Gauge faces

[rudy]

well my concern was you'd have to space the dashes out farther to cover the whole clock, otherwise the clock would read wrong when moving, it'd be pointing to the "correct" spot, but the corrosponding number would be wrong..

unless of course i missed something obvious in the thread :P

Ah, yes, of course. I didn't understand you right. In which case, I'll need picture and measurements. Is the tach the same as the one I show?

Are those Imperial units? say it aint so!

Yes, imperial units. I know, I know, we use the metric system up here in Canuck-land, but my measuring devices are in imperial. If you like, I can convert to mm, or even display both.

[xebyd]

Gauge Face Question

So I was looking at these guage faces and am getting really excited about them; then I thought ... I don't know how to get the old ones out and the new ones in. Could someone enlighten me?

[rudy]

There's a few different ways that I know of. You can try to get the bezel off of the bucket without damaging it, or, you can do it the way I did.

This seems a little bit of a butcher way of doing things, but is surprisingly easy. I read about it on the GSR here somewhere. Don't remember who posted it, so I'm not taking the credit on this one.

Ok, first you take everything off your clocks that comes off. Buckets, lights, wiring, trip reset knob, isolators and things. Then you get a marker. Mark a line down the side of the clock from just under the face, to the bottom. This is so you can line it back up after and get it right. Also mark to and bottom with a "T" for tach, and "S" for speedo.

Pull out your drill press, put a decent size THIN cutting disc from your Dremel in it on low speed, set the height off the table to just below the bezel (about 1/8 - 1/4", with the gauge face down on the table) and cut the plastic bucket all the way around to cut just the front face off. You can glue it back together with super glue, or whatever you'd like when you're done. The little bit of depth you take off won't really matter too much in the grand scheme of things, just don't go using a 3/16" grinder cut off wheel. The key here is to use a THIN wheel. Take as little plastic out as possible. Open up, and enjoy!

Lots of people have had to open their clocks already because the two mounting screws for the face have come out and the face just rotates around freely. This is why I cut mine open, and now it's evolved into making new faces. If you don't want to open them up again, I'd suggest some thread lock on them little screws when it all goes back together.

If anyone has another (or easier) way of doing this, please, post it up here for everyone.

Edit: Forgot to mention, when you take the needle off, lift the needle past the stop and mark where it rests on the gauge face. This will help you put it back in the right spot after you put the new faces on. Some guys say that a fork works quite well for prying the needle off. Just don't break the needles, they're probably really brittle and will break easily (Don't ask how I know. Yeah, BOTH of them! So stay tuned for when I offer replacement needles too ).


Rudy

[rudy]

Just finished the MPH GS1000 speedo face. Went surprisingly quick thanks to xebyd's picture of his gauge. Just pasted the picture into CAD and marked out the degrees. Diameter and mounting should be the same as mine.

So, guys, this makes it easy for you. All you need to do is take a picture straight on with the face, and measure as best you can what the diameter is, and distance between the mounting holes. That's it. Easy peasy.

[J_C]

Pictures!!! =D

[mtn stream]

I'm in!!!

Let me now what $ we're talking about and the details.
I Love this site!

[psyguy]

The overall diameter is actually bigger than the stock ones because of the way the stock ones were illuminated. The light would shine around the outside of the face, wheras these will be illuminated from behind, making the space around the outside not needed.

your project rules

but, can you explain how these new faces are supposed to be illuminated

[Paddy]

GS750 gauges

Hi Rudy
Not up to speed with adding pictures to this yet so I have sent you a pm with the picture plus a couple of measurements

Paddy

[Agemax]

The beauty of it is, I'll MAKE it to fit your 850. All you need to do is check the measurements with your original faces. Once I get enough people giving me measurements, I can get a pretty good idea of what's out there and pass the dimensions on to everyone.

Here's dimensions of the ones I have designed already.




The overall diameter is actually bigger than the stock ones because of the way the stock ones were illuminated. The light would shine around the outside of the face, wheras these will be illuminated from behind, making the space around the outside not needed.

rudy, these are the exact dimensions of the clock faces on my UK GS1000E (1978) model. i would need them in MPH format though

[rudy]

Pictures!!! =D

GAH!!! I hate having different versions of AutoCAD at home and work (home version is MUCH better and newer). I have the MPH version on DXF, but it won't open at work. Will post up a dimensioned picture of the MPH tonight.

Let me now what $ we're talking about and the details.
I Love this site!

As soon as I know a price, I'll be putting it up here. Emailed the guy again this morning as he's known to take his time getting back to people. If I nag a little, it usually helps.

your project rules

but, can you explain how these new faces are supposed to be illuminated

The original faces are opaque (not see through) plastic with a sticker or something on them. They are illuminated from the light bulbs in behind, but from around the edge of the face, radially.

These faces I will be making are CLEAR plastic with a lamination of opaque plastic in behind. Using a laser engraving machine, the guy I use will engrave that opaque layer off of the back, leaving a design that light will shine through, thus illuminating the design at night. The design will show up dark during normal daylight, as sunlight makes the rest of the face bright. The design can be coloured with transparent paint, or a permanent marker however you want it to look.

Hi Rudy
Not up to speed with adding pictures to this yet so I have sent you a pm with the picture plus a couple of measurements

Paddy

Got your PM. Replied already. Looks like the same faces for your 750 as my 1000.

rudy, these are the exact dimensions of the clock faces on my UK GS1000E (1978) model. i would need them in MPH format though

MPH is on the way my man! Hope to have the pics up tonight. Getting real close to having a finished product to show you guys. I'm sure that will clear up any questions anybody has about what they'll look like. Still waiting on a price.

Rudy

[renobruce]

Thanks for your work on this, Rudy. Very cool!!

[Agemax]

Thanks for your work on this, Rudy. Very cool!!

i second that. am looking forward to fitting them

[rudy]

Oh, no worries you guys. Call me sick, but I actually like screwing around with stuff like this. Gives me some kind of fulfillment during the week. Current employment isn't all that satisfying, so I gotta get my fix somewhere. Will be compiling a list of the folks out there that are interested and sending out PM's to confirm what everyone wants once I get pricing.

[Agemax]

so what are the choices regarding logo's or lettering on the faces, or do we hve to pm you a pic of what we want?

[rudy]

so what are the choices regarding logo's or lettering on the faces, or do we hve to pm you a pic of what we want?

You got it, send me anything you want, as long as it'll turn out good in one colour. I have the ones that you've seen in the pics already. I can resize them and move them around no problem. Doesn't take that long to trace something out from a picture of a logo. Just lemme know what you want and where you want it.