Does anyone have a recommendation for a shop that restores console gauges, or am I better off buying NOS stuff. I have seen some of these for sale lately though they are pricey. Any shared experience on this topic would be appreciated.

May want to check out tachman.com

Jerry ,
Thanks, just checked out his web site and am going to give him a call Monday.
Have you had work or know anyone who has had work done by them ?

also check out clockdoc.com

Are they working? If so and if they just need a clean up you can do some of this yourself. After taking them apart I cleaned mine in warm soapy water and dried the faces with the air in a can. I used contact cleaner ont eh electrical parts and very mild cleaners. I had the parts and a clean white rag sitting on a TV tray and sat watching TV for a for a few hours a night. Cleaned up very nice. I was suprised how well they came out.

Joe

No I have not had any experience with tachman but I'm going to have my gauges gone over soon so I was searching where others have had theirs done. Other places I found are williamsons.com american-classic.com and clocksandgauges.com I found these over at the team chevelle site. Try a search over there

Joe ,
To tell you the truth I never even put power to the car . It has been sitting in a tow yard for 20 years and though most of the parts are still intact the guage cover was missing and the guages are real dirty. Here is a picture

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/Guages/DSC00250.jpg

you can see the corrosion at the bottom of the front two guages

mine were not that ugly but I don't see why you can't try do them your self. Would save some cash and was pretty easy just took me a while with mine. Nothing a little paint here and there also.

But then again, I am the kind of person to attack a job like this and I would not think twice about sending seats to the shop to have seat covers done. Kinda what your comfortable with doing.

Joe

That's probably just dirt on the bottom edge, those gauge faces are aluminum (I think) and don't rust (at least like that). Grab a Q-Tip and dip it in a little water, probably 90 persent of that stuff will come right off.

I took out the Oil Pres gauge and cleaned it as well as the faces of the others. They cleaned up nice. The gauge indicator needles are badly faded. Any suggestions on those? Also the top right temp gauge has some color that is missing though the outline is there for the orange to red? Appreciate the input

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/Guages/771468f3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/ChevyThunder/Guages/DSC00492.jpg

You can most likely get an orange and a red magic marker to color the needles and temp guage. If you disassemble the other gages for cleaning, make sure that you note how everything is originally oriented (such as the ground wire and the resistors on the back of the gages).

You can buy new faces, and the needles come off (with care) I'd be concerned about the guts tho. That'as all been exposed too. It might be a really good idea to find a way to power the unit up and see what works before you go too far on your own.

Know anyone with a running car with guages?

I had a friend go to my old local paint store (when I lived in San Diego it was local)and take a needle with him and they made up some paint for it and gave me the code, which I have lost. It can be done. Paint cost $15.00 but to look at it it sure looked like Chevy orange engine paint. I never tried that but............???????

Joe

Testors model car paint, Flourescent Red, works real nice on guage needles. Wally :D World or any hobby shop.

All great info..thanks !