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MG TD TF 1500 - Renew tach/speedo faces only?

Is anyone aware of a company or person who will repaint the tachometer or speedometer faces? Both work well but the faces need repainting.

Thanks

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

When you take apart the gauges, and carefully remove the needle, there are generally two tiny screws holding on the "face."
You need to be very careful when buying new faces, to ensure all the correct code numbers, etc are actually on there. I don't think anyone re-paints them. I think they were originally not painted. I have seen stickers to go over the old face, and reproduction faces. When you spend a lot of money to have them rebuilt by one of the usual suspects, they put on a NOS or good reproduction face with all the correct number codes, etc.
N Tesla

Thanks. Not building a show car so I'm more concerned with a shiny, clean face rather than a historically accurate face.

Tim
TW Burchfield

Tim, Nick's not talking about 'pretty' things. The codes that he mentions are significant. The image below shows them. For instance, the 1600 refers to the number of turns/mile for the speedometer cable. You'll be paying a good price, getb your money's worth. Bud

Bud Krueger

Got it. Thanks.

Tim
TW Burchfield

Tim -

If your gauge faces aren't too bad, then you may find that they will look better by just cleaning them.

> Dust the faces with a soft brush. No solvents. Perhaps a drop of water to form a nearly-dry brush. Test to be sure.

> Paint the indicator needles with flat white enamel paint. Use a good foam brush. Protect the faces from drips and splatters.

> I wouldn't try to touch up the background. It will probably show worse than the damaged spot.

> Do the same for amp, temp, oil.

> Clean the chrome bezels with Nevr-Dull.

> Clean the inside of the glass lenses.

The bright white needles, clean glass, and sparkling bezels may fool your eye into thinking that the entire gauge is better than it is. Mine look 100% better.

Lonnie
TF7211

LM Cook

I used decals. Easy to apply using a soapy solution to slide them into place. I'm pretty fussy & they're more than good enough for me. The needles I painted matte black though they may have originally been a very dark brown. Cheers
Peter TD 5801

P Hehir

Tacho

P Hehir

I went through this some years ago, so maybe things have changed, but:-

I wasn't happy with the decals. They tended to shrink and bubble over time and I wasn't particularly happy with the initial fit. Others apparently have better luck.

The rebuilders will typically not sell you the faces separately, though I haven't heard of anyone who wasn't happy with the faces they got when getting theirs rebuilt. My father (a clockmaker) rebuilt my chronometric gauges for me, so this wasn't an option for me.

I did eventually find some replacement faces for sale. I don't remember where. The color wasn't an exact match for the originals.

NTG lists replacement faces. I have no idea on quality, color, codes, etc. I suggest you contact them or check their online catalog.

Brown and Gammons may have them, as well. I haven't checked. I don't think any of the US suppliers carry them.
David Littlefield

Thanks Lonnie, Peter and David. I haven't found decals for the dished faces I have on my '51 (curved glass cover). If anyone knows where the may be obtained I'd appreciate a suggestion. One of the numbers the Tach is very faint, like someone rubbed too hard trying to clean it. So I really need a new face or a decal.

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

Tim

I think the faces were screen printed. There are a few outfits in the UK who can reprint them for you. Speedograph-Richfield and Speedy Cables come to mind (see websites for details) or try Richard Jenkins of C & V Instruments, email woodykeys@msn.com. Richard did a good job recalibrating my chronometric speedo.

One thing to consider is the exact colour match to your other instruments.

Tim
Tim Wilkinson

If you are removing the needle to remove the faces, first lift the blade over the stop pin to allow it to return to the off load point.
Take note of where it rests and replace in the exact point or your instruments will misread.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Thanks gentlemen. I have contacted Speedograph Richfield Ltd. and they quote a price of GBPB 40 each plus shipping. I'm going to give them a try. I'll report back with the results.

Tim
TW Burchfield

This thread was discussed between 05/10/2015 and 06/10/2015

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