MH_UK

I have seen some advertisements for different coloured overlays for the VDO gauges we have in our Porkers....Up till now I had skipped past them as I have no desire to have white , red or yellow gauges.

However, I have noticed that the OIl and Warning light gauge has started to "blister" over the warning lights and I was wondering....

1

MH_UK

Sorry...hit the return key too early. I will continue

1 Has anyone done this before ??....is it a difficult job
2 As I mentioned I dont like the thought of White / Red or Yellow...but can you obtaina dark grey / anthracite colour...if so where is the best place to buy them from.

Thanks

M

DaveS

I am facing the same question as my tach is wrinkling.

Two sources in the US are North Hollywood speedometer and Palo Alto speedometer. Both are in California and advertise in Panorama. For a UK distributor of VDO gauges, I would email VDO North America at this link:
<a href="http://www.vdona.com/corporate/aboutvdo.html" target="_blank">http://www.vdona.com/corporate/aboutvdo.html</a>
and query about the UK.

Regarding procedure, here is a link to a tech article from Pelican Parts on the on process:
<a href="http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/964_gauge/964_white_gauge_faces.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/964_gauge/964_white_gauge_faces.htm</a>

Although the article is about changing to white, going back to OEM black should be the same (right??).

I am afraid to try this myself as when it comes to neatness, I am not diligent enough.

Take care,

joey bagadonuts

Dave's right about neatness. I followed Tom's directions with favorable results when replacing my clock. I did nick the rubber gasket, but his precautions should get you through unscathed--you just need to be patient and careful.

One last thing to consider is resetting the lights. If the gauges must come out then you have no choice--you'll need to have your OPC reset your warning lights. This can only be done with one of those Bosch gizmos (technical term). I swung by the service bay of my local shop and they did it in five minutes at no charge ... for once!

J-McDonald

The speedometer on my '91 c2 was blistering, so I had all of the gauges redone in white by N. Hollywood speedo. (I had my local shop pop out the gauges and fed-ex them to NHS). They did a great job.

The white-face gauges weren't replacements - they're the original gauge face discs, but they remove the black coatings from the discs and replace them with white colored "silk screening" (sort of like a paper coating). As a result, I'm not sure that black is an option. If you want black, you may just have to get a factory gauge from a breaker. I decided against this because I liked the white and I was afraid that another factory gauge would start peeling again. Also, if I went with a replacement speedo, I would have the "non-original" odometer problem.

Good luck!

MH_UK

Thanks for the advice guys....I lokked up the write up at Pelican and it looks like an easier option send the gauges away to get them done.....Anybody in the UK done this ?.....any advice on a UK supplier I can use ?

Also...The article on Pelican doesnt mention anything about resetting the warning lights, can anyone confirm / dispute that this needs to be done at an OPC ?

Thanks again

M

J-McDonald

I've heard that if you remove the gauges while the car is turned off and don't start the car again until all of the gauges are back in, you won't trigger the seatbelt and airbag lights in the clock. This is easier said than done, since any shop that removes the gauges for you will want to move the car around while the gauges are out being refinished (it took around a week for shipping to and fro and the actual refinishing).

Of course, I heard this *after* I had mine done, so removal of the gauges tripped the warning lights and I had to go the dealer to have them hook up the Bosch "Hammer" to the car to clear the error code (which is the only way to get the warning lights to go out). This was quick and, since the dealer has gotten lots of my money for other repairs, free of charge.

Good luck!

America

My car also has the blistering problem. I am thinking about redoing all the gauges but I have other projects planned. Can anyone tell me the amount I need to do this project?

DaveK

Hi,
For re-finishing gauges in the UK you could try RAD (Reap Automotive Design). They advertise in 911 & P World and say they were OEM on UK 993s. It says they'll do "any colour" in the ad, so black should be possible - £285 for a full 964 set (+ vat).

