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Brosky
Great Pumpkin
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I started this today and hopefully I'll get it finished and up by late tonight.
https://www.74tr6.com/gauges.htm
https://www.74tr6.com/gauges.htm
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Gauge cleaning and refurbishing
- Thread starter Brosky
- Start date
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beatifully done,
although you might want to go edit the picture where you primed the cases. You have it as tow coats, as in Tow Mater. Hate when my fingers get ahead of my brain.
What product do you use for your vinyl rejuvinator?
Makes me want to go work on my own.
Steve Spangler
Lancaster PA
although you might want to go edit the picture where you primed the cases. You have it as tow coats, as in Tow Mater. Hate when my fingers get ahead of my brain.
What product do you use for your vinyl rejuvinator?
Makes me want to go work on my own.
Steve Spangler
Lancaster PA
OP
Brosky
Great Pumpkin
Offline
Thanks Steve,
The fixes are done as well as the blank drawn last night on the product. It is Tanner's Leather and Vinyl Cleaner. I did add that to the page as well.
Great on all interior parts and delicate rubber like this. I'm sure there are others that would work, but it was near my bench at the time and it turned out fine.
The fixes are done as well as the blank drawn last night on the product. It is Tanner's Leather and Vinyl Cleaner. I did add that to the page as well.
Great on all interior parts and delicate rubber like this. I'm sure there are others that would work, but it was near my bench at the time and it turned out fine.
dklawson
Yoda
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That's an excellent presentation! You did a great job!
Being an improviser I have one suggestion for any future edits you make to that series. You mentioned (below the Pledge picture) that the thin paper rings are delicate and not to tear or damage them. Sometimes the paper is distorted and unusable when removed. A fix I've used for this is to carefully measure the ID and OD of the ring... or what the ring should be. I then make rings using one of two things... thin black gasket paper... or a cereal box. I replace the pencil of a drawing compass with a hobby knife (Xacto). Use that to first cut the OD of the paper ring, then the ID. If necessary, spray the cardboard with black spray paint. Once the paint is dry, use fine wet/dry paper as necessary to remove any paper whiskers. It sounds like more work than it is. The resulting ring is as good (or better) than the paper rings I've taken out of some gauges.
I have a question about the cork disks. You said they are necessary and it looks like you've installed them inside the gauge, sandwiched between the movement and the case. On the few gauges I've worked on where these were present at all, I've found them stuffed into the adjusting holes to close them off. Are they really supposed to be inside like they appear in your pictures? Since I don't have a source for these at home, I use a hole punch to blank out little disks of electrical tape and use them to cover the holes from the back side.
Being an improviser I have one suggestion for any future edits you make to that series. You mentioned (below the Pledge picture) that the thin paper rings are delicate and not to tear or damage them. Sometimes the paper is distorted and unusable when removed. A fix I've used for this is to carefully measure the ID and OD of the ring... or what the ring should be. I then make rings using one of two things... thin black gasket paper... or a cereal box. I replace the pencil of a drawing compass with a hobby knife (Xacto). Use that to first cut the OD of the paper ring, then the ID. If necessary, spray the cardboard with black spray paint. Once the paint is dry, use fine wet/dry paper as necessary to remove any paper whiskers. It sounds like more work than it is. The resulting ring is as good (or better) than the paper rings I've taken out of some gauges.
I have a question about the cork disks. You said they are necessary and it looks like you've installed them inside the gauge, sandwiched between the movement and the case. On the few gauges I've worked on where these were present at all, I've found them stuffed into the adjusting holes to close them off. Are they really supposed to be inside like they appear in your pictures? Since I don't have a source for these at home, I use a hole punch to blank out little disks of electrical tape and use them to cover the holes from the back side.
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
You can see the adjustments in this shot . Note how the two yellow-colored plates have a pivot at one end (upper left and lower right), then the opposite end has a slot that can move under a washer. On the plate on the right (in the photo), you can even see the slot that is exposed through the hole (when the cork is removed) and some damage from where someone (perhaps the factory) used the slot to move the plate. The plate on the left has a similar slot, but it's not visible in this photo.Brosky said:
Great article, Paul!
PS, the plate on the left in the photo adjusts mostly the 'zero' of the gauge, while the plate on the right adjusts mostly the 'scale'. In practice, though, it's better to choose two calibration points at about 1/3 and 2/3 scale, then move back and forth to get both adjustments right.
OP
Brosky
Great Pumpkin
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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]PS, the plate on the left in the photo adjusts mostly the 'zero' of the gauge, while the plate on the right adjusts mostly the 'scale'. In practice, though, it's better to choose two calibration points at about 1/3 and 2/3 scale, then move back and forth to get both adjustments right.[/QUOTE]
That is why I clearly state my article is NOT about calibration, just cleaning and painting. I didn't and still don't know anything about gauge calibration. (Except for what Randall just taught me!)
Thanks for the clear explanation Randall. After all that work, I never really looked at the gauges internally. Maybe because mine worked OK, maybe because I never gave it a thought. Probably both.
I just wanted to prove that I could make them brighter. That I did manage to do.
That is why I clearly state my article is NOT about calibration, just cleaning and painting. I didn't and still don't know anything about gauge calibration. (Except for what Randall just taught me!)
Thanks for the clear explanation Randall. After all that work, I never really looked at the gauges internally. Maybe because mine worked OK, maybe because I never gave it a thought. Probably both.
I just wanted to prove that I could make them brighter. That I did manage to do.
dklawson
Yoda
Offline
I'm sure you could use any material that's about the same thickness as the original paper. On the gauges where I've had to make these rings it was important that they not show and that's why I've used black gasket paper or painted cereal boxes. The Poly used for milk jugs would be OK too... you just wouldn't want it to show so the ID may need to be a bit larger.