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White Face gauges

79MGB16

Senior Member
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Does anyone know where I can get a set made or if someone makes thems now? I think that they would look sweet inside the car.

Thanks
Robert
driving.gif
 
Nisonger makes, or made them. As far as doing your own, I started to do some, as I had done them on other cars, and although I THINK it could be done at home, there's a LOT of pitfalls, the biggest of which is that your guages aren't flat. There's a top and bottom piece. The top has the cutout, which would have to be accounted for, and the bottom is shaped like a well, which would also have to be accounted for. They're also VERY easy to break when you dismantle them, and you have to dismantle them to do the job.

When I've done them in the past, I've done an overlay kind of thing, but I don't know if it'll work on Smiths guages. It's still on my to-do list, but I've been kinda busy job hunting lately and haven't been able to fool with it.
 
I completed a set for my '74 a couple of months ago. I reproduced all the original artwort in Adobe Illustrator (inverted of course). I painted the original gauge faces, rings(tach and speedo), and upper bezel(oil, temp, fuel) gloss white after sanding them. Then I printed my new faces on inkjet decal paper. After carefully (read 10 times!!) applying them and left them dry, I gave them several coats of UV rated semi-gloss clearcoat. I also painted the needles red. They look great! I also used a newer inkjet printer with inks rated for UV longevity. If you are interested, I can take a photo of them and post it.

BTW, this is a good opportunity to paint the inside of the gauges white to improve lighting (which is fantastic even with the regular bulbs now).

Best of luck, Dave
 
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