Refurbishing my 52 F-1 Dash meters
#1
Refurbishing my 52 F-1 Dash meters
I dissembled both meters and cleaned the faces with cue-tips and alcohol.
I had the chrome rings re-chromed.
Sand blasted several of the pieces except the individual meters and painted them back as original with off white, flat black & silver.
I placed cardboard behind the needles on each gage for painting.
I went to Dollar General and bought a color of red nail polish that would look good. My truck is red so I matched the body color. Try not to get a translucent color. I got my wife to paint the needles since she is steadier than I am.
On the front piece for the meter assembly I painted the flat black in the center then found a small juice glass that would cover the black, weighted it down with a socket and painted the outside with the silver. Looks better than original!
The cork spacers were history so I started looking for “0” rings to take their place. First one was too thin, second try was too thick (both were stock size thickness “0” rings) so I went to a business that can build “0” rings from a spool of “0” ring material. They gave me about 10 inches of material for each meter. The size I settled on is about .190 thousands of an inch.
I used file folder plastic colored tags to get amber and red for the speedo turn & high beam indicators.
Here is what they look like when finished.
Upon assembly I found out it is next to impossible to crimp the chrome covers back like they were originally to hold the guts in. In the process I broke one glass cover plate.
I am now holding the units together with slight pressure and using clear silicone to seal and hold the assemblies together instead of crimping them.
The two assemblies look like a diamond in a goat’s *** after they were finished and will really look nice when installed in my red dash.
Anyone have a broken speedometer or gage housing around that has a good glass I could use to replace the one I broke??? If so e-mail me at tractorman@billstractor.com.
Tractormanbill
I had the chrome rings re-chromed.
Sand blasted several of the pieces except the individual meters and painted them back as original with off white, flat black & silver.
I placed cardboard behind the needles on each gage for painting.
I went to Dollar General and bought a color of red nail polish that would look good. My truck is red so I matched the body color. Try not to get a translucent color. I got my wife to paint the needles since she is steadier than I am.
On the front piece for the meter assembly I painted the flat black in the center then found a small juice glass that would cover the black, weighted it down with a socket and painted the outside with the silver. Looks better than original!
The cork spacers were history so I started looking for “0” rings to take their place. First one was too thin, second try was too thick (both were stock size thickness “0” rings) so I went to a business that can build “0” rings from a spool of “0” ring material. They gave me about 10 inches of material for each meter. The size I settled on is about .190 thousands of an inch.
I used file folder plastic colored tags to get amber and red for the speedo turn & high beam indicators.
Here is what they look like when finished.
Upon assembly I found out it is next to impossible to crimp the chrome covers back like they were originally to hold the guts in. In the process I broke one glass cover plate.
I am now holding the units together with slight pressure and using clear silicone to seal and hold the assemblies together instead of crimping them.
The two assemblies look like a diamond in a goat’s *** after they were finished and will really look nice when installed in my red dash.
Anyone have a broken speedometer or gage housing around that has a good glass I could use to replace the one I broke??? If so e-mail me at tractorman@billstractor.com.
Tractormanbill
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I didn't have to repaint any of the numbers on the gages just cleaned them up.
The biggest problem on the re-build was finding an "0" ring the correct thickness to replace the cork gasket plus the crimping on reassembly.
I started to reset the speedometer to 00000000 but chickened out since I only had one in case there was a problem. I used to do this all the time 40 years ago back when it was not against the law. I generally don't like to work on nickey/nackey small stuff like this anymore.
I'm re-wiring the whole truck with EZ wiring kit with a new steering column so I don't know why I cannot get the turn signals to work since I have left & right individual bulbs in the speedometer housing.
Thanks for all the offers for glass. I have contacted Ilya since I am obtaining other parts from him but have not heard if he has one or not.
PS: Tom B. e-mailed me that he would send me a glass. Much thanks!!
Tractormanbill
The biggest problem on the re-build was finding an "0" ring the correct thickness to replace the cork gasket plus the crimping on reassembly.
I started to reset the speedometer to 00000000 but chickened out since I only had one in case there was a problem. I used to do this all the time 40 years ago back when it was not against the law. I generally don't like to work on nickey/nackey small stuff like this anymore.
I'm re-wiring the whole truck with EZ wiring kit with a new steering column so I don't know why I cannot get the turn signals to work since I have left & right individual bulbs in the speedometer housing.
Thanks for all the offers for glass. I have contacted Ilya since I am obtaining other parts from him but have not heard if he has one or not.
PS: Tom B. e-mailed me that he would send me a glass. Much thanks!!
Tractormanbill
Last edited by tractormanbill; 10-17-2013 at 06:42 AM. Reason: addition of info
#10
#13
Here is the finished product after Tom in Main sent me a glass.
That is a reflection on the speedometer gage, not a broken glass.
The biggest problem of all was coming up with an "0" ring to replace the cork gaskets that were gone! The thickness of the "0" rings was 3/16 or .188 dia. BUNS-N ORING CORD and I cut it to length
Be sure if you rebuild to use silicon to hold the unit together rather than trying to crimp the case!
Tractormanbill
That is a reflection on the speedometer gage, not a broken glass.
The biggest problem of all was coming up with an "0" ring to replace the cork gaskets that were gone! The thickness of the "0" rings was 3/16 or .188 dia. BUNS-N ORING CORD and I cut it to length
Be sure if you rebuild to use silicon to hold the unit together rather than trying to crimp the case!
Tractormanbill
Last edited by tractormanbill; 10-28-2013 at 04:11 PM. Reason: correcting
#14
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