cluster history?

[rdeeble]

Wondering if I could get a run down on a history of what "early" instrument clusters were supposed to look like. I salvaged one out of a 68 that had silver dollar gauges but Im curious what the cluster case itself was supposed to look like as I am trying to clean it up as close to its original as possible.

The cluster face looks like it had been painted black, the edge appears to have been a silver color and the gauge rings are currently white plastic but looked as though they were supposed to have been a silver color.

any pics would be helpful. I saw a pic out of randy's amazing 67' 1600 and was totally impressed by the silvery face and chrome gauge rings but noticed mine is different w its red indicator light to the left of the speedo.

thanks -rd

[c.d.iesel]

[rdeeble]

so this is what I am gleaning from the FAQ archives... does this sound correct to the rest of you...

Also, do any of you know what years had silver face panels vs the black face?

67:

Silver surround & bezels, no brake failure light or test button?, silver dollar gauges, 2 upper screws attach panel to dash

68-71 US:

Silver surround & bezels, Silver face? Brake failure light & test button, silver dollar gauges, 2 upper screws attach panel to dash.

68-71 Euro:

No brake failure light or test button, Black face?, silver dollar gauges

72-73:

Black face? brake failure light.

74-76:

Wood Gain, cross hair gauges

[dirk2602]

This is my understanding;

Silver face was only in '67 and (early) '68. Due to US safety regulations the instruments supports could no longer be silver (i.e. sun reflective) and the factory must have had too many of these because they were painted over in black before they were produced in black.

The silver dollar instruments and the silver round surrounds and cluster edge remained through mid '71, incl. the 2 little screws.

Mid '71 through '73 had black instruments and the 3 round instrument surrounds had a very thin chrome outline which is gone or partially worn out on most cars and impossible to duplicate.

[jhenard]

Dirk,

I just reworked my instument cluster and agree that I could not duplicate the chrome on the surrounds. I did find a Krylon silver leafing pen that comes close. If ends up looking more like a brushed aluminum but it was an improvement over the splotchy chrome that remained. $6 and ten minutes - big improvement

[dirk2602]

Dirk,

.... $6 and ten minutes ....

and a very steady hand I guess ! Thanks for the advice, I am going to try that. Is it easy to remove if I mess up ?

[jhenard]

The pen has a flat chisel tip that rides nicely on the flat surface of the surround. I had the rings out of the cluster so it was easy to apply and remain shake free. I had one oops but I wiped it off quickly so no issues. The instructions say you can clean up with acetone if needed. I put on two light coats letting dry overnight in between. Really, it was simple. I found the pen at Hobby Lobby but you can try any craft store such as Michaels. You would have to really pay attention to the cluster to notice it is not chrome.

[rdeeble]

uhm.... can i just say this FAQ list is AWESOME! Thanks Dirk that was about the most concise and helpful run down I could of hoped for (especially the pictures). And that also explains why my panel had a trace of silver showing through on the face. Man those 67's panels were beauties weren't they?

-rd

[bmw_jeff]

uhm.... can i just say this FAQ list is AWESOME! Thanks Dirk that was about the most concise and helpful run down I could of hoped for (especially the pictures). And that also explains why my panel had a trace of silver showing through on the face. Man those 67's panels were beauties weren't they?-rd

Yes they were Here's my 67's panel. I took the rings out and used "chrome" color model airplane paint on them. They are not the true chrome look, but still look nice. The rings may be able to be "plastic-chromed" by a restorer but since they are so small and fragile I doubt they could take the heat when applying the metallic base coat. The 1600 in the BMW Museum has nice chrome rings on it's cluster but they are probably a NOS item they had. I used spray paint (chrome and black) to paint the backing and inside edges, then the model paint by hand around the rim just like the rings.

[dirk2602]

Here is a picture of the cluster panel in Bob's '67 1600 cabriolet. He had it chromed, not sure who did it but it might have been Vacuum Platers. Once I called them to give ma a quote to re-chrome the three instrument surrounds and was quoted $350-and-up plus I would be without a cluster for a few weeks. That's when I went to the arts-and-crafts store. I can only image how much it would cost to do the whole thing.

[rdeeble]

hey jeff - your car looks amazing. really great work on the instrument panel. To be honest I like yours (with painted chrome) better than a re-chrome. The subtle effect vs the over shine is nice. Love the early dash on on yours as well. Those 67's had a lot bling! Im noticing another difference here though, was the top portion of the surround supposed to remain black originally or all sliver? Personally i like the two tone effect. -rd

[bmw_jeff]

Im noticing another difference here though, was the top portion of the surround supposed to remain black originally or all sliver? Personally i like the two tone effect. -rd

I bet the cluster with the shiny upper section pictured above is from a 1966 model which had a couple of other minor trim differences from 67. Mine is an early build 67 (Feb) and the cluster is original with the black upper area. Also its funny how the DOT rules made them change to all-black in 68 because of "glare issues". I drive this car in the CA sun all the time and have never had any problem with glare from the instrument cluster. LOL.

[rdeeble]

Also its funny how the DOT rules made them change to all-black in 68 because of "glare issues". I drive this car in the CA sun all the time and have never had any problem with glare from the instrument cluster. LOL.

Oh yeah DOT rules were funny to begin with. All the smog stuff on my 76 back in California probably added 100 pounds to the vehicle and never really worked... best thing I ever did for the environment was take all that shit off once I got to Seattle.

[bmw_jeff]

Oh yeah DOT rules were funny to begin with. All the smog stuff on my 76 back in California probably added 100 pounds to the vehicle and never really worked... best thing I ever did for the environment was take all that shit off once I got to Seattle.

Luckily the 67's did not even come with an ounce of smog equipment to begin with (68+), so there was nothing for me to remove!

[gb 2002]

Good reply Dirk on history and pics - have never seen the 67-68 steering wheel and now I want one for a 2000 I have in a shed (been waiting for its day of sunshine).

 

Leaving out the 74-76 fake wood dash cluster was a good idea, just reminds me of a terrible time when cars started to get really ugly.

 

Last, its not impossible to restore cluster and bezel fine chrome lines, silver, etc.  Its all in the prep and paint, or can take it to a good metal finish shop that will dip plastic - many do.

Edited February 5, 2016 by gb02