MGB: Gauge Questions

I know I'm asking a lot of questions and I'm sorry-- I seem to ask something nearly every day, but I really am "neck deep" in this restoration. Does anyone have any experience with Nisonger? What I mean is, doeas anyone have any idea roughly what I should budget to have them refurbish a full set of gauges? They all work, but they're pretty shabby looking. Yes, I realize I could just email Nisonger's, but the beauty of this forum is that one get's a variety of answers. Is this a "sure, send 'em, it's cheap" thing or is it expensive?

Matt D.

I have heard they are a good company But IMO if you don't plan on showing your B or driving it every day. I would work with the gauges you have, Usually they last the life of the B, (except the speedometer)... Try ebay for a good used set......

Matthew, I've used Nisonger on two occaisions. Once to rebuild and calibrate a speedo, the second time to convert a mechanical tach to electronic. My opinion is that they do good work but they are not fast and are definitely NOT cheap. I would also say that customer service is not their strong point - i.e. they don't go out of their way to be accomodating. They do things the way they do them and that's what you get.

Refurbish in what way? There's alot you can do yourself.
RS

Nisonger is the bee's knees, but if you send anything to them it's gonna cost you at least $100 per gauge for them to even look at them. If you wanted to have them refurbish a set of gauges for you it might cost you close to $1000.

They're fantastic, but they are overkill for most needs.

Sounds like I should just clean them up myself....I'm not building a show car. Thanks all for the info.

Definitely do it yourself, if all they need is some sprucing up.

I agree with all the above regarding Nisonger. I've used them, and they do great work - absolutely top notch - but they're pricey and SLOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

You can clean up the gauges yourself. The smaller gauges have glass lenses, and probably have no scratches. I bought new crome bezles for my 1978 B and O rings from a supplier I found on the net. They sell Smiths gauges new and quite reasonable. PM me and I will look them up for you.
David

FWIW, I used steel wool and removed the paint from my trim rings - really like the aluminum look. cleaned up the lenses and they look like new. Polished the one plastic lens with plastic polish...... resealed with a bit of clear silicone and they look great. Don't touch the gauge face - it will degrade/scratch very easily.

x2 everyone else's suggestion of doing them yourself. Like Dave says, careful with the face.

Take the gauges out of their bodies, clean and paint if necessary.

Paint the inside of the instrument body gloss white for better light reflection.

Get new bezels and glass, cheap enough.

There is a sealing ring between the glass and the bezel (fits inside the bezel) that will be hard as a rock, this needs replacing. It keeps the glass from rattling around. I made them out of foam but I believe they are available from suppliers now. I'm not sure the new bezels come with them.

Replace the o-ring that goes between the body and the dash.

You're good to go, the gauges look great, you saved a bunch of $$, and have the pleasure of looking at your work every time you get in the car.

One suggestion, I used clear caulk to make the new sealing ring between the bezel and the glass.

[quote=BruceH]
One suggestion, I used clear caulk to make the new sealing ring between the bezel and the glass.[/quote]

Me too Bruce - no moisture at all showing in the inside of the lens in the humidity down here. Worked great.

Thanks everyone. I'll do 'em myself. It's not like I'm in a rush, and the dash is in the den so I can tinker without having to go out to the garage more that I already do ("If I don't know where to find you, I look in the Man-Cave," says my wife).

What kind of a job is to get the bezel and lenses off???

[quote=MrMarty51]
What kind of a job is to get the bezel and lenses off???[/quote]

The tough part is getting the gauges out of the dash. The bezels are pretty easy, usually. They're held in place by little tabs and normally you just need to twist them a bit until the tabs line up with cut-outs in the gauge body. Sometimes it needs some elbow grease, and you may need to lift the tabs a bit with a screwdriver but it's no biggie.

[quote=MrMarty51]
What kind of a job is to get the bezel and lenses off???[/quote]

Agree with Rick, but would only add my sealing rings were so shot they were crystalized. Had to gently rock them slightly from left to right to get them to move at all.

Bruce / Dave, can you tell me how you went about this with the caulk?

[quote=dhartlein]
[quote=BruceH]
One suggestion, I used clear caulk to make the new sealing ring between the bezel and the glass.[/quote]

Me too Bruce - no moisture at all showing in the inside of the lens in the humidity down here. Worked great.[/quote]