Gauge cluster refurbishing

[fallingdown]

 

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[rockinrich]

Man you do great work!Let me ask you a couple questions,why would anyone want their odometer set to zero maybe if they are putting in a new motor? Also do people change from altmeter to volt often and why,i'm new lol,thank you.

 

[DirtDonk]

I'm sure Kevin will chime in when he can, but the odometer thing is sort of a visceral reaction to someone putting all of their spending money into a vehicle restoration and wanting it zeroed out in ever way. Including mileage.

Personally, even though I did the same thing to my first car when I was a teenager, I don't like the idea anymore. I prefer honesty in advertising, including the blemish of high mileage on a vehicle. Frankly, to me, the higher the mileage is on an old truck like ours, the more street cred I think it has. After all, how many EB's are running around with 200,000 plus miles? Not many I'd wager. And hard to know anyway, which is another reason for keeping it honest.
Under a certain mileage (let's say 50k for example) the bragging rights are that your old rig has super low mileage for it's age. But for me, once it gets over 100k it's bragging rights in reverse. You get to tell stories of how many bazillion miles yours has!
I have no qualms at all about saying proudly that my '71 has 175,000 miles on it. I just hope I can get over the 200k mark sooner rather than later!

For the ammeter-to-voltmeter swap, more and more are doing it. There are two primary reasons, but only one in my book. The main reason anyone would want to change to volts reading is that after upgrading to a higher amp alternator (pretty much anything above 70a) the ammeter becomes just so much garage art. It no longer functions (safely anyway).
That's my main reason. I personally prefer an ammeter (or would rather have both actually) but by far most people understand and prefer volts vs amps. To this day most newer owners don't know what their ammeter is supposed to do. Voltmeters have been in use instead of ammeters pretty much since the late '80's in Fords at least.
And good riddance too, to those "shunted" ammeters that hardly ever worked! Ours on the other hand were direct-reading inductive ammeters and were very reliable and accurate and consistent. But only good up to about 70a or so, and with the popularity of 130a and above 3G model alternators, the old ammeter wire just was not up to the task.
Better safe than sorry then, and switch over to the volt-meter in it's place.

Hope that helped out with the info you needed. Fallingdown will have to let us know just how many he personally does for members here, but I'm sure it's at least a few.

Paul

 

[fallingdown]

Man you do great work!Let me ask you a couple questions,why would anyone want their odometer set to zero maybe if they are putting in a new motor? Also do people change from altmeter to volt often and why,i'm new lol,thank you.

rockinrich,

Thank you for your question and kind words!

Regarding the odometer setting, It really just comes down to personal preference. Most restorations that include rebuilding or replacing the engine will usually also include zeroing out the odometer. The biggest exception to that would be vehicles with known histories and confirmed/correct odometer readings. Those are almost always kept the same.

Keep in mind that it was common practice in this hobby in years past to just swap out the entire gauge cluster unit with a "junk yard special" if the original unit had problems. Years later it can be challenging to even know if the cluster in your vehicle is the original or a replacement.

Paul is spot on with regards to the Altmeter/Voltmeter conversion.
I would say upwards of 90% of Bronco restorations I do include the voltmeter conversion.

The fact is the ALT gauge never worked well even when factory new. I've had the alternator belt on my '77 Bronco come off while driving down the road and the ALT gauge never even registered a problem. I personally don't trust ALT gauges and put voltmeters in all of my own projects. If someone's budget wont allow for one of the stock looking drop in voltmeters we offer they could put a small $15 voltmeter in the glovebox or some other out of the way location.

Feel free to give me a call anytime.

Kevin
801-673-2933

 

[rockinrich]

Paul,thank you very much i never knew that about altmeters,and i agree unless i'm swapping a new motor i want to know what the mileage is as well,might have to send mine in to kevin!

 

[rockinrich]

Thank you kevin for the info i had no clue about how unreliable altmeters are.Is that usually the only change most people make besides the looks?

 

[fallingdown]

Thank you kevin for the info i had no clue about how unreliable altmeters are.Is that usually the only change most people make besides the looks?

The voltmeter is far and away the most popular upgrade, however the sky is the limit when it comes to people's creativity regarding other changes. Some guys are so creative I can't post the photos on a family friendly forum :-*

 

[rockinrich]

lol i hear ya im going to check out your beautiful work and i'll be in touch definitely,thank you!

 

[fallingdown]

Thank you! Please don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.

Kevin
801-673-2933

 

[rockinrich]

Will do,thanks kevin!

 

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