Rebuilding guages - has anyone done it, and what rivets to use for reassembly?

[Dans 68]

I'm taking apart the temperature and oil pressure gauges to see why they are not working (hopefully they were not over-volted  ). Maybe I can repair them if it is just a broken wire or such. Now, I believe that to remove the faceplate from the body one needs to grind off one of the two rivets holding it on, preferably the right rivet (from the back of the gauge) as you look and read the face on the gauge, and then swing the faceplate out of the way to access the internals of the gauge. Am I correct?

What rivets (black in color I imagine) are used for reassembly?

Dan

[redfourjohnd]

Hi Dan,

I just did this on mine and couldn't find the right rivets. I used little 3-48 machine screws with lockwashers and nuts. Found them at my local Ace hardware. They're even stainless! Fit perfect and they don't show after the gauges are installed.

Dave at Performance Car Graphics uses them in his cluster rebuilds also. He was surprised I found them so easy, so you may have to look around some for them. The only very slight hassle I had was having to paint the ones in the speedo black,which wasn't tough at all really. I was just afraid I'd scratch the paint on the heads on installation, but I didn't have to hold the heads to get the bolts tight, so no problem. The painted phillips heads in the speedo look nice too, you don't even notice them.

Fastenal list a 3/32 pop rivet that might work, but it won't look factory either, so I figured the bolts would be easier. Also you'd have to enlarge the holes a bit to get them to fit.

If you'd like, PM me your info and I'll grab some and mail them to you. It's only a dollar or two worth of hardware.

Thanks,


John D

[Dans 68]

John,

Good info! Thanks, and i'll take you up on the bolts. You have a PM.  

Dan

[66FBCharger]

You might be able to find what you need from McMaster Carr. They are an industrial supply house that has almost everything you could think of. They have their catalog online. Check it out!
I hope this helps you!

[bakerhillpins]

Do you still have the rivet you drilled out - Call these guys and provide them with measurements?

http://www.hansonrivet.com/

IIRC You need a length aprox 1/16" longer than the width of the pieces you are riveting.

[redfourjohnd]

I checked Mcmaster's site and called Hanson Rivet when I was doing mine and neither of them had a stock type replacement. Mcmaster has pop rivets but not tubular rivets, and hanson said they don't have anything tubular with that short of a clinch range.

Lilwendal said in his cluster restoration thread that he gets solid brass rivets from hansons I believe. You need a special tool to mash the back down though, that's why I decided to just use the bolts. I was also afraid that I would botch the install somehow and didn't want to regrind off new rivets

As an aside, isn't the Mcmaster site the greatest? You can find what you want super fast. We order from them daily at work, as you get your items the next day, it's really convenient. Also, if you're not sure about what you need, call them and ask to speak with an expert on whatever you need, and they get them on the phone right then. Awesome service.

Thanks,

John D

[66FBCharger]

As an aside, isn't the Mcmaster site the greatest? You can find what you want super fast. We order from them daily at work, as you get your items the next day, it's really convenient. Also, if you're not sure about what you need, call them and ask to speak with an expert on whatever you need, and they get them on the phone right then. Awesome service.

Thanks,

John D

McMaster is great. I use them at work all the time. In 13 years using them, I would say there have been only 3 or 4 times that I didn't receive my stuff the next day! Awesome survice. All businesses should be run like them. In fact they should run the U.S. Government like them.

[A383Wing]

I have used #2 machine screws & nuts to put my gauges back together....available at most all hardware stores

[ktneifert09]

Mine's just a driver but...since they don't show anyway, I put mine back in with 1/8 inch pop rivets from Harbor freight and touched them up with black model paint.  You have to look REALLY hard to see them - if anybody looks at my car that close they need to get a life.