Any recommendations of who to send the instrument cluster to for restoration. I've had the "tach guy" do one but he seemed so arrogant and the back wasn't detailed like I would have wanted etc.
WARNING! Do NOT LET THE TACH GUY GARY TOUCH YOUR INTRUMENTS!
There is a thread on this asshat I posted, as well as a few others.
Phil did beautiful work, the tach works flawlessly and the sweep is smooth.
My tach wouldn't read correctly and the needle bounced on both the speedo
and the tach. They were full of metal shavings.
-Keith
Phil Severance.
Phidon Restorations
283 Trotter Dr.
Twin Falls, ID 83301
Phone: (208) 734-4535
+1 for Phil Severance, he's done a couple for me and close friends, perfect workmanship!
I had Phil do my Tach 6K to 8K, and also had my speedo done 120 MPH to 140 MPH for my clone/tribute/fake/copy/etc car. Nice work and a pleasure to do business with.
http://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=286.msg8503#msg8503
Great Keith I'll give Phil a call. You put the words of my experience with the Tach Man better than I could have!
We had Phil do the tach for 550. Quick turnaround and good price. Ron
Tony, not only did Tachman do my tach and speedo the first time I also had him re-screen the gauge faces.
He claims they are silk screened. He outright lies. They were stickers stuck onto the faces.
They came back, the rivets were left out of the faces, they were replaced by two screws that were left loose.
The movement hit the face and the tach would not sweep and was off as far as the calibration. When I called him he acted like he was intoxicated. He was belligerent and refused to rectify the issue, refund the work and then whined about being a veteran somehow was trying to segue into how it somehow was connected to his piss-poor work and customer service when I mentioned I am also a combat veteran and don't use it to justify bad behavior he went into a tirade an denigrated my service because I wasn't in Vietnam. He was in the Chair Farce as a fueler. His BS and rip off of other reputable restorers is reprehensible.
Rocketman's Classic Cougar is doing the tach conversions as well. He tried to get the supplier of the three wire tach to stop selling to Bob and only sell to him.
Anyway, I am crawling off my soap box. With the scum bags coming out of the woodwork and ripping people like us off I have just lost all tolerance for them.
In the end I ate the work done by Tach Boy and paid to have it all done a second time.
Hence my stern warning. Rocketman can do them too and does good work.
Keith that is awful! He did my '68 Shelby probably 15 years ago when I didn't know who do ask, I don't even think there was a website then. Anyway yes I had a few issues also and same thing he pretty much told me to stick it. This time I contacted a guy by the name of Kens ( he is near me ) first and he told me I was being to picky and didn't want to do it. I was great nor do I want to send it to you. Then I thought The SAAC guys will know! I've already contacted Phil, I'm confident it's going to turn out great.
Phil is great. He has done 2 tachs for me and I purchased another one from his inventory. All work flawlessly!
Steve
Well I can't comment on whether he was a jerk to you guys or not but the Tachman did an amazing job on my cluster.
Mike, no offense but you got lucky and perhaps don't know some of the details to look for. Phil worked for Ford and knows the electronics inside out. He also has FORD parts that are new for repair, unlike Tachman who uses used parts to make repairs on tachs. Phil also confirmed my way around the issue for those of us running the Pertronix Ignitor II and up. There is plenty of crap Gary has done to those who he has done work for.
As you can see, the negatives just in this feed are primarily negative in nature.
-Keith
No offense taken but I stand by what I said that he did a great job, communicated to me during the entire process, fixed everything he said he would, and his job packaging the cluster to send back to me is like nothing I have ever seen before. He double boxed it, double wrapped it, and insured it.
I am sure others have had a good experience if I have.
Mike: I hope you lucked out . tachman did some work for one of my customers while back, 66 Tach, didnt calibrate well. I shipped it to him and when I got it back , it didnt work at all , some of the bezel tangs were broken and he barrel spliced the wires, I called him and he started screaming at me that it was my fault, it was UPS fault , it was Farias fault for making bad tachs - told me to throw it in the trash and dont ever call him again. I told him my customer to do a CC chargeback and he did. I sent it to Phil and he said it was a mess inside. A couple months later Tachman calls me leaving a message and asks me if I need any work done. Makes you wonder!
