Not really Ford tech,.. but thought I would ask here anyway.

My father inlaw has a 1949 Chevy business coupe.

He wants some custom work done to the gauge cluster.






Ignore the cracked glass. That happened during shipping. Easy fix.
He wants the speedo left alone.
But he wants the Oil, Temp, Volts and Fuel gauges to be functional with modern sending units,.. particularly for a small block Chevy engine.
Its difficult to tell from the pic (Crappy cell phone pic) but there is a gold colored background trim color in the face. He wants that painted white and all of the numbers in the speedo and the letters for the gauges he wants painted Forest Green.

Is there anyone in the Tamp area that does this kind of work?

Thanks,
Hurst

 

I know a guy up in GA that does some crazy stuff like that. He rebuilds the old guages and puts in new guts. However, I am not sure to what extent about painting and such. I will see if I can get my brother-in-law to drive out to the guy's place. He might at least know of someone you can send it to, if that would work. But I make no promises about when I will find the info out.....

 

Probably not the cheapest route, but there are a lot of reman parts out there for these old trucks

Gauges - Custom-Classic Parts

http://www.classicparts.com/Gauges-O.../products/845/

 

Thanks Bret,
Thats what he's looking for,.. new modern guts but keeping it the old style.

He was thinking if it wasnt possible to get the original gauges modernized to get them replaced with digital inserts to represent the gauge. But it would have to be green led,.. no red.

Let me know as soon as you find something out.

 

This is for a car Tommy,.. the truck cluster is a little different. The cluster I showed in the pic he bought off Ebay for $600. Its in original condition and was pretty immaculate until the glass was damaged during shipping. The guy didnt pack it in bubble wrap or anything. Just put it in a box with some newspaper. Then wouldnt compensate my father inlaw for the damage done to it because of the shitty packing job he did. Then got upset when he got a negative feedback from my pops.

He really wants to convert the original cluster. If he has to spend another $300 - $500 to get the custom work done then so be it. He's owned this car since 1966,.. used to be an old street racer in Wash DC all through out the late 60's into the 70's. That car gets the best of everything. Used to run a 327 making 500hp NA spinning 8500 RPM and had a nitrous fogger ported into the intake runners. Today it just has a stock 350 with a 700R4.

He rarely takes it out anymore. I drive it more than he does. I take my wife to the drive in movies in Dade City in it. She loves it.

Thanks guys,

Hurst