What's the one piece on your car you spend the most time looking at? If your using your car for what it is designed for-driving-the instrument cluster is the correct answer. When our beloved Mopars came from the factory, everything was new. The sheetmetal, interior cloth, suspension parts, you name it, nothing was used or neglected . . . until we got hold of them. We slid in and out on the seats, when the dash got dusty we simply wiped it off, and the instrument cluster got mistreated. We know what you're thinking, how can you mistreat an instrument cluster? Even though now we know better, when our cars were new, we cleaned the gauge faces with anything we could get our hands on. That led to a yellow discoloration of the plastic lens and sometimes a scratched lens. And with 30 some years of the sun shining through the window and discoloring the gauges, the gauges have led a hard life.
So, now your car is 30 to 35 years older, and you want to repair the gauges, who do you call? We contacted AutoInstruments in Martinsville, Virginia, just to see how much work is really involved in a restoration of a gauge panel. We were not surprised to find how much work it takes to properly do a good restoration, but we were pleasantly surprised with how good the final results were.
At AutoInstruments, speedometers are rebuilt and calibrated to factory tolerances. Tachometer circuits and meters are balanced, repaired, and calibrated to ensure accuracy. AutoInstruments can rebuild any automotive clock and update it to transistorized quartz movements that operate on either 6 or 12 volts, not batteries. most plastic lenses can be restored to like-new, if not milky or yellowed. Scratches are hand-sanded, and the lenses are polished on special machines with rouge for an as-new appearance.
We thought you might like to see what goes into something like this, just in case you need to get your gauges repaired.
The cluster on top has the...
The cluster on top has the gauges refinished. our cluster before refinishing is on the bottom.
This speedometer has served...
This speedometer has served us well, but now the calibration is out of whack. It may only be a couple mph off, but if you're going to restore your car, do it right the first time. While the small gauges usually work and can be recalibrated, speedometers almost always wear out. The grease gets old and hard, and they just eat themselves up. This is why an old car's speedometer needle "wiggles" as you drive down the highway. Every gauge in each cluster is given a thorough inspection and tested for accuracy. Speedometers are calibrated using magnetism. When you install a new drive, it has no magnetism in it. AutoInstuments "zaps" it with a magnetizer, and the speedometer is then connected to the calibration machine. Autoinstruments then takes a demagnetizer and literally sucks the magnetism out of the drive a little at a time, until a correct calibration is achieved. If you go too far, you have to zap it again and start over.
Because the accessory gauges...
Because the accessory gauges in our Rallye cluster are small, having the numbers and letters faded, and the lenses cloudy makes keeping an eye on the gauges a chore.
Just because the accessory...
Just because the accessory gauges show a reading does not mean they are correct. Autoinstruments not only rebuilds the speedometer if needed, they also make sure the accessory gauges are functioning properly and accurately.
In our opinion, the tic-toc-tac...
In our opinion, the tic-toc-tac used in Mopar dashes is too cool to go unnoticed. The tachometer circuits and meters are balanced, repaired, and calibrated to ensure accuracy. AutoInstruments can also rebuild any automotive clock and update virtually any clock to transistorized quartz movements that operate on 6 or 12 volts.
Updating the aged factory...
Updating the aged factory clock unit is something Autoinstruments does frequently. The addition of a quartz movement ensures long life and accuracy in your clock. But for some, the smooth movement of the second hand in the factory clock is preferred over the snap movement of a quartz clock. AutoInstruments can accomodate those folks, as well.
Since our speedometer is 34...
Since our speedometer is 34 years old and out of calibration, it was disassembled and all the pieces were checked for proper operating condition.
Here is the reason our gauges...
Here is the reason our gauges looked as rough as they did. Over time, the lenses get scratched and haze over, making it hard to see through them. At AutoInstruments, every lens is polished to a like-new finish and replaced on the cluster. If your gauge has serious defects, have them look at it to see if it is salvageable. You might need to look for a new one.
AutoInstruments not only restores...
AutoInstruments not only restores gauges, they also do custom touches such as these white-faced gauges. They can do custom colors and silk-screening to suit your tastes, as well.
Here is how the gauge fonts...
Here is how the gauge fonts get to look like new. This machine is the stamper. Just like the factory, the stamper prints the fonts on the gauge face.
When all the gauges are working...
When all the gauges are working better than new, the assembly is put back together.