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Link to f pics of vintage Gasser-style dash boards?

7K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  1937Austin 
#1 ·
Have begun playing with the dash while waiting for the chassis to arrive. Original is now in good shape, I could paint or cover or drill it full 'o holes, but wondering if there isn't something better.

Anyone got any links to or pics of some period or period reproduction dash boards for inspiration? Checked The H.A.M.B. and only found a celebration of #13, gotta be something else that was utilized . . .

Thanks—
 
#4 ·
Mine is pretty basic and Spartan in the Austin. Speedo, stock headlamp switch, fuel gauge, and three gauge cluster under the dash. Tach above dash. The chrome grille on the right was a donor off a 1951 Chevy PU truck. Covers an open hole that used to be a glove box, and Austin just left them open.




Went more finished on the Falcon, as it had just speedo and idiot lights. So I gutted the old gauge cluster, and went non period white face gauges with silver trim. Not era correct, (especially with Autometer large tach, and shift light) butt I am not that worried about pleasing the masses. This was cheap at under $150, plus another $75 for used tach. Fit my budget.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Its great seeing those big tach's at night when they're lit up through the window. I have mine mounted on the bottom center of the windshield frame screw so i didn't have to drill in the original dash.
When I did my gauges I didn't want the dash to be cut up especially after I bought a replacement for the same reason. I could have patched wholes in the old but didn't know what the original gauges looked like. The one I purchased on ebay had gauges with it. Was a great find. My thought process was to make it look like someone hotrodded a stock dash and added gauges instead of installing them in the dash itself. I don't know if thats authentic period correct but Im sure there were some out there who didn't want to damage the original dash.
 

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#7 ·
I mainly got the Autometer because it's a great tach, with a shift light, and it was very cheap used! I will comment on one drawback. If you have the yellow cover off at night, and hit the shift point, the flash will blind you! Even with the cover on it's too bright, but at least you wont see spots for several minutes! One of these days I'll splice the leads, and move the shift light down below the dashboard.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Just today found a three gauge panel down cellar, looks like it will fit perfectly within the indent at the bottom of the dash where the heater controls would normally be. Since the heater had to be removed along with the heater shelf in order to fit the Ford engine in the bay, it'll work our perfectly. Fill the void at the bottom of the dash, allow for three extra 2.1/8 inch gauges, and reinforce the whole vintage look to the car and interior.

PLUS . . . now I have room for that all important amp gauge ! ? ! ? ! ? What the HELL are THEY all about, other than being useless.
 
#11 ·
PLUS . . . now I have room for that all important amp gauge ! ? ! ? ! ? What the HELL are THEY all about, other than being useless.
Useless indeed! A volt meter is a much better choice. Considering the prices on 3 gauge sets, with the panel, it's cheaper to buy a set than individual gauges. Lots of places selling sets for well under $50 with the panel. Separately cost about $20 a gauge or more.
 
#13 ·
I've been pulling the SW gauges out of the old Semi Trucks at our local junk yard for years now. Got a pretty good selection already salted away. Usually take the VDO gauges from the 80's Porsches and Audis as well. Just combined three Porsche VDO tachs and an old Autometer face into this:




Too new looking for the MGA, but still worth the effort I think.

The three gauge panel that I found down cellar looks to be home-made from a sheet of steel that was rolled rather than folded. Was covered in sparkle red vinyl, but I'll replace that with diamond quilted black. It has that, "I used to be in a '54 Ford" look to it, ya know? Gonna try to maintain a bit of that for the MGA.
 
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