We have a new digital printer at work, and I'm already seeing the benefits!

...I've tried a few things before, but I kept running into problems. Either the faces weren't UV protected and didn't last, or the black wasn't "black" enough when I used the UV material. This new printer uses a solvent based ink so long story short I can pretty much print whatever I want for whatever application.

You can't really tell in the pic, but there's a glare due to the gloss material. I plan on rediong them some time in the future, but for the meantime I'm pretty happy.

 

very cool! sounds like someone has too much time at work,maybe i should talk to the boss!? J/K!!

 

dude thats just sick

 

Those are REALLY nice
Good work..I'd like to see them installed,I bet they look great
Even an old fart like me can read those!
Good Luck
Steve

 

Did I say during work???? I meant AFTER work!!

Pretty much my whole car's appearance is "not quite" stock, but maybe if ya didn't know better, it "could've" been, ya know?

Kinda like the blue bowtie on the grill (see sid in first post), polished Iroc rims, embroided (but matching) floormats... stuff like that.

 

o man those gauge faces r sick lookin. would it be possible for you to make me a set for the 115 cluster. ill pay for em i just love the font you chose and the lettering awsome work
ill PM u about makin em.
matt

 

Those look very good, how did you go about creating those before you printed them though? I mean getting the circle shape and the right pointes on everything?

 

How about making a acouple sets.


E-mial me if you could do me a set for a 86 Iroc.....those would look sooo killer.

bsteele@pineland.net

 

Years ago I has some Macewen faces. I scanned them in, and then used Illustrator to size and manipulate the colors, layout, fonts etc.

I have so many files with different fonts, colors, numbers etc. it's not even funny!

Here's a few more. You can see some oil and crap form my fingers. It came right off, but of course I didn't notice until I took the pics...of course! You can see the slight reflection of the needle too, which is from the gloss. I'm gonna go back and try again in a few weeks to tweek it a little and see what I can come up with.

 

Can you see the light blue outline around the 55 and the red outline around the 100 hash? Just a little personal touch.

I didn't take into account the high-beam indicator and the screws when I designed them....again back to the drawing board.

As far as making them for you guys, I'd be happy to, but I gotta work out some issues before I would consider them worthy enough to sell. The gloss finish doesn't look ideal when in the car. As I mentioned, the number placement on the speedo. The biggest thing is the installation technique. These are not the semi-rigid like Macewen faces, and they are fully backed with sticky, not with tabs. They're flimsy like a wet noodle and they want to stick to EVERYTHING they touch. It was a BITCH to install, and there's no way I'd expect someone to be able to do it. I work at a sign shop and know all the tricks and it was still a pain. I have some ideas though, but like said, it's gonna be a little while.

I'll keep you informed as to the progress.

 

That's really cool. Put me on the list if you are interested in selling them.

 

Those look awesome. Are they printed on regular paper or something else? Would you be able to print white ones?

 

bump^ im intrested too

 

I would be in for a set also. By the way they look badass

 

Count me in too!

Man I bet if you made some of these and sold them on eBay, you could make a killing!!

 

Im down...those are killer

 

They look so much better than the white or silver faced gauges. They just look out of place on our cars. Those however are a perfect match, to the untrained eye they look stock but to third gen owners they give the car that more custom look.

 

O yes give me give me I am extremely interested keep up the good work and dont give up on us like some others do on the boards when they make something

 

sign me up for a set too. wow those are nice. i just got white faced gauges a couple monthes ago and they keep peeling up so having it be all stickey will help out a lot.

 

Damn guys, I gotta say I'm really taken back by all of your comments and inquiries about getting some made. I just threw out a few pics like we all do when we come up with something. I never expected such a positive response!

I also hadn't intended to develop these to the point where they could be sold, but I'm gonna look into what's needed to do so. Like I said, there's a few problems at the moment, but i think I have a few solutions. Since I can't be sneaking them out the back door of the shop, I'd have to charge to cover my costs, but I'd pretty much make'em for cost. (at least for TGO'ers). Lemme see what I can do........

Thanks again for all the kind words!

 

I have been searching for soooo long for someone that made black face WHITE NUMBER gauges . I think the whites face are cheap looking. If you consider producing some for a 92 rs with the 110 on the dash... please let me know!!!!!

 

hmmm... wanna design some t/a ones?

 

wanna make some for a kmh gauges?

 

The design is easy. I can make 'em pink with rainbow numbers if ya want. Kmh, 110mph, TA overlays, no problem. I would need some sort of pattern to go by. Since I have the dimensions of 82-89 Camaros, I'd just need a GOOD photo, and I "think" i have some bird gauges from an old parts car. I do NOT have a 91-92 pattern....

