[Chrysler300] Gauges, Gauges on the Dash...Who's the Fairest of Them All?

["rob kern" <robkern@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello 300'ly to all!
    The gauge restoration on my C is done!!  Why is it that there is always a story involved with getting anything accomplished in the restoration of any antique car, especially our 'Brutes?  Last May in Asheville I purchased the 150 MPH speedometer lens from our Swedish colleagues for $65. I thought it would be nice to have for the future should something happen to my speedometer face (now what is going to happen really to a speedometer face on your cherished C?) So I stored it safely away in the towel it came wrapped from Sweden. Then in November, Ken Smith had a used gauge cluster for a C with a show quality lens for sale on e-bay. OK...I'd like to have a spare set of gauges for the C and the show quality lens was the real attraction because mine wasn't to show quality standard and well you know how that goes.  So I win the e-bay auction at $275 and  get the used gauge cluster and lens.  That gets stored away for sometime in the future (again what am I going to do to really necessitate redoing my gauge cluster?).  Now I'm armed with two show quality lens pieces for my speedometer and the gauge cluster and my clock lens is show quality already. BINGO!! Got the momentum....finish off that thing that is the last tickler...go ahead admit it...the instruments have been bugging you because you didn't redo them cosmetically in terms of rechroming rings and repainting the inner cones and get the show quality lens across the dash panel. Time for putting a plan into action.  Sent the used gauges to Jeff Carter to have them refurbished and check calibration and have needles repainted (if you're going to have spares in the attic they must be in excellent condition..right?) Well Jeff got them looking better than the ones in place. He also took in trade my show quality lens with some extra cash...$45...and sent me back a flawless gauge cluster lens! That was it... plan in action ...redo all three instruments behind the steering wheel!  However, I didn't want the car off line for a long while with gauges, etc. out and having chrome rings sent to Sihilling and down time.  So, Jeff Carter again to the rescue.  We worked out an exchange program for all the rings (inner and outer) for the clock, gauge cluster and speedo where he sent his to Sihilling, I paid for the replating and polishing (another $450) and when I had the sets for each ready to be installed then I would send my instruments to Jeff in phases to be restored.  Jeff would take my old rings off my instruments for his inventory. First phase was the clock and speedometer.  Initially I thought I could replace the rings and lens myself.  Started with the clock....NADA!!  The newly replated outer ring wouldn't fit without having to grind the casing....my Dremel wouldn't cut the mustard, and after taking the clock apart the hands decided to get free floating and how does one get those little retainers off that hold the inner ring to the lens without cracking or scratching something?  Next epiphany...send to Jeff Carter and write the check and sleep well and feel good that the job will be done perfectly the first time.  So the clock and speedometer went off to Jeff Carter  with all the rechromed rings and perfect lens and a can of yellow anodized Dupli-Color spray paint for the inner cones.  Jeff and his colleague Buzz in less than a week turn around time reassembled the speedo and clock perfectly and used their air brush color for the cones to meet factory color (since yellow anodized on the metal of the inner cones looks too green vs. being on the plated control knobs). I drove my C sans speedo and clock until they arrived and re-installed them in 45 minutes.  The clock and speedo are gorgeous and run perfectly with no needle flutter or clicking of the speedometer. Well worth the $451 spent. NEXT... the gauge cluster. Different scenario indeed in that the C can not be driven with the gauge cluster disconnected since the oil gauge line would spurt oil all over the interior!  Not politically correct in our house for me to park Mopsy in Marnie's spot in the garage for a week and have her car sitting outside in all sorts of spring weather we experience in Oklahoma. Now I have all the rechromed rings, perfect lens and have to come up with a plan for the down time for this refurbishment. Buzz was proactive in that he painted another inner cone for the gauge cluster to match the ones for the clock and speedo when he did those first. (new definition of quality...proactive attention to detail).  A buddy of mine who is into old cars and has a large building at his place of business volunteered to let Mopsy reside in his heated work shop (where he builds his sprint cars) while the gauge cluster was out.  So on Easter Saturday Mopsy was parked, out came the gauge cluster in time to be shipped that afternoon by 3:00 pm to Jeff Carter for him to have it by noon on Easter Monday. I also sent my extra newly refurbished gauges to JC Auto so they would reassemble my gauge cluster with the best gauges. By 5:30 pm PST Buzz at JC AUTO had the gauge cluster reassembled and personally drove it to UPS to be delivered to me in 3 days.  He reassembled the gauge cluster with my refurbished spare gauges because he tested them and not only did they look better but he felt the springs were stronger, etc. He also put vacuum pump oil on the spindle of the ammeter gauge to keep it from jumping around a lot. My existing gauge cluster had a few things that I wanted to correct....the fuel gauge for some reason always took 10 minutes of "warm-up" time to register, and the temperature gauge took about 15 minutes to register and would jump from cold to normal operating temp when it would finally kick-in.  The ammeter would dance all over the place.  The oil pressure gauge was fine. The gauge cluster arrived last Thursday and was perfect.  I installed it in less than an hour last Saturday at my buddy's garage and as soon as I started the car...the fuel gauge registered, the ammeter was quite steady and the temperature gauge showed the gradual warm-up of the engine as expected.  Oil Pressure was right-on. So for the $217 for the gauge restoration and throw in another $135 for shipping round trip to Lynnwood , Wa. I am done with the instrument restoration and couldn't be happier. JC Auto with owner Jeff Carter, and staff Buzz , Mike, and DeeDee couldn't recive enough praise for their professionalism, innovative problem solving, proactive attention to detail, positive can-do attitude and superb craftsmanship. I highly recommend them for all instrument work on our Letter Cars, not only for the electroluminescent gauges and Highway Hi-Fi players but they do all MOPAR instruments from 1955-1970 and MOPAR muscle car gauges. In addition they are a full service MOPAR restoration shop and rebuild power steering pumps and many other vital mechanical componentry for our vehicles.  There will be a new advertising blitz discussing the expanded services offered by JC Auto in the near future.  So many thanks to Jeff Carter and his staff and also to Charles Sihilling and his staff at Sihilling Metal Polishing in Santa Ana , CA for giving me eye candy instruments that work flawlessly!!  ROB KERN

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