I'm not sure where to start, maybe point me in a direction?
I've shopped around for a gauge I want, but nobody makes one that lights or has lettering I want. This is purely aesthetic, i want it to match the stock cluster and look clean.
I've been carving the internets for a while looking at existing gauges.
is there a way to do custom faces or entire custom gauges?
What car? What gauge?
A non-backlit can probably be taken apart and a printed face added. Something backlit will require much more work.
Just a thought-can you add aftermarket gauge faces to your I/P to match the readily available aftermarket gauges?
what kind of car do you have, that would help,
I put Dolphin in my pinto and it has a fairly stock look, here is a quick list that i came up with from the ads from another magazine
Dolphin Gauges Classic Instruments TPI tech instruments
the closest to my car I've found is ISSPRO.
04 subaru impreza.
full sweep, orange needle, black backing, white lettering. close matching font, but not quite, and the lighting doesnt match at nite like I want.
Lighting can be manipulated. Different bulbs and filters will change that. I know of people having new acrylic dial faces built with OE style filters, needles and screen printing.
Replacement guage faces are common for the MINI. There are a couple of vendors selling/making them. Try searching there.
In reply to John Brown:
i'm using various bulb condoms to get the right colour. its the light balance thats off in many of em, and the condoms change the needle colour too...
Give this a look over and see if it helps you:
http://memweb.newsguy.com/~gtfour/gauges.html
There's also a guy on the AllTrac forums overseas that does full custom setups, but for the life of me, i can't seem to find the information right now.
I think westach makes custom gauges as well.
Pick up a copy of Hemmings motor new and a street rod magazine as well.
madmallard wrote:In reply to John Brown: ts the light balance thats off in many of em, and the condoms change the needle colour too...
Depending on the bulb size you might be able to go to a lower wattage to get the light output at a given dimmer setting to match your factory gauges. For example 194 "peanut" bulbs come in many different ratings for what physically looks like the same bulb.
Try classic instruments. They made me the boost gauge for my Karmann Ghia.
Classic instruments is always a good place to start. otherwise flip open a copy of Street Rodder at Borders or Barnes and Noble and A: write down the names of the custom gage makers. B: be prepared to have your mind blown by some of the custom rods
Try APT Speedometer Repair in Minneapolis: http://www.gaugeguys.com/ I've had them restore gauges several times with great results, and they can do custom gauge faces, whatever you want.
I once brought them a combination speedo/tach off a 1968 Kawasaki W2SS that was in parts - it was literally a paper bag full of gears and broken bits - and when I got it back, it looked and worked as new.
http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/aurora/
I have had no experience with them but they let you design custom gauge faces.
thanks alot guys. i dunno why i had such trouble finding some of these links.
You may find some luck with stock looking Subaru gauges by looking up daddysscp.com He has a pretty good selection. I bought VDO vision series, as I think they are the only decent looking gauges out there for modern cars. For the MG, only Smiths look right, and I'm currently doing research into how I can get an 8k rpm tach into my smiths housing.
