Gas gauge questions

coupe1942

coupe1942

Senior Member
I put my trim ring into place the other day and I don't really want to remove it again to look over the gas gauge assembly itself. I have some real trouble in reading it at times, as it is just too light on the lettering to satisfy me. I have been thinking of either powder coating it on the numbers or using a gas resistant paint as done on carbs to highlight the level markings on the plate.

Is the plate held in place with a pin that can be pressed out or is it some type of screw? Can this be removed without easily ruining the unit?

Not sure if I will do this or not, but I may try doing it on another unit just to see if it will work okay or not. I am thinking that the numbers and markings are all indented into the metal curved strip, but not for sure.

First two photos just show what it basically looks like now. As said, i have a difficult time easily reading the numbers at times. Third photo addresses the questions I asked about the numbering on the gauge. (Typo in 3rd photo says lettering instead of numbering).

Thanks for any info or tips.
 

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The new repro gauges have a pressed pin. Older originals have a longer pin with a cotter on one end.

The numbers are indented and painted.
 
I used satin black lacquer paint and wiped the face with a piece of cereal box, then lightly sanded with 400 grit. Looks like new.
 
I found no need to remove that pin. I painted it with gas-resistant paint. I filled the engraving with paint using a toothpick instead of a paint brush and took off the excess with some very fine steel wool.

It has been good for several years now.

Ken
 
I actually am interested in powder coating that part, so removal of the pin would be necessary providing the metal piece is thick enough to not warp under the heat when curing. I wanted to use a couple of different colors on the indented numbers and indicator marks, but paint would be much easier. However, my instrument panel is already powder coated on the trim rings and such, so I am tempted to give that a try. I'll likely purchase a spare to play about with, regardless.

My problem with pc is that my hand shakes at times, so it is easy to get the powder just right, only to either knock it off in placing the part into the oven to cure or by accidentally tapping it with a brush as you whisk away the excess powder near the edges of each number and indented marking. It is a curved piece, so it would not just hang as the other parts I have done in the past. YOuTube has videos of such and iit does not look difficult, except when a hand shakes as mine sometimes do when I don't want them to or least expect them to.

Paint is easier, but I'd have to try to match the colors I want and there is no real RC shop locally that I know of. They generally stock a good supply of fuel resistant paints. I gave away a ton of such when I moved to Ada back in February.
 
Huey Why not use a heat lamp instead of moving your parts into a oven? Instead of trying to fill the engraving, apply your PC, bake you part,remove the excess PC by grinding,scaping, then block that off with high temp tape, repeat until your done. Then you could do what others have said about finishing the face. I don't PC, just thinking out loud.
 
I would have t o purchase a heat lamp and the average temp for curing pc is between 300-450 degrees. I have two separate ovens for doing the pc work I have already done. One cost me $5 bucks and the other $7 bucks at a Goodwill store. I can focus the heat and control it with either of them. Not so sure that I could with the heat lamp, as i have no experience with one of them. Working with the ovens is fairly straight forward in doing home pc and the process of doing the indentation fill with powder is pretty straight forward, too. My only real major issue would be doing multiple colors as i wanted so that the process would take a bit longer to complete as it would take a couple of firings to do each individual color. Doing the numbers in a single color would be much easier as a single firing would work if you didn't shake out the powder in the numbers or indentions.

Generally I simply hang my parts with copper wire bent in an S-shape to dangle off a rod that is inside my ovens, but doing this curved gauge may require me to lay it onto a board, brick, rack or stand inside the oven. High temp tape is generally a tad bit different than regular tape, in that it does not adhere or stick to the part all that well at times. At least that had been my experience with it in what I have pc'd, so far.

Here is just one video as to how to do indented areas as the numbers or lettering on parts in pc. It is not all that different than paint, other than the curing by oven:

(The info on powder coating begins at about 3:48 minutes into this video):

https://youtu.be/SM6uQsJbBko

Here it is done very similar, but just a hair differently. The title is misleading, as the lettering is not embossed (raised) lettering:

https://youtu.be/Q4z5nu6PX6E

This is a very, very simplistic approach to painting the lettering or numbers on a surface. It seems to be an easier process than pc, but pc would last longer, but I am not so sure as to pc use as being fuel resistant or not. That is a consideration that makes using lacquer paint something to consider. (Dope paint for model RC airplanes)

https://youtu.be/aYSWPIfnbuQ

Thanks for the thoughts, Big Hammer, but I have no experience with heat lamps at all and I already have everything necessary to do the pc in the above manner. In fact, I have previously started to do one piece in this manner, but decided against it at the last moment, as the indented area I wanted to fill with PC was just too large and I decided against it.

A lot of home pc work is basically trial and error. That is why I'd pick up another part to fiddle with in doing this instead of just doing it on the working gas gauge I have in the truck.
 
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