...but we're gettin' ahead of ourselves!!! Lemme work on ironing out the kinks on the production end first, then we'll get into different designs.

 

keep up the good work bro, those are really flippin nice, you need to find a 91-92 dash man, i wanna see the wonders you can do to that thing, if you can do this to an 80s id love to see a 90's. Also, when you got all you stuff sorted out, how much do you think they would cost?

 

I couldn't say for sure. I haven't priced materials yet. All I can say is that they'd be quite a bit less than other overlays. That's not saying "others" ARE or ARE NOT overpriced, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable charging that much.

I just can't say right now.

 

you make 'em for the 90-92 110 gauges and you have my money as well as my praise.

 

Those look really good.

But, where's your redline start?

I really like the gradient look but I'm confused where the redline is.

 

Add me to the list for some 'Bird versions. What would you need for the 91-92 gauges? I might even have a spare dash set I could loan you if it helped you get them going....

 

Still need a picture of bird guages? I can get upclose of my 89 firebird since I'm taking the clear lens off anyday now.

 

There use to be some templates of them on the Tech Pages linked off of the TGO main page, but they are not there now. But i figured that is what you need, i think i have them saved on my laptop though, so if i find them i will post those up for the Firebird Gauges

 

Those look real nice! Maybe a tad bit smaller numbers on the small gauges?

Keep it up man!


Ken

 

but for a 91!!

those are awesome....very good work

 

Those are very cool looking- I like the font. One question: Why did you include 5mph, 145mph and 155mph, when everything else is in increments of 10mph?

 

i was thinking the same thing

though i did notice the top mph is extended to 155 but i dont see the point of those 5 mph increments

 

Those are awesome.

How do they look at night with the interior lights on?

 

Well, the stock gauge has 5 and 145 listed. I guess I coulda left the 145 off, but the 155 is on there to have a "top speed" listed, just like the OE 145.


I have the cool blue xenon bulbs, but I've had 'em for a few years. These faces look the same as the OE faces did at night.



I agree, at least on the volts, and fuel. There are a few little changes that I'll make in the near future.

As for those of you who are interested in getting some of these faces, here's the deal: At the moment, I'm getting my Iroc ready for a HUGE car show at Lowe's Motor Speedway. 51 clubs will be showing, and there will be over 2000 cars. It's a 3 day event. I also happen to be coordinating the event for our club Triad F-Bodies. Hotels, directions, parking locations, permits, money for at show lunches, awning, etc. etc., and the list goes on. I have just about every weekend and evening filled with something to do! I just don't have time to work on these faces.

 

Yeah, I know, where's the violin smilie when ya need it!

The faces are currently too flimsy to put on without a fight. It's WAY to difficult, especially how you have to slide the needles through the center hole etc. We have some clear acetone sheets that I think will solve this problem, but I haven't got a chance to try it yet.

Once that problem is solved, I'll post up another post and I'll see who wants what gauges. I'll probably start with 82-89 Camaro guys, and if those guys are happy, we'll go from there.

 

put me downm for a set also....damn there nice

 

 

I don't know.

Does it really matter? It looks good, that's what's important!

If you "really" need to know what your redline is, you're probably not running factory gauges.

 

...butif it really matters to anyone, I can easily make it a non-fade like OE.

 

Most of the cars this old have different engines with different redlines anyways. Also older tachs with aging capacitors will all read differently. I would reference an accurate tach with my factory tach to know when to shift if this were the important.

I like the way it's done.

 

Put me down, Im pretty interested if you ever get to it. I have an 86 Z.

 

looks very nice, get rid of the gloss and your golden.

 

Do you think you can throw out a number for us...im in high school and it would be nice to know how many of my precious pennies to save...

 

Keep the faded look. And how is the testing going, I am anxtious for a set.

 

I dont think anxious is the word for it.... im drooling for a set

 

Hmmmm...throw out a number, eh? I'm gonna guestimate about $30-$40. I can make 'em for a little less, but if ya walked into my shop and I didn't know you, they'd cost a little more. I kinda halfed it. We all win that way. Heck, Macewens are almost twice that, right?

UPDATE:

I tried out the acetone idea today with some scrap material and it solved the flimsiness issue. The inks are solvent based, and the faces have to be laminated to the acetone so I want to make sure there's no reaction, or any de-laminating. I'm "hoping" to have a set mocked up this weekend and in the car. I wanna run 'em for a few weeks and make sure they're OK. Last thing I need is to have a bunch of you start using them and then they start peeling or delaming. Unfortunately, only time will tell, and it's gonna be a few weeks.

I still gotta figure out the gloss/matte issue too.

 

30 or 40 dollars.. ....count me in!!