I don't say negative things of that nature about a vendor for errors that are out of control. It's the fact he was a complete rude jack ass and refused to make it right, not to mention outright lying. These kind of vendors are becoming more common all the time. My issue wasn't isolated and I ATE what he charged me because it was over 90 days. I had to pay someone else to do all the work a second time, not to mention having to disassemble my vehicle again.
This is what I was hammering home. Many of us do I restoration over two or three years. By the time you realize something is wrong you have no way to recover your losses.
-Keith
Quotetold me to throw it in the trash and dont ever call him again. I told him my customer to do a CC chargeback and he did. I sent it to Phil and he said it was a mess inside. A couple months later Tachman calls me leaving a message and asks me if I need any work done. Makes you wonder!
Sounds like a typical bi-polar issue. :(
TOB
Beer-polar is more like it.
-Keith
Had mine worked on by Orlando Mustang! They can repair the gauges and reface the surface. They also have come up with a way to install tacks in 69/70 mustangs that were not tac cars originally
Since the title of this thread is "Instrument Cluster Restoration" it may help some to also see the difference of the bezel and brushed aluminum insert.
The two options for the '67 Mustangs were Standard Camera Black and the Deluxe on the GT with the aluminum inserts.
The aluminum inserts were attached to a steel base and both installed to the GT Deluxe unique bezel with molded-in slots for the tabs on the aluminum insert assembly to fit into and the tabs were bent over to hold the unit in place. Not the Camera black bezel.
The correct bezel has raised edges around the openings and at the perimeter for the aluminum insert assembly to sit in and the ridges are visible. Many repro aluminum inserts are adhesive backed and just stuck on Camera Black bezels which may repro's have very Red BRAKES lens with the BRAKES in black when the originals are the opposite.
Here are some images to reference:
(there are other aspects to the originals which will probably be discussed and illustrated too.)
And while we're at it: Chrome Tech has stopped doing business (rechroming the bezel) and Mr Azcue, last time I checked was not longer answering his E-mails. So I assume he too is no longer rechroming bezels.
Please list who to send them out to.
Quote from: JD on May 10, 2019, 08:56:16 AM
Since the title of this thread is "Instrument Cluster Restoration" it may help some to also see the difference of the bezel and brushed aluminum insert.
The two options for the '67 Mustangs were Standard Camera Black and the Deluxe on the GT with the aluminum inserts.
The aluminum inserts were attached to a steel base and both installed to the GT Deluxe unique bezel with molded-in slots for the tabs on the aluminum insert assembly to fit into and the tabs were bent over to hold the unit in place. Not the Camera black bezel.
The correct bezel has raised edges around the openings and at the perimeter for the aluminum insert assembly to sit in and the ridges are visible. Many repro aluminum inserts are adhesive backed and just stuck on Camera Black bezels which may repro's have very Red BRAKES lens with the BRAKES in black when the originals are the opposite.
Here are some images to reference:
(there are other aspects to the originals which will probably be discussed and illustrated too.)
Great pictures,great effort JD. ;D
JD,
Thanks for sharing those photos and pointing out all the original and repro details!
I rang tachman a while back and a very brassy sounding woman answered, he was feeding her answers as she repeated my questions to him. I felt it was very strange and didn't like how it was going. i didn't send him my parts and sent them to Phil instead who did a lovely job
I am glad I wasn't alone in what I thought
Your best bet is to do what I did. I sent my factory parts and bezel to Vacuum Ornamental in Michigan. They did a superb job of plating and unlike the old process that Ford used, the bezel can be cleaned and the finish doesn't rub off. The also did the blackout on the bezel. I bought the inserts for the dash and doors from Burton antique Auto parts in Dayton. They are the only ones who use the anodized aluminum on a steel back with tabs like Ford OE. The finish is consistent and looks OE. Be prepared to spend about 1500.00 when It's all said and done.
Vacuum Ornamental
(734)941-9100
Burton Antique Auto
(937) 275-6753
throughout.
h
thanks guys, these dang cars get under your skin and never go away ;-)
Quote from: 1967 eight barrel on May 10, 2019, 10:10:40 PM
Your best bet is to do what I did. I sent my factory parts and bezel to Vacuum Ornamental in Michigan. They did a superb job of plating and unlike the old process that Ford used, the bezel can be cleaned and the finish doesn't rub off. The also did the blackout on the bezel. I bought the inserts for the dash and doors from Burton antique Auto parts in Dayton. They are the only ones who use the anodized aluminum on a steel back with tabs like Ford OE. The finish is consistent and looks OE. Be prepared to spend about 1500.00 when It's all said and done.
