1929 Instrument Panel

HillbillyTim

HillbillyTim

Member
After struggling to put my 1929 instrument panel back on, I need to know who makes the best reproducton panel available? It's aggravating when the holes won't correctly line up. I went to a Model A swap meet on Saturday looking for an original one but I couldn't find a decent one to buy. Any help would be appreciated.

Tim
 
All of the new ones I have seen have the iginiton switch mounting in the wrong position. The switch goes in and twists slightly CW viewed from the back. The repops let the switch rotate too far CW and the cable will sometimes hit the gas tank. It would be easy to make correctly but...... Also the screw holes don't line up. Get an original, paint it silver if you have to, a lousy one is better that the repops.
 
I usually end up having to bend the lower tabs to fit any instrument panel. after 80 years most have been bent. Some of the older repro panels are worse. I always pre fit and line up the holes before installing any of the instruments. A small punch or a scratch awl will help. I never use a pop out switch .
 
The problem you can have when looking for a used original is you will never know whether you are looking at a well weathered junk re pop that looks original unless you have a measurement from an original ,..... I asked this question some time back and Tom Wessenburg measured one he had, ..... using a caliper micrometer the distance between the 2 lower screw hole outside edges is 3.400 inches.
I purchased one from a trusted Barner and it measured as above, ..... still had some Nichol plate, not sure as of yet how I will have it refinished.

Brian T.
 
A lot of the older repro instrument panels are so far off on the bottom screw holes that it is not possible to fit. The one that I bought for my september 29 from Snyder fit without any major difficulty I don't doubt what Ned says about the switch mounting. Being as I prefer the modern replacement switch it doesn't cause a problem for me. I got a good replacement 30-31 instrument panel from Sullivans garage that fit real good, the repro ammeter even fit and I was going to use it on my roadster but I found a butler nickle original at a swap meet and that is the one that I ended up useing, only problem was the repro ammeter didn't fit but some silicone caulk sort of helped for a get by fit. I wish sombody would make a better ammeter. The old JC Whitney-Warshawsky ammeters were better than what is now offered and I don't recall having a problem fitting them back in the day.
 
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