Info needed: Ford Instrument Cluster- Correct Gold Colour

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Does anyone know a close match for the gold paint used on WW2 Ford instrument clusters? I looked at the late Bob Moseley's Instrument Panel Restoration thread but could not find any colour reference. Looked at a few off the shelf hardware store colours but usually too bright a gold colour.

Searching the web I found a reference to the color on the G503 website referring to a the colour of a 1941 Ford Jeep instrument cluster as a "code that Baxter Ford has" That Jeep cluster is similar in many ways to a Ford CMP cluster minus the shift points on the odometer. The gold colour of the plate would surely be the same.

From the G503 post is sounded like Baxter Ford is a Canadian Ford dealership. A standard modern Ford vehicle colour then perhaps is close such as Aurora Gold? I guess I could drive the local Super Cheap Auto parts employee crazy by asking to look at all the gold vehicle colours inside the locked paint cabinets but would prefer not to, I might want to shop there again!

The attached shows the cluster panel as found, the second one is after filling in the 4 screw holes with brass strip soldered behind each hole then filling with JB Weld and followd by filing, priming, spray putty, and sanding.

The last photo is why I am replacing the panel. Some previous bright spark cut out the panel at the ammeter to give the needle more room to move due to the gauge being warped. Grrr! Why go to all that trouble when simpler solutions exist.

As Bob stated "Nothing is impossible"

Cheers,

[Dave Newcomb]

Early for ford V8 club is international.. lots of info on Fordbarn.com 40 trucks were brown background and 41 up were a lighter color. without the chrome surround. newc

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Dave,

Thanks. I am on Fordbarn.com too but it can be a needle in a haystack search like on most forums.

My main thing is to find an Australian source if possible. Even if available, a $10 can of paint could cost $50 if posted to Australia from almost anywhere in the world. That is even assuming they will post it as many suppliers do not ship to here. Obviously Bob found a good colour match in Australia a few years back when he was restoring instrument panels for others.

I took a $8 gamble and bought a can of Satin Gold aerosol paint from Bunnings. (I lost)
It is a bit brighter gold colour as previously mentioned.
the Satin Gold colour chip I sprayed is in the speedo aperture for comparison with the original colour. It looks a lot closer in colour in the photo than in real life.


Cheers,

[David Herbert]

Possibly the thing to do is to look at modern car colours when you are out and about. Most cars are available in some sort of gold/metallic brown colour and there might well be one that is suitable.

David

[Jacques Reed]

Hi David,

Yes, that may be my best way of getting a close match of colour.

My late Father-in-law had a 1997 Toyota Camry in a light gold colour which from memory was a bit lighter shade than the instrument cluster plate.

With all the metallic colours of cars available, there there is bound to be one with a close match. Might be worth my while to ask a local panel beater for a suggestion as they would have a lot of knowledge, and a good eye for car colours.

Will post my results for all when/if I get a good match.

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Jaques,

Possibly not much help to you in Oz, but I used:

Ace hardware Brite Gold Metallic spray can
Testors Dark Red barcode 0-75611-11040 (red stripes)
Rustoleum Gloss white spray can (for the back & interior)

Best regards

Mike

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that info. Can get the last two in Oz anyway. have the Testor's red already and a good spray epoxy white for the back.

I "let my fingers do the walking" as they used to say in the Yellow Pages ad.

Went to Carsales.com and searched for gold coloured cars only. Over 60 types of gold colours were listed.

I was able to eliminate a lot of colours (and save me from looking suspicious while lurking around carparks!)

A couple of recent Ford colours, Acid Rush, and Victory Gold and Toyota Aurora Gold may be contenders. Surprisingly I found a 1975 Ford colour, Tropic Gold might fit the bill but doubt if DupliColor still make it.

I then remembered I helped sell an elderly friend's 1975 Fairlane back in 2006 and it was painted Tropic Gold. A search through my archives and I found photos I took to put in the ad for him. See attached. Might be just a bit too reddish gold however.

Getting warmer.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Mike,

Your reply got me thinking. Rust-Oleum is sold her in Australia and as it is American they may supply ACE Hardware with their home brand. I know one paint supplier here in Australia supplies a number of companies with their own branded paints.

Perhaps I am drawing a long bow but looking at the Pure Gold image attached it could be a contender.

Will check it out next trip to Bunnings.

Cheers,

[Mike Cecil]

Rustoleum is the same as Ace Hardware's Brite Gold, near as anyway.

I've used both on the fence & gate caps and fancy bits (it's a very swish fence & gate!) and you cannot tell the difference when dry, and cannot tell which parts were painted with which paint even after several months. Cleaned out the local Ace hardware of gold paint, hence the different brands used.

Rustoleum is very good paint: I use their rusty metal red primer a lot, followed by their grey (gray) metal primer.

The spray can image has the really nice hand grip, too: much nicer to use than a standard push-the -button spray pack.

