Info needed: Ford Instrument Cluster- Correct Gold Colour

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Tony,

Yes, still working away on it as time and weather permits. At least there is always something to do and if I hit a stumbling block, I go on to something else and return to it later.
I found this works well over the years. Often after a break you see things more clearly and the solution becomes evident.

Thanks for the Clark rubber suggestion for the seal. I looked at their online catalogue but didn't see anything like that, only wide strips. Pays to visit a bricks and mortar shop instead. Obviously not every item they carry is online.

Had another idea to use 3mm x 3mm square O-ring material if available. I Could not find that size online but again a trip to a shop that specializes in seals might show it's available. I got that idea from a square leather bootlace I just replaced. 3mm x 3mm it is and fits perfectly in the bezel. I don't think leather would be the best material to use there, however!

Cheers,

[Lynn Eades]

Jacques, What about "O" ring material?

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Lynn,

Yes, that is what I was trying to source but in a square cross section. Smallest I could find online was 4mm square. Round cross section would probably do too as in Tonys case. I have a company I have dealt with in a nearby town for O-rings so next trip there I will see what they have. I bet square, if available, will be a lot more costly than round. Will also check out Tony suggestion at Clark rubber first.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Well, I am getting there. I finally went with 3.5mm O-ring cord. The original looked square section but probably from years of being compressed it took on a flat surface at the glass. Corresponding with Hans Wyenendaele on FB, who has restored many Ford clusters, was most helpful. He pointed this out and supplied a lot of good information to me.

He also pointed out that the originals O-rings are two pieces with a gap at the sides. When I looked at an old photo of my bezel, sure enough, there was a gap there. Original designers probably thought it would not be supported there by the curvature of the sides. I took license to pack it out with rubber in my case to make the seal one piece. Actually, I think the O-ring it is more to cushion the glass rather than a seal otherwise why would you leave a gap at the sides?

Hans also pointed that my speedometer had a Stewart Warner face on it, but the case is a Waltham one. "Bubba" must have changed it for some reason long before I acquired the truck. He drilled two extra holes in it to fit the Waltham case. As much as I hate it, I had to drill another hole on the tab at the top of the face so it would fit parallel with the fascia. Bubba missed that.
So now to source a good Waltham speedometer face to get it right.

Almost finished photos: Yes, it should be a 50 PSI oil pressure gauge but the senders for them are scarce. I have a NOS 50 PSI gauge waiting but I have a new 80 PSI sender in the interim for the NOS 80 PSI gauge.

And yes, it should be a Battery indicator, but they are even scarcer. I wired the truck up for a late war round gauge Ammeter so it will be a lot easier to refit a more period correct set of gauges for my 1942 truck with a Ford Ammeter.

The bezel is painted Dulux Colorbond Classic Cream. A good match for original Tacoma Cream (thanks again Hans). A remnant can be seen on the red Trucks's bezel. That is the restored steel one used on the cluster shown. Likewise the before photo of the fascia. Thanks again Euan.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers

[Jacques Reed]

Just realized, my engine has the later 80 PSI oil pump fitted. The one with the relieve valve in the pump body. Glad I take photos of everything.

No use trying to fit a 50 PSI sender and gauge to the instrument cluster on that basis. Any thoughts on the matter?

Cheers,

[Mike K]

Great job . Your decal artwork is excellent. What graphic program did you use ?

Can't help with the colour/hue of the change sectors. The repro sticker doesn't look correct as you have pointed out. I didn't know that Ford used two brands of Speedo heads

I was at the MJCQ swap meet in 1980 and a seller had some NOS wartime Ford and Chev blitz speedo heads for $10. I bought a NOS Chev speedo from Jack O'Donnell many years ago, he had all of the Chev instruments NOS in 'AC Delco' boxes.

I scanned a original Chev glass instrument face , think I used Paint Shop Pro to clean up the white lettering and numerals. I reversed the image and it came out very nice. I believe I uploaded the file on this forum . I gave a copy to 'salesman Bob' and he told me it is perfect. http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...hlight=artwork Just a few weeks back I found another complete Chev instrument cluster for $10 at a swap meet. Ford clusters are less common, for some reason you see ten Chev clusters for each Ford cluster.

When I had the ex-army 1941 Ford 11D , the instruments artwork was almost unreadable. A friend had a official 1941 Ford Aust. truck promo book with many pics, including a detailed pic of the speedo face. I scanned the pic and printed out a image that was useable.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Mike,

Thanks, it wasn't too time-consuming, took just two mornings.

I used Paint.net an open-sourced freeware which was originally Microsoft Paint. Microsoft left it for users to develop it further and it has evolved steadily over time.

I will write more but having trouble with posting here. I cannot seem to delete a duplicate post I accidentally created. Maybe I need administrator rights?

Cheers,