Has anyone taken Autometer gauges apart?

[MCMLXIX]

I want to know if anyone has take any aftermarket gauges apart? In order to custom paint the faces or something? Do you have to dremel it apart? How do the needles come off and do they go back on easy? Will it need some calibration if you pull the needles off? Speedo, Tach, Fuel, Temp, Volts . . .

If so can you post or send soem pics... I know there are usually two little phillips screws on the gage face ... but how do you get to that point? I dont want to rip apart a new / good one....It might be an expensive mistake

[chicane67]

To get in to the guage itself... you will have to cut and remove the ring. But guess what... they dont sell the ring to the GP. Without the ring, the guage will fall apart, as it is what hold the guts in.

Its cheaper to send them the guage, do the work that you want done and have them sent back to you/

[MCMLXIX]

Shane....
I want to build a dash will fit in my 1967 Chevelle.... Not round gauges in an rectangle opening.... but more like my old 96 Impala SS ... One flat peice of metal with all the gauges screen printed on the front and all the gauges mounted behind ... and it has to fit in the stock dash ... and look like it could have been there from the beginning.... this is just an example ... I would want few more readings... oil pressure, volts etc....

I will eventually be running an LS2 or maybe an LS3 so they would have to tie into the ECM somehow too . . . .

[neki67]

I took 5" tach and speedo apart. Since you can't see the rear of the ring (in my case) I carefully pried open (with a screwdriver) the flanged part of the ring. Once that's gone, remove the screws holding the gauge to the body. The innerparts will come out.

Now it's time to remove the needle. Just take two small spoons (yes, from the kitchen) and put them under the center ring of the needle and lift the needle of the shaft using the spoons as small pry bars. It comes of quite easy, you don't have to apply force.

Take the face off and put it under a scanner. After the mods you print out your new facia and glue it to the old facia. Put everything back together, bend the flanged ring back, install the gauges and you're good to go.

If you google a bit you'll find plenty of enthusiast sites/fora/etc. that have pictures to show you what the proces looks like. There are even companies that can make very nice custom 'Indiglo' facia's. I'm not at my own PC right now but I (used to?) have an address in my favorites for a company that really impressed me. When you're interested I could try to recover it for you.

[MCMLXIX]

....There are even companies that can make very nice custom 'Indiglo' facia's. I'm not at my own PC right now but I (used to?) have an address in my favorites for a company that really impressed me. When you're interested I could try to recover it for you.

If you could find something, that would be great.....

. Since I want to mount multiple gauges on one large sheet of aluminum... I will need some kind of semi-transparent backlit facia because of the layout... The original autometer gauges have the light shine around the side if the gauge but with my idea of one large panel, the light will have to be backlit from behind the numbers and shine through the facia....

I wish I could draw my idea....

[neki67]

Got it; http://www.plasmatacho.de/ , look under tachoscheiben. They can do custom designs for you or you can bring in your own design. Mind you, these plates, once connected, light up themselves (blue, green, red, etc.), so you don't need backlighting.

If you need some translation, feel free to contact me.

Just to give you some ideas: