realtime

Im thinking of putting a set of dashboard guage faces on my '87 911. The write up says they can be done fairly easily by the car owner in 1 - 2 hours using a special tool to remove the needle (which comes w/ the set).

If anyone has experience doing this modificationI'd appreciate hearing how easy it actually is and any pointers you might suggest.

TIA,
Dan

J-RAD

I thought it was very easy. However, some people claim to have difficulty with the bezels. You do want to be careful not to bend them but if you take your time there is nothing difficult about it. I'm not sure if this is a myth that has grown larger by people that have never tried this or if I was just real lucky...both are possible! Nonetheless, it was a little time consuming. I think that 2 - 3 hours may be a little more accurate if you are taking your time.

Rick Lee

Mine are in the mail and I can't wait to put them in myself. I have read the Pelican tech article several times and feel I should have it done in a Friday evening. I will post when I'm done.

realtime

Thanks for the info so far.

BTW; these guages are offered on ebay (by car model and year) on a regular basis and the ad there claims these are THE guage faces to have and their cost ( $25 - 30) is considerably less than advertised in the "specialty car" catalogs (Tweeks, Performance, etc.) @ $160ish!
Tempting....

Rick Lee

Yup - those are the ones I have on the way. I figure I'll tape them onto the glass, just to get an idea of how they'll look. If they look cheap, I'll relist them. I think I got them for $31. Hell, for that price it's worth a try.

Flyin Elvis

Realtime; can you tell me where on ebay you saw these? By the way good speedo shop here locally will do them in about an hour for $45.00. the Rat could use a facelift! <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

PDACPA

Hey Realtime I second the ebay link request. I was going to go with white faces on mine (911 1989 Carrera guards red with tan interior that has many black components)and I am considering the silver or aluminum to try and "update" with current looks.

Face15

Realtime,
I "updated", if I can use that word, my gauge faces with the white aluminum backed set from Driver's Edge. (E-bay - $60 for the set and tool). The job took me a whole afternoon, 6-7 hours, with a few breaks. The toughest part was getting the first gauge out and removing the bezel from the lip of the gauge. After a gauge or two it starts moving along quickly - I used the instructions that came with them and the Pelican Parts tech. article. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Face15

Flyin Elvis

Todd; Nice job. Still no luck finding them on e-bay. <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" />

davis911s

Look on EBAy under the user name driversgauges, or type in porsche 911 gauge faces. I did that and they have 5 sets on right now. Starting at $25.

I bought a set in the winter for under $20 so keep looking and wait. Once in a while they set LOWER start price and no-one else bids

As for installation, it seemed fairly easy but with all the talk on Pelican a while ago, I am wondering how close they will be to accurate. Time will tell, Hibernation ends soon!

Shawn

jlkline

Does anyone make metal gauge faces other than having them done custom?

With the polycarbs, I find the textured surface a bit annoying in terms of the character definition, and the lack of dimensionality on the soft, radiused surfaces that surround the all of the small guage areas(oil pressure, temp, fuel, etc)

Currently, the only solution I know of that can maintain this original character is refinishing the existing faces to the desired color, and silkscreening the graphics directly on to the refinished faces. I know some of the speedo shops do this expensive, custom work, but I thought there might be a cheaper alternative.