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Rstoring a 71-74 Rallye cluster - This is how I did it.

dangina

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No one had any real advice on how to do it so I did it the best way I thought I could do it. This is it:


what i had to start with:

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no more old wiring gremlins!!!

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Light switch:

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high/low beam floor switch:

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Wiper switch:

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Temp control:

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- - - Updated - - -

Now the hard part:

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started on the gauge face plates, I used the 3M Headlight restore kit, I thought "what the hell, they're both plastic, should work for this as well" I also did this to the temp control plate as well:

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Went to a hobby shop and got a paint that I thought would look close to original and this stuff was bang on and it went on beautifully with no runs - Tamiya TS-1 Red Brown. Goes on light brown but dries to what I wanted. First I sanded and painted the whole shelll:

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I wasn't sure how to get the black in the wood like on the original, so I improvised, I thought if I could paint the background in a matt black and paint over top it might bleed through the paint. I used a acrylic paint which was messy to work with and it ran like crazy and pooled up alot so i had to keep wiping it down so the layer wouldn't get to thick, It was a PITA and I reccomend a different method but it ended up in my favor, I tried fingerpainting all the areas where the black was on the shell:

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Next I painted a very light layer of the red brown again:

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next I sanded the gauge pods and wiper/light switch areas, masked them and painted them a semi gloss:

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Now this was the most stressful step of them all - applying the silver to the outer edges of the pods, switches and shell, I used a automotive GM Silver, comes as a 2 for 1, light bruch or can be used as a pen, i used the brush. It is hard to work with, you have to keep moving in one direction and it with thicken up on you if you overlap the previous area too much (it starts to dry pretty quick) This would be easy if you were a pin stripper, but for us joes its passable and didn't end up to bad:

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Now all together: (I tried taking different pics in different light)

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Thanks for the comments guys!

what color brown did u use n where u get it ive been looking w no luck

I mentioned in my post - Tamiya Color TS-1 Red Brown, I included it in the first picture painting the shell for future reference;) I just went down to the local hobby store
 
Looks great, my outer face is nice [just cleaning it] the guages are crappy [but i have two clusters] so i'll pick the better from the two to make one good one.
 
how do u reset odometer and where did u get the right brown i dont think i can find it in the states u use 3 difrent types of brown? flat semi gloss n gloss for the final?i looked at hobby lobby if any one knows where to get the right brown it would be help full
 
how do u reset odometer and where did u get the right brown i dont think i can find it in the states u use 3 difrent types of brown? flat semi gloss n gloss for the final?i looked at hobby lobby if any one knows where to get the right brown it would be help full

sorry just one type of brown - I took a pic of it (in the first dash painted pic bottom right of the pic) - i'm in canada, and it was at the local hobby shop here - maybe you can find it online?
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product...e=google_ext&gclid=CKa5j7OmqbQCFQ-e4AodMjEAyA
or
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l2736&_nkw=tamiya+ts-1

I did:

1)sanded and did 2 layers of the TS-1 brown,
2)next did the acrylic black over top (which I'd reccomend something else as it wasn't the best to work with)
3)then a very light layer of the same TS-1 brown again,
4)then sanded the guage/wipers/headlight pods and painted with a tamiya semi gloss black
5)silver paint pen the outer guages and shell

thanks for the comments!
 
Holy crap, that looks awesome. How long did it take you to complete it?

Mike
 
that looks absolutely fan-freekin-tastik ! sometimes ya just gotta jump right in with or without any advice! and driving a car with a nice clean shiny dashboard makes ya feel better about the entire car.
 
You really did a great job on this! The way you made it look with that little dark to it, looks real good.. I wish i would have done a better job on the clear lens on mine when i did this..
 
Thanks for the comments!

Holy crap, that looks awesome. How long did it take you to complete it?

Mike

took me one night at work on night shift! just the resurfacing guage plastic faces and the bezel about 4 hrs.

Did you do anything to the guage faces themselves ? Mine look sunfaded

these were the best part of the guages, I just used an cleaner that we use to clean electronics, no film or residue left behind, cleaned them up pretty good, I found out later you can by the proper paint to paint the needles, but mine didn't really need it
 
"these were the best part of the guages, I just used an cleaner that we use to clean electronics, no film or residue left behind, cleaned them up pretty good, I found out later you can by the proper paint to paint the needles, but mine didn't really need it"

I put the white faced over lays on mine, the main reason to take the cluster out was to check all my wire connections, make sure to best of my ability to stop any dash fires from starting, When i seen the white faced i thought that would look good with white and red LED lights in them.
But i would have had to do something if i would have tore it apart just to clean them lol, When i took a cloth to wipe the faces off, from about 70 MPH on down just plain disappeared! I couldn't believe it as shiny and black the gauges were, at first i began to debate putting the white on, cleaning fixed that quick, I really don't understand why they flaked off so easy, ive seen really rusty faces that still had the numbers on them...
 
how do u reset odometer and where did u get the right brown i dont think i can find it in the states u use 3 difrent types of brown? flat semi gloss n gloss for the final?i looked at hobby lobby if any one knows where to get the right brown it would be help full

Any local model shop or store that sells R/C cars should have it. Tamyia has been around for decades. Worst case, check on-line for Tower Hobbies...Here: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0095p?FVPROFIL=&FVSEARCH=<B>tamiya</B>+spray+lacquer+ts-1

- - - Updated - - -

Maybe one option to apply the black might be a flat black paint pen, and then rub with a rag to 'soften' the edges of the black areas and smooth the coat.
 
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