Info needed: Waltham vs Stewart Warner Speedometer faces- Ford Trucks

[Jacques Reed]

Note: I moved this to a separate thread from Ford Instrument Cluster Gold Colour as a more relevant subject.

"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".

Good Day,

Well, a good mate found me a Waltham speedometer face recently at a swap meet so now to make a good correct decal for it. I noticed most aftermarket decals are for the Stewart Warner type.

As shown, it has a vinyl sticker attached. There are quite a few things wrong with it. First off it is a sticker for a Stewart Warner type not a Waltham. I will explain some of the differences I found while looking at Waltham 4 speed truck speedometers on the Ford Barn and the Jalopy Journal websites:

The spacing is closer between the marks on the right side between the 50 and 60 mph marks on a Waltham, in fact it is the same spacing as the left side of both Waltham and SW types between 0 and 10 mph. The 10 mph and 50 mph numerals are at the same vertical position on the Waltham but not on the SW type.

The 30-mph numeral is placed dead centre at the top on the Waltham but off centre on a SW. The zero is closer to the radial marks on a Waltham.

The actual sticker, if commercially made, has a few major errors. The red areas on the marks are too large. The concentric rings are evenly spaced but, on both SW, and Waltham the first six are evenly spaced and then the next 6 are evenly spaced but further apart. The circles are also too thick on the sticker. The shift point lettering is also too thick.

At least the steel faceplates are identical size and design on both brands, but the mounting holes are different. The odometer aperture is also slightly different in size and position between the two brands. I was able to scan my SW faceplate to get the common artwork and sizes such as the concentric rings, numerals, marks, and lettering to replicate a Waltham face.

I have one question before I commit it to decal paper.

The shift points sectors appear to be a cream colour or light yellow in various photos I have seen. With age and fading it is hard to say but I don't think it would be too yellow. Perhaps the same cream as the bezel?

Can anyone confirm what it is?

PS the decal prototype shown is the same size as the sticker. The sticker plate was slightly closer to the camera and fools the eye.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,

[Dave Newcomb]

Fordbarn.com Forum -Early V8 . should have the best replies- The Inter National V8 judges are there. Restored guages also show up on H.A.M.B.com Dave

[Jacques Reed]

Thanks David,

I have been to those sites to get my info. Good photos of Waltham 4 spd truck speedometer faces but I won't pinch them for posting on MLU. I am on the Ford Barn group so maybe I should post this thread there. Haven't posted anything there for a few years.

Cheers,

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Dave Newcomb

Fordbarn.com Forum -Early V8 . should have the best replies- The Inter National V8 judges are there. Restored guages also show up on H.A.M.B.com Dave

Hi David, I posted a query there but got only one frivolous cryptic reply.

On that basis I used my best judgement and made it a cream colour similar to the bezel. I experimented with 4 shades of it, and some seemed too yellow based on a photo of a NOS Stewart Warner face I saw assuming both were the same colour. Even that appeared slightly faded so I took that into consideration for the final colour.

Here is the finished decal applied to the correct Waltham face after removing the vinyl sticker and painting the plate white. Decal is coated in satin acrylic which gives protection and a similar reflectance to the NOS gauge faces. Upper plate is an original Stewart Warner plate that had been attached to my Waltham case. It still was useful to develop the common graphics on the two brands of speedos.

Hope this is of some interest.

Cheers,