tmpc2s

Please forgive my inexperience here but I have a question regarding aluminum gauge faces. After admiring so many pictures of them on here posted by all of you, my wife ordered me a set for Valentine's Day. Much to our amazement they arrived and are nothing but cardboard. In fact, they even appear to be cut out with a dull pair of scissors by a guy who had a few too many drinks. Also, they were not individually wrapped when shipped and there are spots where the "aluminum" coating has worn off already. I guess we were expecting them to be be actual aluminum and of much better quality...are we just naive? I can't imagine installing these in my car but what do I know...maybe that's just the way they are and will look fabulous when done.

Also, I sure as hell don't want to return the first gift my wife bought me for the car!!

Jim Carmichael

I cannot imagine these to be typical...I had in fact looked at gauge faces and have them on my wish list, but I would be unhappy with coated paper....

pookee

Where are they from?

Randall G.

Hey Tom,

I was surprised at how chintzy looking the (over $200) gauge faces were that I had bought for my car several years back. On the other hand, I was surprised how cheap the factory units looked, once I had them off the gauge. Then again ... maybe you really do have a cheap set? Hard to tell without at least comparing the price to competitors, or comparing the faces to the factory units. It has been a few years, but I do seem to recall the faces I bought at least being made of plastic, not cardboard.

If you do decide to install the faces, be careful. Many people recommend sending the gauges out for professional installation of the faces. See this link on the 964 board:

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/scripts/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000950" target="_blank">Install Gauge Faces?</a>

Best of luck!

tmpc2s

I would prefer not to name the place where these were purchased for fear that these may well be normal quality and I'm the one who is off base here. I can say, however, that they were not cheap ($250), and for that much money I certainly expected more.

Randall...your point is well taken since I have never seen the OEM ones out of the car so I have no basis for comparison. What were your original ones you took out made of? I just assumed the originals were metal and the aftermarkets would be also. Sounds like I am mistaken...

Also...does anyone know where to get the best quality aftermarket gauge faces and what they would be made out of?

Randall G.

Hey Tom,

It's been awhile since I had them out, but I am almost positive the factory faces are made of plastic. And while I was surprised with how cheap they appeared once removed, they did look "more professional" than the after-market faces I had bought. Finally, I also remember the finish on the (~$250) after-market faces being quite fragile.

Good luck!

Mark in Hermosa

The guages should probably be a plastic material. Mine were. Are for the finish rubbing off, let them know and have them send you a new set.

Regarding the "rough" cut on the outside of these, the bezels will cover them, so nothing to worry about there.

J-McDonald

See my post on the 964 board about refinished gauges.

A.J. - 95 993

[quote]tmpc2s said Also, I sure as hell don't want to return the first gift my wife bought me for the car!! <hr></blockquote>

I know exactly how you feel. One of the first gifts my wife bought me for my 993 is a shift **** and boot. She was very careful to make sure to ask the proper questions, and they told her it would fit my car. I think she even told them I have a 993. They sent her a boot and carbon ****. The boot was the 80's style, with the rectangular cutout on the side for the (heater?) levers. They also sent a Corvette-badged ****! I returned the **** and got the **** she intended, and modified the boot to fit my car. And it looks great - I bought a rod from Home Depot and shaped it to fit the console from the inside, and the most trained eye MIGHT notice it's not factory. The next gift I asked for I gave the part number from the catalog. There was no picture, though. Just before Christmas, I realized I may have screwed up - it was a side sill with "911" script, and again it was old style and would not match my car!! I said nothing, and did not get sills for Christmas. But one item was on backorder, and sure enough, that's what she got me. And she was very excited for me to have them. Until I told her. Turns out they were in 993-style script, but the item had been discontinued, so I never received them anyways. <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> I still have boring black plastic sill covers. And I'm VERY careful about what I put on birthday/Christmas lists!

tmpc2s

What a learning experience!! Thanks to everyone for the excellent guidance. After some investigation I learned these gauge faces are indeed not cardboard (they sure seem felt like it to me) but rather plastic. Interestingly enough my mechanic recommended North Hollywood Speedo to install them as well. I really had no idea this would be such an involved process and am now thinking twice about completing this project.

Probably the worst news of all is that this will likely be the last Porsche related gift I ever see from my wife.

pmcgrath

Tom
that really would be quite a drive!.....there should be a speedo shop near you?

tmpc2s

Phil,

I had the same thought but my mechanic said he really thinks it's worth the effort to send the gauges to North Hollywood...he says there the best he's ever seen and after reading recommendations from fellow Rennlisters I'll probably go with them or forget it just live with the stock gauges. I never dreamed I'd have to down the car for almost two weeks and send the gauges out to California (not to mention the cost of having them pulled, shipped and reinstalled) just to change the face color.

Clearly I should have researched this project by reading old related threads or posting myself before starting. Anyone remember the discussion a while back regarding the value of a Rennlist membership...

Randall G.

Hey Tom,

If there's anything you can handle on this job, it's removing/installing the gauges. They just pry out--with a little encouragement . The trickiest part is not marring your dash in the process.

If you have the shop pull your gauges, you're guaranteed to have a locked-in clock warning light (assuming the car will be driven after the clock is removed). Of course, if the shop is removing/installing your gauges, they can simply clear the lights when they're done--assuming they have a "hammer" or equivalent.

Do people that have shops remove/install their gauges drive the car with the gauges removed, even just to get it home?

J-McDonald

I had the shop pull and ship the gauges on my C2 at the same time as they were doing a 15,000 service (which would have taken a couple of days anyway). The total down time was about a week.

Dayton

Its true on the quality available in gauge faces...problem is the REAL good ones run in the 500 to 600 dollar range..so most of the domestic companies offer the cheaper versions....actually I don't think there that bad...just not real fond of the bleed through at night...
Cheers
Dayton
FVD-USA.com