low_psi

Just a few progress pics of the facelift my 30 Concept is receiving... The original gauges were looking a bit rough. Some were replaced with Autometer gauges which left the dash all mismatched. Since most of the gauges were Telflex (not very expensive) and my Tachs were Mercury branded (but appear to be Telflex) I figured I I'd give it a try. To make everything on the dash match, I replaced the few Autometer gauges with matching Telflex gauges. Then decided to split every gauge apart, allowing me to clean up the old ones and custom paint all of them. Here is a before and after of the Tachs. Should have all of the gauges sealed back up this evening.

Before:


After:

low_psi

Basically the Telflex gauges I have are friction welded (I believe that's what they call it). They spin the trim rings fast enough to slightly make the plastics weld together. So using a small heat gun and a razor I was able to separate the top trim ring from the body. Then remove the glass and inner trim ring. Then I taped off the gauge faces and sprayed the needles with a Lime Green I had mixed to match the Vinyl panels I am doing. Then using fluorescent Orange pain and a Q-Tip I painted each needle tip. I sprayed each inner ring with Lime green and cleaned and polished each lens. A little bit of super glue to make an immediate bond to hold everything together, than a nice seal using "Life Seal" sealant. Now they are like new and I am out $28 in paint, a few bucks in masking tape and sealant and they look like new (even better). Customer gauges on a super tight budget. Since This is a Center Console I really didn't see the need to spend the $$ on high dollar gauges. Plus my GPS is SmartCraft enabled (I just need to run the harness), so vitals can be displayed on the 10.4" GPS screen, which will be mounted in a custom dash panel (currently under construction)

The Ace

Nice work!

Slow Poke

They look really good. You should start a gauge service !!!

phragle

iTrader: (3)

Looks sweet.!! I love seeing projects like this.

low_psi

No way! It is tedious work. I enjoying doing things that make my boat different that anyone else. I can pretty much guarantee I am the only person with lime green teleflex gauges. I will be starting a thread in the Concept section that will cover the entire facelift, which includes the gauges, new dash, some new cockpit vinyl, new hull graphics/stripes, new powder coating (color change) on all aluminum pieces, stereo, and more. I was working in recovering a few panels tonight. My hands are so sore (from stretching the vinyl) I can barely type

low_psi

A quick pic I took yesterday of a finished gauge with the freshly powder coated bezels (originally they were anodized, but did not match the color scheme).

H2O DOG

That is sweet! Nice work.

low_psi

I completed sealing up all of the gauges last night and paired them with their powder coated bezels. I hope to be installing them over the weekend. My only concern is hopefully they will stay together. After finishing them up I thought about the abuse they will go through. I might have to reattach the outer rings with epoxy if they loosen up.

Irishtornado

Nice looking job!