Mike

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Mike,

Ace = Rust-Oleum: That is great information! Thank you.

Will get the Rust-Oleum Pure Gold at Bunnings. If my panel comes up half as good as yours I will be happy.

A very fancy gate I can imagine!

Many thanks again. A bit circuitous route but a good answer in the end.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

Revisited this recently. I wanted to get as close a colour match before reassembling the cluster. I also looked at other thirties Ford car instrument clusters as I would imagine Ford would not have changed the gold colour in the pre war years.

Looked at about a dozen gold colours, automotive and hardware brands. Narrowed it down to these three. Many automotive golds were too reddish in colour or too light a shade of gold.

As half-predicted the Rust-Oleum looks the closest allowing for aging of the original gold paint. Dupli-Color Goldrush is a bit too yellow. White Knight is an Australian branch of the U.S. PPG company and is is too bright.

The test sample sadly is the fascia I spent a few hours refinishing; primed, spray puttied and wet sanded a few times. The strip brass patches I soldered behind the fascia to fill the holes, as thin as they were, were too thick to allow the bezel to properly seal. Kindly Euan McDonald supplied me with a good restorable one, free of extra holes.

Plan to spray that with Rust-Oleum next nice day- whenever that occurs this winter.

Bet I'm not the first person to spend hours restoring something only to find their efforts were for nought.

Hope this is of some interest.

[David Herbert]

Jacques,
Could you very slowly grind the surplus thickness off your patches with a small grinder. It should be possible to do it without overheating the repair or doing secondary damage. It seems such a shame to waste the work that you have already done.

David

[Jacques Reed]

Hi David,

Yes, I had considered that but there would be very little steel for the filler to adhere to. It would only be the thin edge of the steel at the hole.

I have noticed the instrument panel is subject to a fair bit of vibration which could result in the filler falling out if not backed up. My reason in the first place for putting the brass shim behind the hole.

As shown in the photo I've had three instrument panels that all have cracked at the same location from what I can only assume was vibration with resulting fatigue failure.

All is not lost. I will put that fascia up on my shed wall to remind me to check the fit of things before modifications. As someone once said "You learn more from your failures than you do from your successes."

[Jacques Reed]

Good Day,

With a few rainy days at hand, I thought I would tidy up another thing lying around the back room.

I tried to paint red stripes with a paint pen, but I was unable to get consistent 1/16" wide stripes spaced 1/4" apart even with using a guide.

I thought of another workaround, and having made decals before, made up some red stripes on laser decal paper using my colour laser printer. I was able to keep the artwork to very tight tolerances by that method.

I practiced on my sample fascia first (the one I wasted hours on before) and was satisfied I could do a reasonable job.

The results are shown. The paint pen jig which in the end I did not use came in handy, nonetheless. I printed the line spacing full size, laminated it previously so paint or decal liquids would not damage it, and positioned it precisely under the fascia as a guide for the decal placement.

The decals were put on as normal with decal setting solution to pull down the decal tightly onto the surface below. No edges show and this gives the appearance of it being inked or painted on as per original.

Next warm day a coat of satin clear acrylic to seal them in and it is all finished.

Hope this is of some interest.

Added before photo. Many thanks again Euan. I eventually get a "round tuit"!

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

I started to work on remounting the fascia to the instrument cluster.

Couple of interesting points came up. The previous owner who broke off the tabs on the cluster case to remove the bezel, luckily for me, broke off the top tabs. There is a lot more room for screws and nuts to clear the gauges at the top of the cluster than at the bottom. Something to remember if removing the bezel.

This allowed me to use screws through the tab holes and just a small groove filed in the bezel was needed for clearance for the screw.

Some old computer screws that I had salvaged just fit the bill. The heads are not too thick to hold the cluster too far off the instrument panel and their small size kept modifications to the bezel to the minimum. The long nut came in handy in the tight location to fit to the screw.

Now to work on the gasket between the glass and the bezel. I am guessing based on the old remnant that it was a moulded rubber seal conforming to the shape of the bezel. A uniform strip of rubber would not have the backing at the sides to make a tight seal. Cannot find any suppliers of an original style one so a bit of packing will be required at the sides to bring it up to a uniform level for a strip of rubber.

Using the old, hacked fascia to test fit everything. No use risk scratching the restored one until final assembly.

[Ganmain Tony]

Good to see you're chipping away at it Jacques.
I concur with that break at the dash panel. Most Ford 13 Cabs I've seen have cracking in that corner.
Those little tabs are usually broken which is frustrating. You can get away with them not being there due to the way the fascia is assembled.
Your work on correct gold colour and red stripes is a credit to you, as well as taking the time to document it.
I made silly error when I put my cluster back in by not putting some sort of rubber around the bezel. As a result, the glass cracked
I found a round profile rubber 'rope' from Clark rubber. Worked perfectly on the second attempt. Went into the bezel channel perfectly with enough protruding to provide a seal and some cushioning for the glass.

[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,