They also show a picture of a race spec tacho which looks nice - 0 rpm is at the 4 o'clock position so the red line is at 12 o'clock. Looks much more natural than the standard tacho.

Dave
90 C4

Randall G.

I've had my clock out before without tripping the warning light. As J-Mc suggests, as long as you don't turn on the ignition--which initiates the self-diagnostics--you should be fine. Of course--as J-Mc also suggests--if you're having a shop remove your gauges, turning on the ignition is pretty much inevitable.

I don't think removing the gauges from the dash is the hard part of the job. Removing the gauges is actually straightforward, if not tedious. The hardest part is getting the needle off the speedo without breaking the shaft. The second hardest part is peeling back the bezel edges without marring the gauge face or crimping the bezel too much. I understand the professional shops (e.g., North Hollywood Speedo) have proper tools for both tasks.

Despite being careful, I broke the needle off my speedo when installing the custom faces. I was installing the colored faces because my speedo face had peeled. After breaking the needle, I returned the gauge faces, and bought a used speedo (for less money, FWIW). The used speedo is is holding up fine, some 4 years and 25k miles later. The used speedo has 71k miles less than my original speedo, but I have no intention of lying about my car's mileage.

If I decided I wanted colored gauge faces today, I would: a) park the car where it didn't need to be moved; b) place tape across the key hole, so I wouldn't accidently turn on the ignition; c) remove the gauges; d) send them off to have the faces professionaly installed; e) reinstall the profesionally finished gauges.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

joey bagadonuts

Randall, that's perfect!

J-McDonald

Mak - N. Hollywood Speedo charged around $350 to refinish the gauges in white. Fed-ex to and fro was probably another $20 or so (yours would be cheaper, since you're closer). I'm not sure what the shop charged to remove the gauges and pop them back in the dash (I had some other work done at the same time), but I wouldn't be surprised if it was one hour. So, depending upon your local labor rate, figure roughly $450. Give them a call (their telephone number is on their website <a href="http://www.nhspeedometer.com)" target="_blank">http://www.nhspeedometer.com)</a> [no affiliation with N. Hollywood Speedo, just a satisfied customer]

Is your America Roadster the raspberry one that was on ebay a while back, with a Turbo tail, sport seats and walnut burl dash? It seemed like a really neat car. Were you able to get any past history on it? With the funky interior and exterior colors and walnut dash, I thought that it might have been a "spezial werks" car.

I'm sorry to hear about the sorting issues you've had with it - sometimes people fall out of love with these cars and put off required maintenance when they know that they're going to sell. As someone whose car spent the last year in and out of the shop, I feel your pain. Hopefully, that's all behind (us) now, and the enjoyment part begins...

America

J-McDonald, I did get my car off ebay. Although my car did not have the wood trim. I don't remember seeing another Roadster in this color. There was a purple one with the light grey interior. The cars history dates back to 1993 to 2001 for the first owner. I do not have the actual paper work. I just called the dealer and they had the records. The second owner didn't had much. That should of been my first bad sign before the purchase. I wallet is out $3500 in maintenace after I bought the car. I guess that's not too bad considering i bought the car blindly(It could of been alot worse). My mechanic says the car is great shape, just needed some TLC. My advice to all that would buy from ebay, get the car check out before purchasing.

Ruairidh

[quote]Originally posted by Randall G.:
<strong>
If I decided I wanted colored gauge faces today, I would: a) park the car where it didn't need to be moved; b) place tape across the key hole, so I wouldn't accidently turn on the ignition; c) remove the gauges; d) send them off to have the faces professionaly installed; e) reinstall the profesionally finished gauges.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hi Randall, you've just described one of the tasks I have for the Michigan Snow-Months and the procedure I intend to follow. One question - did you have to remove the steering wheel to remove/replace the tachometer?

Hope all is well

Randall G.

Hi Ruairidh,

You can get all the gauges out without removing the steering wheel. It's just a matter of rotating the gauge the right direction, once you've pulled it out of the dash.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />