Gauge cluster questions

[FarmerDale]

I have my gauge cluster('87 with clock) apart so I can brighten it up with a good cleaning and a little chrome paint for the backlight. 2 things grabbed my attention:
1. A few of the rivets holding the gauges to the dial face have some surface rust. What is my best approach to eliminate this? Was thinking a dab of paint over sanded metal (awful tight quarters with the dial face) or making it bright then wax the whole dial.
2. The printed circuit is not uniformly attached to the cluster. Do I completely remove it before painting the cluster or leave it and tack the loose areas down later? And with what adhesive?
Thanks for your help - Dale

[gmachinz]

From my experience, don't use a chrome paint. Instead, go with a plastic primer adhesion promoter then high gloss white and LED 194 bulbs-that will be killer bright! As for the circuit board, I would carefully remove it before cleaning. Now for the surface rust on the rivets, simply dab it with a black Sharpie or dab it with Testors satin black model paint using a toothpick. Once its all assembled and installed, it isn't noticeable.

[FarmerDale]

Great suggestions GMachinz. I was going to do the LEDs upgrade. My aging eyes will enjoy it. Rust camouflage sounds easy enough also. Do I really the circuit with silicon, rubber cement or is there a better adhesive?

[gmachinz]

I wouldn't suggest NOT using an adhesive on the printed circuit board-just carefully pop the tabs out. Worst case, a new circuit from LMC isn't much...unless you have an electronic speedo-not sure if anybody offers that style or not-it has a plug-in receiver port instead of tension tangs.

[johnwaynejeep]

the printed circuit should be held in place by the bulbs and the gauge tabs that feed through the back. Once everything is in place it holds real nice. I wouldn't put any adhesive on it becuase it will be much harder to replace in the future, but this is all personal preference for me. If you decide on an adhesive, make sure to use something that is non-conductive so the adhesive doesn't short out any of the runs and cause a fire or blown fuses. Any good electrical outlet can provide you with a non-conductive adhesive.

For the gauge rust. Be careful with the paint on the gauges. I tried to use window cleaner to clean off some of the dust from the gauges before reassembly and the white lettering will come off just with light rubbing, let alone any kind of cleanser. I think the black sharpie is a great idea for this.

While you have it out and apart. Look for signs of corrosion on the printed circuit board. On mine, all the runs looked green as opposed to the silver or copper color they have when they are new. If you see signs of greening then your board is starting to corrode and eventually some of the gauges or lights will quit on you.

this would also be a good time to remove all the gauge tabs and lights and clean them up. I used a light grade wire brush attached to my drill and very lightly sanded all the contacts until they were shiney again. You don't need any tools to remove the gauge tabs, they can be removed by pressing on them in the right spot and angling them out.

[gmachinz]

I'd like to add that with it out, slightly bend out each of the cluster plug tangs for in the dash harness-this helps ensure a good contact again.

[motornut]

I removed everything ,washed housing and used gloss white paint worked great
light sanding on the paths,then used crazy glue to reglue the copper paths to the mylar plastic,no prob
I added red LEDs as well
don't glue the gauge pastic to the houseing tho

[motornut]

here are some path issues i fixed with crazy glue,and cleaned up/rebent out the pug

[gmachinz]

Looks good! The LEDs and bright white paint is a killer look! The clusters never looked this good even when brand new!

[motornut]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

Looks good! The LEDs and bright white paint is a killer look! The clusters never looked this good even when brand new!

I left the stock white bulbs,working as intended,the red are LEDs on with the key

1978 night gauges - YouTube

My friend with a 72 Skylark wants me to do his,white only tho

[FarmerDale]

I will go over the circuit more closely but I don't see any corrosion. A black paint pen was used to cover the rivets, so should have a little more protection than a Sharpie. Thanks for the advice on removing the circuit. Now I can see that it was just a grip fit deal, and I will keep that feature!