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MG TD TF 1500 - Instrument restoration?

Who do you recommend for rebuilds of our old dash gauges? My tach is iffy, oil meter sticking, all the faces are about 50% gone; at some point I'll need to find a good restoration service including repainting the faces. A quick search gave me Nisonger Instruments in the USA...
Suggestions and recommendations welcomed!
Geoffrey M Baker

I have used Nisonger, ATP Instruments, and MOMA for instrument repairs. The first 2 have proven to be professional and reliable. The last...I would not recommend under any circumstance. Dan
Dan Craig

Dan you are absolutely right about MOMA they are bad and smooth talkers with sh*tty work Don't ask me how I know.

Gerard
Gerard Hengeveld

I just had mine refurbished by ATP with excellent service and results.

Don
don scott

just sent mine to Nisonger. they seem like they really know their business. i will tell you more once i get them back.
TLW Wright

The faces can be restored yourself using transfers for about $30 for the set. The early TD instruments had a green translucent material for instrument illumination. John Chadwick in England can supply this along with new bezels. (They twist for removal) A decal is available for the ignition switch. The black material comes up a treat with a buff. If you're contemplating a taller diff get the speedo modified professionally or contact Declan Burns for his recently developed box mounted at the rear of the instrument. Cheers.
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Peter, can you give me a web address or email for John Chadwick? nothing came up in a web search...
thx
Geoffrey M Baker

Does anyone know a source for decals for MGTD instruments?
Geoffrey M Baker

Geoffrey,
I just had my Tach and Speedo completely refurbished and the clock converted to a quartz mechanism with the original face. Was done at Westbury Instruments in CA.
Mort
Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

How much did that set you back, Mort? Just curious what the cost will be....
Geoffrey M Baker

John Chadwick's at <classicbezels@yahoo.co.uk> Bud
Bud Krueger

I see I can get decals for the tach and speedo, but haven't located any for the oil meter. Does anyone know of a source for this?
thx... Geoff
Geoffrey M Baker

Get in touch with Craig Seabrook at the Witworth Shop in Novelty Ohio. He repairs and refurbishes gauges and dashes. Good to deal with and the instruments look great. He might be able to source the decals as well.
C.R. Tyrell

Geoff, I see Bud has provided John's details. The set of transfers for the 4 instruments are available from Sportsparts here in Sydney. There are two sets, one for the oil gauge & one for the combination oil & temp gauge. Also the ammeter fitted to early TD's had a 20 amp gauge. I believe they were later changed to 30 amps. They also come in two slightly different shades of pale grey/green so you will need to specify your requirements. Abingdon Spares may be able to provide the ingition decal. Cheers.
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Geoff,
It was West Valley not Westbury.
Mort

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

Thanks Mort; price seems pretty reasonable!
Geoffrey M Baker

I would counsel against using the decals. Maybe the ones from Oz are better, but I tried some from Moss on a couple of gauges. They were fiddly to install and I just don't think they look right. Eventually bubbles and wrinkles appeared and I had to replace them.

The restorers use a silk screened face per the original that is better looking and more durable. Unfortunately, as far as I know, none of them will sell you the faces separately.

As I said, the Oz decals may be better than the ones I used, but if you're going to do it once...
David Littlefield

I have a newly restored TC speedometer in KPH. It was done by West Valley and the face is a decal and not silk screened. It looks very nice and I think that if decals are applied correctly they are OK.
Hugh Pite
H.D. Pite

FYI; I emailed Sportsparts and they kindly informed me that their decals are identical to Moss Motors. I was still unsure as to what was included with the decals (Moss motors just says "tach and speedo") so I called their sales and they sent me a picture of the product; it includes all meters. Here's the image they sent me.

Geoffrey M Baker

I hate to say it but decals look tacky. I had purchased some instruments that had them on and I sent them to Speedograph Richfield in England and I am really glad I did. I have not intrest in them but would highly recommend them. You can take one look at a speedo or tach and tell if they have decals over them. JMHO.
Tom Maine

below is a picture of 2 speedo faces. One has a decal and the other is a new silk screened job. In my opinion there is nothing to choose between the two. In this case I think the decal is a "peel and stick" type. The second picture shows how the decal was applied. It was wrapped around all edges and so eliminated the unsightly edges that are found when the decal is applied only on the top surface.
Hugh Pite

H.D. Pite

The back side of the speedo dial with a decal.

H.D. Pite

Here's my two cents... I don't know if decals are better than screenprint ... I just know they are much cheaper. My thought is I will spend a bit of time this spring cleaning, oiling, and fixing what I can on the instruments, and install the transfers. They are, if nothing else, a short term fix until I have the time and money to send them out for a complete rebuild, at which time having installed the decals won't increase my rebuild costs by a penny. So it seems like a nice short term fix if nothing else, right?
Geoffrey M Baker

Good plan, Geoff. Probably the most difficult part of the process is getting the bezel ring on and off the housing. Send me an email if you need some advice in replacing the "windows" on the bezel. A hand puller like the one shown in the picture will make life easier. They can be bought on eBay under "Clock Hand Puller" for $18.95 .
Cheers, Hugh

H.D. Pite

Thanks for the pic Hugh... I had been thinking about that exact problem!
Geoffrey M Baker

Since my garage is not heated, I've been doing "indoor" jobs on my PA restoration, and this includes the instruments.

This is new territory for me. I felt that since there seems to be quite few suppliers of the specialized tools and lots of good advice - there are several good books on instrument repair - that I could tackle this job myself. At this point, I'm just doing some cleaning, but I don't see the need for a specialist repair shop unless its for calibration.

At the Stowe British Car week-end last year, a vendor had some really neat kits for capillaries and $5 bought me everything I need to replace the oil pressure line on the PA.

But the faces definitely need replacing and I may try to make my own using Adobe Illustrator and an Epson Photo printer.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A Clark

Good luck Gordon... I thought about it but it's no small job redoing a face in AI...
The other issue I would think about is how long will even the best photo quality paper last? Of course you can replace it annually if need be, but still...

I'm also thinking I can do basic cleaning and maintenance of my instruments, with a couple of basic watchmaker tools and the Internet for guidance... I'll have to look for the books you mention. I love little projects like these!

What capillary kits are you talking about? I want to buy a new capillary as it looks to me like the new ones are much more flexible. I'd like to get it with an extra foot of length as well to allow for easy removal of the main panel.
Geoffrey M Baker

Geoffrey,
I had an old instrument face for my old Judson supercharger. I e-mailed some info. to a local sign shop and the next few posts will show the results.
I brought him the face of the gauge and had him put the decal on the back face. He did the work in PhotoShop.
Mort

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

The results

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

The Bill.

Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

Geoff,

The artwork isn't such a big deal, and the nice job done on Mort's Judson gauge proves it. I've only been on Photoshop for about 5 years, so I lack the experience to do it right the first time, but I will get it done.

I'm going to print on some of that new fangled plastic that absorbs the colour ink and lasts forever (or so they say).

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.

Gordon A Clark

This thread was discussed between 13/02/2014 and 18/02/2014

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