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Restoring gauge faces

clean with something mild like windex then give them a coat of car wax
 
Many opinions out there on this topic. When I restored my gauges they were indeed "hazy". I used an extra fine rubbing / polishing compound on the exposed plastic upper surface of the black decal. If you elect not to remove the actual gauge movement from the round EL buckets, you will need to be extra careful of the gauge needles. Much easier to clean these with gauges removed from EL bucket. Take it slow using a soft cloth. Use a clean section of the cloth as you go as you will get a build up of gunk on the cloth. It requires a lot of patience, but it works. Once you get em cleaned up, the black areas will take on a shiny finish on the plastic with the haze cleaned off. With the gauges back into the cluster behind the bezel clear plastic, you won't notice the shine and they will look great. Good luck.. Terry
 
I found that Purple Power takes the chalk right off -- back to the black. It did a fantastic job -- didn't ruin anything. I cleaned it afterward with luke warm water and a soft cloth and then waxed them. They look like new.
 
After reading up on a lot of advice before tackling my '63 Ply gauges, found that lots of time vs using harsher cleaners would be safer to avoid nuking the labeling. The 'strongest' cleaners I used was thera-tears and eyelid soap with a lot of q-tips and cotton balls. First was to ensure all dust was off using a can of air (real gently just a little trigger pressure as I left the gauges intact) then using distilled water on cotton balls (damp only) before using the cleaners. I did this routine several times clean/damp rinse and used air to gently blow surface dry as otherwise a water film would remain on the face. Excess moisture would go to beveled edge where I could use a piece of terry-cloth to wipe off. Aim nozzle so it won't strike needles. After this did a real careful process to clean the needles using paper underneath them to hold them still and repainted using needle paint. I did this while the dash bezel was out being restored and this included having the lenses polished that is of course critical to have a haze-free lens. Class A? No, I'd say a good B grade as a DIY...they turned out to my liking with little cash but a lot of time 'spent'. Here is a b4 and after pic of the temp gauge and the dash once reinstalled.

Ply Temp Gauge Bfr.jpg Ply Temp Gauge Aft.jpg Ply Dash Finish.jpg
 
I made a slight mistake on a 66-7 Charger cluster. I used rubbing alcohol with cotton balls on the black. It ended up a little shiny.
Next one I did, I received advice and used a mild toothpaste which a toothbrush. It took the white off very well. Then lightly coated it with some 3 in one machine oil. Worked really well.
This many years ago.
 
The gauges on top after using Purple Power with cotton ball, rinsing with water using a cotton ball, and then applying wax.

004.JPG
 
My needles wont glow when cluster lights up. Can you help with some info?
Get paint made for gauge needles - fluorescent paint
 
My needles wont glow when cluster lights up. Can you help with some info?

There's a super fine wire that attaches to the needles (causes it to glow). If that fine wire is broken -- no go.
 
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