My First Test Gauge Lens Font Change (Huh?)

[BigMike]

Well, I finally took the time to make up a template for the lens set for our trucks. I took off the old lettering/numbers and played around with different fonts. All of the white face gauges I see all have the green letters/numbers on them and do not look quite right to me. The tick marks on the white gauge overlays are black, so I thought it would look better if the letters/numbers were black as well - here is the results of my first test set. I still need to adjust some things, but not bad for my first try. Cool thing is, I have about 60k of different fonts and can make them nearly any color.

I know the silver is not perfect and the bottom of the tach where it says RPM X is missing the 100 after it, I just wanted to see how it all lined up. The vacuum gauge hole that has the crown like design was also made up as well, I just have not put it in yet (it still needs a little work).

Anyways, let me know what you guys think.

Mike

[BobbyK]

Very interesting...looks good...unique too.

[BigMike]

Oh yea...never mind the silver ring with black center thing, I just did the silver so the black digits would show up. I do plan on making a set of silver overlays so it would all be silver with black letters/numbers/ticks. it would look great all white or make it to match your body color...red with a red truck, blue with a blue truck...etc... The other option is to make just the numbers/letters the same color as your truck just to mess with people - something different -

Mike

[al's71gmc]

I think that looks great, Mike. I really like the font. Are these going to be available anytime soon?

[Longhorn Man]

Looks good... however...
the white overlay people used to provide black numbers and letters to place on the lens. The problem is, nothing you put on the lens will catch the light from the dash lights, so no matterr what color you use, you won't be able to read ANY of the numbers or letters ar night. I agree that black numbers and letters look better.
Now, what I have always thought of, was making an overlay, one that you place on the back side of the lense, that has all the letters and numbers done in black, BUT just slightly larger than the stock ones.This way, from the front side, everything will be outlined in black.

[tom71]

looks real nice mike . availabilty????????. tom

[BigMike]

Hmmm...I guess I'll have to plug in some back lights to see how they look at night. These are installed on the back side of the lens, this way it is more like the stock digits and they won't come off when cleaning the lenses. This is only my first, so there will probably be more changes to them before they're right.

I wonder if there is anywhere I can get lenses without the digits on them. It took a while to get the old digits off without ruining the lens itself. You cannot use thinners or heavy solvents as it will ruin the plastic. Cannot scrape them off or it will scratch the plastic. The method I used (secret ) was a long drawn out process but guaranteed not to damage the plastic. I was thinking of possibly just buying Lexan and using the stock lens as a template to make clean ones with no digits.

I was thinking of making kits to sell but I don't even know if people would be interested in them, just because I think they're cool does not necessarily mean others will as well. I guess I will get one finished and see what people think. There are several people making the gauge overlays but no one I know of is doing colored digits like this, maybe I should make a kit with instructions on how to do it? It is difficult to get the digits to line up properly so it may be better to install the digits on the lexan templates for people for better results.

Who knows, at this point I am just thinking out loud. I do appreciate your comments and thoughts. As far as availability goes??? not sure. As soon as I perfect it

Mike

[Longhorn Man]

I've removed the lettering with a razer blade and didn't mess up the lens. I have also used wax and a buffer pad on a drill.

[BigMike]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I've removed the lettering with a razer blade and didn't mess up the lens. I have also used wax and a buffer pad on a drill.

Hmm..I guess if you are careful, a razor would do the trick. I used a strong tape and kept putting it on and yanking it off (like hot wax treatment I guess). It took a while but left no marks at all.

Mike

[Longhorn Man]

Sweet.
The wax/buffer will also get rid of all the fine scratches on the face of the lens from all the years of dry wiping.

[cstanley]

i'd also be curious how they read in the dark with the lights. they do look good on the silver, though.

[Brad]

I like that font- gives it a sorta rat-rod look

[BigMike]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

The problem is, nothing you put on the lens will catch the light from the dash lights, so no matterr what color you use, you won't be able to read ANY of the numbers or letters ar night.

Yep, does not show up well...But, I have another idea. The reason it does not show up is because it is opaque and cannot capture light. They make semi-transparent vinyls that I bet WOULD work, I am working on getting some as I type this.

The black did look cool though. Maybe even a smoke tint might light up, I'll keep you guys informed.

Mike

[chevy_fatman]

That looks great!

[1972cheyenne454]

I wish I would have found this thread years ago. Did you ever get anything that showed up well in the dark? Are you even still messing with this kind of thing?

[sdwolff98]

Hey Big Mike,
I like it looks really good the silver is a good background as well. Let me know when ya start making them I will be interested in a set for our new 69

Sean

[chuckmc8]

Not the same ole stuff! Excellent!

[acemang]

Like Chuckmc8 said, its different and that makes it awesome. Great creativity. I like it.

[LockDoc]

-
Mike hasn't been on the board for about 5 months. Maybe he will slide in one of these days and see this update to his thread though....

LockDoc

[BigMike]

Ya, the lens project was a bust. No matter what level of opaqueness I couldn't get them to work out at night. During daytime they looked great, but as soon as it got dark you couldn't make out the numbering. I could probably make a template that left the numbers blank and then lightly sand blast them, but that would be way more time than I'd like to put into it.

It was a interesting thought though, thanks for the encouragement guys.

Mike