Vacuum Ornamental
(734)941-9100
Burton Antique Auto
(937) 275-6753
Did you send in just the bezel to vacuum ornamental?
Curious if You also had them do the vent control face or the 1/4 sail panel vents?
Did you send in just the bezel to vacuum ornamental?
Curious if You also had them do the vent control face or the 1/4 sail panel vents?
[/quote]The 1/4 sail panel vents are pot metal not plastic so most likely wouldn't go to the plastic chroming people.
Quote from: 2112 on May 11, 2019, 12:52:05 AM
Quote from: 1967 eight barrel on May 10, 2019, 10:10:40 PM
Your best bet is to do what I did. I sent my factory parts and bezel to Vacuum Ornamental in Michigan. They did a superb job of plating and unlike the old process that Ford used, the bezel can be cleaned and the finish doesn't rub off. The also did the blackout on the bezel. I bought the inserts for the dash and doors from Burton antique Auto parts in Dayton. They are the only ones who use the anodized aluminum on a steel back with tabs like Ford OE. The finish is consistent and looks OE. Be prepared to spend about 1500.00 when It's all said and done.
Vacuum Ornamental
(734)941-9100
Burton Antique Auto
(937) 275-6753
Did you send in just the bezel to vacuum ornamental?
Curious if You also had them do the vent control face or the 1/4 sail panel vents?
The left lower vent/heater control is pot metal with the aluminum glued down with contact cement. I removed the original aluminum and had the trim chrome plated. I then re-cemented the new trim from Burton back in with contact cement.
I had all four pieces of plastic trim done by Vacuum Ornamental. Dash bezel, center trim, over the glovebox and right lower.
Most upper trim is pitted and it's also pot metal. They would require painting if you found a set worth plating. I wound up just using reproductions in my original trim.
I assume you saw my interior pictures? I can re-post if not.
-Keith
Small issue: Burton's nor anyone else has the proper cutout for the door panel aluminum for the early cars. Boo-hoo.
Burton use to have both versions, I got the early when I re-did the car I had.
( Edit - better images...)
I have the early version as well. I bought them about 10 years ago. I had bought his complete kit but I wasn't happy with it. That's when I elected to have all the OE plastic and the pot metal vent control re-plated and use his inserts.
-Keith
Its a little "too bad" Burtons seems to stopped selling or making the early car door metal panels. Unless I don't know the secret code, they where not shown on line a few years back
Quote from: roddster on May 15, 2019, 09:30:45 AM
Its a little "too bad" Burtons seems to stopped selling or making the early car door metal panels. Unless I don't know the secret code, they where not shown on line a few years back
With Burton, never hurts to call them. Nice as can be and maybe can accommodate what you want if you describe it to them. I wanted their deluxe dash set for a tribute I'm building. Said "Out of stock" for almost a year. After a couple rounds of returning Dynacorn bezels with the brush marks the wrong direction, finally called and asked if it would return to stock soon. They said we can do that now and don't always update their web site. Also offered a few options that weren't on the web site. Nice people.
What options are you referring to?
Burton's inserts are great. The reproduction plastic trim was based on the camera case parts. You could see black around the edges. I sent them back. The inserts do come with the tabbed steel back that locates perfectly around the raised edges of the turn signal ports and such. I did have to do a little file and shaping work on the upper left side of the trim that goes over the glove box. There is also an early and a late version of the trim bezels which are slightly different shaped.
The camera case glove box bezel and the deluxe glove box bezel have a slightly different shape.
Bob,
I didn't believe him but Mort Burton had claimed there were two different part numbers for the RH trim bezel when I complained about fitment of the insert. He is correct, there is because I have both of them. There is a slightly different shape on the upper left hand corner of the right hand panel.
Quote from: 1967 eight barrel on May 22, 2019, 03:55:15 PM
Bob,
I didn't believe him but Mort Burton had claimed there were two different part numbers for the RH trim bezel when I complained about fitment of the insert. He is correct, there is because I have both of them. There is a slightly different shape on the upper left hand corner of the right hand panel.
Kieth, are you saying there are two different versions for the deluxe glove box bezel or one for the deluxe and one for the camera case style glove box bezel.