Cracking open and cleaning the two main gauges

[lumpydog]

All:

Sometime next month I'm going to pull both the speedo and the fuel/water temp/charge gauges on my 68 2a. They are both in fine working order, but the glass on both have sand paper burns and they are pretty full of dust and could benefit from a cleaning. On one of the two, the internal rubber gasket between the glass and the gauge is slipping into the main view as well.

I ordered two new pieces of glass from Nisonger along with the glass gaskets and two mounting-to-instrument panel rings.

Anything I need to look out for? Just looking to swap glass, clean out dust and return to the truck.

Thanks for any advice.

P.S. I have seen the Anthony Rhodes pdf. I'm looking more for personal experiences/advice from those here.

[darbsclt]

If you haven't checked out Ian's "Mud4Fun" blog... he has several posts related to gauge refurbishment.

In THIS one - He repainted the inside housing with chrome paint - greatly adding to the light output of the gauges.

In THIS one - He puts a creative spin to painting the gauge face and retaining ring.

My only experience, thus far, has been to repaint the bezels (gloss black) and to replace the standard filament bulbs with LED bulbs; both changes I'm very happy with. Eventually, I'll go Ian's route and paint the inside housing silver.

[Partsman]

darbsclt stole my thunder, I was going to recommend Ian's blog as well.

[bensdad]

Darbicit which LED bulbs did you use? Thanks!

[darbsclt]

Darbicit which LED bulbs did you use? Thanks!

THESE are the bulbs I purchased (170-972). Although similar bulbs might be available elsewhere (I don't see them offered by our hosts, however).

They were a direct replacement for the bulbs in my Smith's Speedo... Amp/Fuel/Hi Beam... Oil/Temp Gauges.

The before/after picture on the website is accurate based on my experience.

Cheers!

[stomper]

I can't link the thread here because I am on an iPhone, but over on gunsandrovers, under the tech section, there is an LED thread. In it is a list of all the LED bulbs to convert a IIa over, inside and out, as well as discussions about headlight LEDs.

Superbrightled.com and autolumination.com are where the bulbs are sourced from in that thread. The LED conversion for the instruments is a simple remove and replace affair, but well worth the effort.

[Enigma]

An aside. I have a 60 series II with an all metal dash. The centre gauge panel is the same colour as the dash and the car. I have seen some pics of other cars where the centre panel is black or flat black.
Was this a feature on later cars? If so why?

Cheers

[Jim-ME]

That change IIRC happened mid 60's on 109s and 69 on 88s. Why I can't tell you.
Jim

[lumpydog]

An aside. I have a 60 series II with an all metal dash. The centre gauge panel is the same colour as the dash and the car. I have seen some pics of other cars where the centre panel is black or flat black.
Was this a feature on later cars? If so why?

Cheers

The changeover took place in April of 67 and signifies that the rover was negative earth.

See:

http://www.lrfaq.org/IDAR/SeriesII.html

I've read elsewhere that the black instrument panel was used to signify negative earth.

[stomper]

Here is a link to the LED thread with the bulb types you will need:

http://siteground237.com/~gunsandr/showthread.php?4936-The-LED-Light-Thread/page4

and here is a link to autoluminations selection of E10 screw base bulbs for your application:

http://www.autolumination.com/automotive_car_truck_motorcycle_led_light_bulbs/ba9s_e10_instrument_indicator_panel_dash_dashboard_warning_gauge_cluster_map_overhead/1895_64132_1893_64111_1445_1815_53_57_1891_3886x_64113_1449_257/ba9s_bax9s_e10_all_led_bulbs.htm

[lumpydog]

If you haven't checked out Ian's "Mud4Fun" blog... he has several posts related to gauge refurbishment.

In THIS one - He repainted the inside housing with chrome paint - greatly adding to the light output of the gauges.

In THIS one - He puts a creative spin to painting the gauge face and retaining ring.

My only experience, thus far, has been to repaint the bezels (gloss black) and to replace the standard filament bulbs with LED bulbs; both changes I'm very happy with. Eventually, I'll go Ian's route and paint the inside housing silver.

This was exactly what I was looking for. really appreciate all the the support here. I'll take pictures and doc what I do/find along the way. Should get to it within the next few weeks.

I'm still a bit of a purist and am not sure about going to LEDs (yet)!

[Eric W S]

This was exactly what I was looking for. really appreciate all the the support here. I'll take pictures and doc what I do/find along the way. Should get to it within the next few weeks.

I'm still a bit of a purist and am not sure about going to LEDs (yet)!

If our hosts can't source the parts, Nisonger has all the parts you mentioned. Seal, glass etc. certain things are great to retain as OEM or original, but the LED's would be a great update that would be the restorers' invisible hand so to speak.