jpearce98

Hi, I am trying to figure out why there are such large gaps in the corners of the speedometer gauge in my 58 cluster. I originally thought it was because of the interference with a nut on the back of the tach gauge but I saw another cluster on eBay that had it and it didn't have any gaps like I have.

Anyone have any ideas on what I need to do to fix this?

thoyer

Looks like the center section that houses the tach has been pushed / bent inward.

Tom

Scott Marzahl

Because it's 70 year old tech and manufacturing tolerances

thoyer

From my 58 and 60. Neither exhibit the gap yours does. The blue car is a totally original car that was at the Florida regional years ago. Not the best pic of what you are looking for but if you zoom in a bit you'll see there is no excessive gap.


Tom

jim lockwood

The instrument housing is made of pot metal.

Pot metal has the unfortunate property that it will creep in whatever direction is needed to reduce applied stress. That means that as the pot metal creeps, the part will become distorted.

That could be what happened to your housing. Hard to say....

The other unfortunate property of pot metal is that it's brittle. If you attempt to bend or straighten or undistort that housing, there is a good chance it will crack.

If that were mine, I'd look for a replacement and make garage art out of that one.

John S 1961

You could take it all apart then massage the pieces together for a precision fit. Sort of like blueprinting.