Gauge Resto

[Fixer]

Hi guys,

I'm helping a Pelican member with his '67 912 coupe. The owner was quoted $2000 for a cosmetic only resto to his guages.
(I tested them, they work fine)

I asked him to allow me to save him some $. I prefer to fix and restore rather than simply replace and spend.
I'm sure many of you do too. I also cleaned the inside of the lenses that needed it although pics were not uploaded.
To see how very rough looking instruments can come up, the entire thread can be seen here:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...d-bastard.html

[Jetjok]

Matthew,

Really nice job on cleaning and restoring your friends' gauges. Who or what company quoted your friend 2 grand to clean them up. That seems like a rather high price.

[Richardnew]

$2,000 does seem high. I've got my 911 tach out at Seattle Speedometer right now. I sure hope I don't get that sort of bill. Here's a recent article I did on gauges. Here's an older one.

Richard Newton

[Fixer]

Steve, It was Pala Alto. They quoted $1800-$2000 plus shipment cost after seeing pics. I thought it was high too.

I could have taken more time but thought it best to do these as quickly as i could for Steve as his car needs everything.

The gauges work fine and do not need re calibrating imo. But you can see in the first pic how dirty the glass was.

It's a big improvement, they look like nice original gauges now rather than looking over restored.

Jeweler's rouge, a few more aggressive polishes, a buffing wheel and dremel did the hard part.

These chrome plated brass bezels are high quality and surprised me that they would still come up this nice in the condition they were in.

I really enjoy (as corny as it sounds) saving people money.

[Fixer]

$2,000 does seem high. I've got my 911 tach out at Seattle Speedometer right now. I sure hope I don't get that sort of bill. Here's a recent article I did on gauges. Here's an older one.

Richard Newton

Thank you Richard, i skimmed it but will read it in its entirety when i have time. As mentioned these gauges work well but look bad.

In the past I have sent gauges to the big reputable gauge resto companies in CA and they've come back to me looking pretty but working worse (once a gauge sent to NHS came back to me with a deep 1" scratch right in the middle of the plastic lens and a bill for this, they also claimed to have fixed a gauge I am sure did not need fixing and worked poorly afterward) I don't believe the "re-calibration" work is needed in many cases due to my experiences and if not broken one should leave them be.

Similarly, I've sent old watches of mine to watch makers that worked flawlessly for 20 + years to be cleaned & serviced (again re-calibrated) and when they return they don't keep time as they did.

My Father gave me a new diver's SEIKO at 18. It worked perfect for over 20 years until my having a very reputable watchmaker take it apart to lubricate its jewels. It had never skipped a beat until this was done. It actually fixed itself over a period of months afterward which is not uncommon.

[Mark111]

Hi Matthew

Couldn't agree with you more with respect to not over restoring interior parts. The gauges you have brought back to life look great. I am planning on doing something similar to my 67 green dial set, any tips you could provide an amateur who is willing to have a go would be greatly received

Thanks
Mark