TR4/4A Question about cleaning instrument faces

[rnpennington]

Now, I was able to twist the chrome bezels from the instruments to remove them so I could polish them and clean the glass. After I took the bezels off, there is a lot of black crud on the inside of each bezel. It looks like a deteriorated rubber ring or something. I assume it is some type of sealing ring or substance.

Can someone tell me what this is?

 

[toysrrus]

Hi Bob,

Typ. they are "O Rings" that do seal out moisture etc.

Take a look in Moss`s Cat or VB & You`ll see them spelled out for you for all your Instruments.

Regards, Russ

 

[charleyf]

The O rings are on the outside of the gauge. Inside there is some sort of a substance that has hardened and usually cracked. I believe it was to seal the bezel to the glass. It is preferable to put something in there to help as a spacer / seal. I have used an old O ring in there but recall that I had to cut it to make it smaller to fit inside.
Charley

 

[glemon]

Although, agree with where the discussion has gone above, re the seals, I will add that, though you didn't say anything about it in your post, your topic line says "cleaning instrument faces" if you are planning on doing this do it very gently, as it is easy to do more harm than good, I usually just gently wipe if with a soft damp rag, like eyeglass lens or tablet screen cloth. Sometimes I don't even go that far, just give them a very gentle dry dusting.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Yeah, with some of these old gauges a good sneeze is about enough to blow the white letters off the black background. Be very conservative with them.

Small gauge rings: https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=633-500&WebCatalogID=0

Big gauge rings: https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=280-860&WebCatalogID=0

 

[dklawson]

As above, limit the gauge face cleaning. Use no solvents or cleaners other than water and blot, don't rub. Cotton swabs are handy.

I typically take the chrome bezels with the goo on the back and soak them for a day or two in those gallon buckets of "dip" carb cleaner. Once fully softened you can pick the material out and eventually expose the hidden chrome. You can buy replacement seals from some places. The DIY fix I use is to go to the home center and buy various sizes of window screen spline. This is a vinyl tube with a sort-of star profile and a hole through the middle. The hole and splines make for a squishier seal than an o-ring to conform to the glass better. Be advised that the spline is available in multiple sizes and not each home center carries all the sizes... try both Lowes and Home Depot. You want something larger than 1/8", probably the 0.142" size or larger. Buy a few different sizes. Cut strips that tuck into the back of the bezel, and try the fit. It should be a bit snug to hold the glass.

 

[rnpennington]

These links are the rings for the outside of the gauges - between the gauge and the dash (or I am misreading the description - also entirely possible). I was wondering about sealing the Inside of the gauges.

Thanks though - I wasn't clear which ones I was looking for

 

[rnpennington]

Thanks Doug - this seems to be just the information I was looking for. But I have one question - won't the carb cleaner affect the chrome?

 

[dklawson]

I have never seen carb cleaner affect chrome. Whatever they put in the dip buckets is formulated for you to soak much more reactive metals like carb bodies and linkages in. I would describe it as mild to metal and harsh on plastics, gum, and varnish.

If you want the parts to look really nice when you are done, polish the bezels with Simichrome metal polish before you reassemble the gauges. It really does a good job even on weathered bezels.