Gauge bezel restoration questions

[J-MacsMopars]

Hello everyone. I am wanting to restore my gauge cluster bezel and have a few questions. I am not worried about re-chroming as I think I will just paint all the chrome silver. I want to do the face about the same color orange as the hang 10 dash that I am using. I am wondering if there is a masking kit out there or if I will just have to spend hours masking it. Also, what is the best way to strip it? I don't want any of the old paint/chrome making it look ugly.

Also, I am installing white face plates to make it look a little different. Have any of you used the kits out there? How do you pull the needles without bending/hurting them?

Thanks, Jeremy

 

[J-MacsMopars]

Also, on the cluster itself. If it has a broken prong on the back, how do you fix that? How do I change the ODO so that it reads correctly?

 

[CUUDAK]

Don't pull the needles!!!! www.whitegauges.net uses vinyl and is easy to use. The prong is swedged into the board so you will need to find one elsewhere. Ebay has them. Local parts store shoud have a stripper that is plastic safe in a aresol can. As far as adjusting the odometer, its pretty easy once the meter is out of the cluster housing. Just take it slow! Mine isn't perfect but turned out nice concidering it was cracked in several areas. One of the black bulb sockets had a broken ear so in the pic of the lights on the bulb near the temp/alternator is not working. I am looking for a bulb socket to replace the broken one.

I know its different but here is mine after resto,

 

[Robj]

Really nice looking!

 

[doug 371]

ya, that looks awesome!

 

[ESP47]

Yeah that dash looks good.

J-Mac, your's is going to be way harder to restore though. Trying to mask off that entire thing is a pain. I know because I'm attempting it at the moment and it's painstaking. Easy Off oven cleaner did a decent enough job of stripping all the old paint off.

Don't know about a masking kit though. There are sticker kits on ebay but they don't look right to me. I don't know if anyone has ever bought one but they look very aftermarkety.