Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Well, my first project is to replace my wiring harness in the car because the old one was fried. In the process of doing so I removed the dash and decided to restore it and the gauges.

After reading up on here, it seems pulling the gauges apart isn't an option as I'd rather not destroy them in the process... haha So any tip one restoring them short of pulling the chrome ring off and chance damaging them?

Here's pretty much what they look like:







As you can see the chrome has a lot of pitting, and the glass is a little dirty on the inside.

Any help is apperciated.

Thanks!

Two words - Jon Frampton...

spl310 wrote:Two words - Jon Frampton...

Ok, does he own a business doing it or does he do it on the side? I tried googleing him and I found a few pics of his cars, but not much info on restoring gauges.

Also, another thing I'm considering is cost. While I fully understand restoring this car will take some money. I am a pretty big DIY type of guy. So if I could avoid sending them off I would prefer that.

He's a user on here - caraddict, I believe. You can PM him or search some of the threads on here for his name. Good luck.

I see you already have the clock apart and you can see all the work involved...I tried some myself...I even bought the glow paint for the insides, but by the time you paint/ (silk screen) the faces and clean or cut new glass...pay to rechrome the rings (you can pry them with a paint can tool), but I believe you would never get them pressed back on correctly and of course calibrate them...you end up with an OK product that was kind of spendy and probably is less accurate than before you disassembled it...or as Sid said Jon Frampton is your answer. Yes he does gauges (his business is avionics gauges, and aviations guys are crazy about exact calibrations and quality)...His work is TRULY amazing (seriously...they are by far nicer than NOS)...there was a thread a few months ago with photos of his work. These would be dollars well spent even for a DIY guy.


v/r
Buddy

bmccarthy67 wrote:I see you already have the clock apart and you can see all the work involved...I tried some myself...I even bought the glow paint for the insides, but by the time you paint/ (silk screen) the faces and clean or cut new glass...pay to rechrome the rings (you can pry them with a paint can tool), but I believe you would never get them pressed back on correctly and of course calibrate them...you end up with an OK product that was kind of spendy and probably is less accurate than before you disassembled it...or as Sid said Jon Frampton is your answer. Yes he does gauges (his business is avionics gauges, and aviations guys are crazy about exact calibrations and quality)...His work is TRULY amazing (seriously...they are by far nicer than NOS)...there was a thread a few months ago with photos of his work. These would be dollars well spent even for a DIY guy.


v/r
Buddy

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'll do some research!

And the intermediate option might be looking for some used guages, they come up on EBAY.
However the guages Jon restores are really nice, and accuracy is good

Linda

Linda wrote:However the guages Jon restores are really nice, and accuracy is good

Linda

I'd say they are accurate. My clock is still keeping perfect time. And they look better than stock.

Kyle

Darn. I thought there was a thread where Jon had posted before 'n' after pics, but searched and could not find. Seems to me this info should be readily available.

Jon?

ppeters914 wrote:Darn. I thought there was a thread where Jon had posted before 'n' after pics, but searched and could not find. Seems to me this info should be readily available.

Jon?

He pm'ed me with photo's I will post them for future searchers (If it's not ok I will remove them Jon):

These are before and after pics Jon Frampton or "caraddict" did

You will not be disappointed. Not just with the gauges, which by the way are works of art, but the entire process. He must have read the book "Raving Fans".

Kyle

s15to311 wrote:

ppeters914 wrote:Darn. I thought there was a thread where Jon had posted before 'n' after pics, but searched and could not find. Seems to me this info should be readily available.

Jon?

He pm'ed me with photo's I will post them for future searchers (If it's not ok I will remove them Jon):

Thanks for all of the positive replies....Restoring the roadster gauges is almost as satisfying as restoring the cars themselves except we get to enjoy the finished product in a couple of weeks instead of a couple of years! Not sure what happened to the previous thread either but we take pics of every set of automotive gauges we do and are putting together a build thread so once we get it all together I'll post it for the list.

Jon

caraddict wrote:

s15to311 wrote:

ppeters914 wrote:Darn. I thought there was a thread where Jon had posted before 'n' after pics, but searched and could not find. Seems to me this info should be readily available.

Jon?

Not sure what happened to the previous thread either but we take pics of every set of automotive gauges we do and are putting together a build thread so once we get it all together I'll post it for the list.

Terrific. I'm thinking it should go into the TechWiki.

Hi,

I restored my own gauges as there is nobody over here that has the silk screens for roadster gauges. It was really tricky taking of the chrome rings ! I was luck as the faces cleaned up well with modern cleaning fluids. I mate, who is an electrical engineer, came over the check out the electrical guages for me. I cleaned and checked out the Speedo and revcounter. I have to buy soem more gauges off E bay for spares as the Speed ahd chewed up some of the gears. The chrome rings were then rechromed and they look ok.

Symon