Hi All - I had the gooeyest set of gauges from a 58 Chrysler about a year ago. That gray stuff was all over the lens. I discovered an excellent cleaner for removal of this goo -- water (!), with a little dish liquid added. It cleaned up the lens completely. Of course, you first have to disassemble the gauge cluster . Not a difficult task. Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Nelson" <garythepartsdoc@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Owen & Jo Grigg" <ram300@xxxxxxxxxx>; <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 9:56 PM Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] '57 Chrysler instruments > Owen and ALL > > I have disassembled restored numerous sets of 57/58 gauges. The ring you > refer to is glued in. Take a propane torch > and heat up the ring all around. It does not take much. Then push out with > a small screw driver from the inside. To do this the gauge must be > disassembled first to access the inside edge of ring. > As far as a seal, I assume you mean the one between front housing and the > plastic lens? There is no seal between back of front housing to rear > housing. The seal is like a rubber band made of a gray rubber that over > time deteriorates and oozes onto the gauge face and turns hard as a rock. > Several years ago Larry Jett told of a trick he learned, (from his wife) > to use 409 cleaner to dissolve the hard goo. I have a set of 58 gauges I am > restoring now and to remind myself how well it worked I took a rag and > soaked with 409 and with a little scrubbing it came off. If you are > disassembling the gauge do the cleaning after as there will be more caked > on around the perimeter that you do not see. > The same goo will be in a grove that received the edge of the gray band I > refered to. It will also be hard as a rock. That is best removed with a > small screw driver like tool. I scrape around the grove to remove the major > portion and finish up glass beading the balance as well as the entire > housing to remove all dirt and old paint. > > A FEW TIPS: > 1) New seal. I use o-ring stock. I believe 1/16". You can cut a strip of > rubber the correct thickness and width. Need to make sure it seals against > plastic face as that is what keeps dirt and dust out of gauge. > 2) The chrome ring is very thin brass. Easy to damage so easy does it when > you start pushing it out. > 3) Caution the chrome house as they can trash the delicate rings. You may > consider leaving the cleaned housings so they can set the ring in to polish. > 4) Caution the chrome house to only "flash" plate the ring. The rings are a > close fit. To much chrome and they will not seat into housing. Been there > done that. > > Hope this helps, > > Gary, The Parts Doc > > > At 12:50 PM 04/05/2004 +1200, Owen & Jo Grigg wrote: > >Hi > >Need some help on removing the chrome trim rings from speedo, clock and > >oil/temp instrument housings on a 300C. They appear to be glued(?) in > >there. I'ved attempted to soak them in mild solvents to dissolve the glue > >without any joy. > >Also noticed they have some sort of seal where the front part of the > >instrument housting joins to the rear, anyone replaced these? With what? > >Thanks. > >Owen > > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > >To send a message to this group, send an email to: > >Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > >For list server instructions, go to > >http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To send a message to this group, send an email to: > Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > To send a message to this group, send an email to: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/