Gauge Overlay Removal?

LILCBRA · Feb 1, 2016

Has anyone removed gauge overlays? The 87 GT vert that we just bought for the wife has white overlays which aren't a problem....except.... a previous owner installed a 120 mph overlay over the 85 mph speedometer. I don't have experience working with these overlays and we aren't really in a position to just tear the gauge cluster out and start with it at the moment, just more curious as to how easy/hard it could be. I would like to retain the speedometer that is in the car vs replacing it, but dunno if we were to use an adhesive remover or anything like it if it would take the printed numbers from the original gauge face. I would think that they would at least fade? Anyway, does anyone have any experience that they could share some tips?

stykthyn · Feb 1, 2016

They typically just lay in place. Any adhesive would be at the edges so as not to interfere with the gauge. Most rely on the needles to keep them down.

mikestang63 · Feb 1, 2016

Depends- some lay over the existing gauge face, some use adhesive, some require you remove the original face. If they are a cardboard type then they should just come off. The sticker type won't. There are always guys selling stock gauge clusters on Ebay, the Corral, CL if needed for around $75-100. If yours is an 85mph speedo even cheaper.

It would also be a good time to upgrade the bulbs to LED while you have the cluster out. Makes a dramatic difference in lighting at night.

LILCBRA · Feb 1, 2016

Thanks for the replies! We decided to just swap another set instead of wasting time and effort of removing the overlays. We bought an 85 mph cluster off of ebay for $50 along with a dash bezel kit. We'll probably get into that next week sometime. But here is what we are working with now.....

With the lights on:

Gearbanger 101 · Feb 2, 2016

I'm glad the white face gauge fad is over. Those overlays are nothing but trouble....as you can see.

If it were me, I'd peel em off and stick with the stock cluster. Add a set of LED bulbs to it if you want a little more "pop".

mikestang63 · Feb 2, 2016

dunno... i kind of like mine ? It breaks up the black interior but you do need the LED's..

stykthyn · Feb 3, 2016

I love white gauges, but not a fan of over lays unless they have their own illumination.

LILCBRA · Feb 3, 2016

We don't mind the daylight looks of them, but these were definitely a cheap upgrade for the PO. So what we are going to go with for the time being is straight stock gauges with an aftermarket bezel to try and dress it up. I'm hoping that this doesn't turn out to be crap as well, but it should be easy enough to remove should it be. Maybe down the road we can change/convert to different gauge faces. The car needs enough other work that gauge faces are more or less on the back burner. I just ordered a T5 rebuild kit for it and we expect the new top and subframe connectors soon. I also took the car for a drive yesterday and I'm pretty sure that the front end needs some attention, i.e. ball joints or tie rod ends....

Has anyone seen or have pics of this bezel installed? It's already on it's way, but curious as to how it looks? I'm hoping to be able to make it work and look more or less like a stock piece. They seem to have different color schemes available, but we opted for flat black....

mikestang63 · Feb 3, 2016

LILCBRA said:
We don't mind the daylight looks of them, but these were definitely a cheap upgrade for the PO. So what we are going to go with for the time being is straight stock gauges with an aftermarket bezel to try and dress it up. I'm hoping that this doesn't turn out to be crap as well, but it should be easy enough to remove should it be. Maybe down the road we can change/convert to different gauge faces. The car needs enough other work that gauge faces are more or less on the back burner. I just ordered a T5 rebuild kit for it and we expect the new top and subframe connectors soon. I also took the car for a drive yesterday and I'm pretty sure that the front end needs some attention, i.e. ball joints or tie rod ends....

Has anyone seen or have pics of this bezel installed? It's already on it's way, but curious as to how it looks? I'm hoping to be able to make it work and look more or less like a stock piece. They seem to have different color schemes available, but we opted for flat black....

i've seen them mostly in aluminum and imo they look like ass.. Totally out of sync with the rest of the interior

LILCBRA · Feb 3, 2016

Yeah, I was thinking that anything other than black would just be too much and, exactly as you said, out of sync. We were hoping the black one will blend pretty well with the interior vs sticking out like a sore thumb. Wasn't really any more money than the crappy white overlays, so not really out a lot and is easily reversible by the looks of it. Figured we'd give it a shot and hope for the best.

Mustang5L5 · Feb 4, 2016

I kinda regret putting my BBK overlays on. They light up poorly. Unfortunately I had to peel the stock black faces off.

I don't mind the look, but think I could make the lighting better by adding some LED's inside the cluster to even it out.

LILCBRA · Feb 12, 2016

So we got the "new" gauges and bezel in the car this morning. I think I like it! The flat black looks pretty good against the flat black stock gauges. Here are a couple of pics for everyone....

I'll try to get a better daylight pic and one with the lights on later on.

(Edit: changed daylight pic to one without as much glare)

Farrell5.0 · Feb 12, 2016

Definitely need led's with the white faces. Still has a couple week spots in he speedo but pretty good other than that.

stykthyn · Feb 12, 2016

Farrell what kit is that? Looks pretty good.

Farrell5.0 · Feb 12, 2016

stykthyn said:
Farrell what kit is that? Looks pretty good.

I got the white overlays from upr about 6 years ago and the led's are a universal type I got from amazon.

stykthyn · Feb 12, 2016

I did the led upgrade a couple years ago. I still hate them. End goal is an autometer cluster.

Farrell5.0 · Feb 12, 2016

stykthyn said:
I did the led upgrade a couple years ago. I still hate them. End goal is an autometer cluster.

I've been wanting to do that for years but I just hate the thought of all the wiring so I just continue to put up with the crappy stock gauges.

stykthyn · Feb 12, 2016

Farrell5.0 said:
I've been wanting to do that for years but I just hate the thought of all the wiring so I just continue to put up with the crappy stock gauges.

I wired up a few gauges for a vent panel. It wasn't bad. The turn signals and what not are what make me hesitate but I've seen some good write ups on how to make those work.

LILCBRA · Feb 13, 2016

Here is a night time/lights on pic. Looks so much better than the previous lights on pic

And we have not stepped up to LED lighting yet, but so far we're pretty happy with it. I'll bet it would look even better with white faced gauges this way too. Not the crappy overlays like what the PO had on, but something A LOT better, something like these: http://www.americanmuscle.com/reverseglow-85mph-gauge-8789.html

I think if we were to get something like these and use the bezel that we've installed, we would probably leave the center strip black under the bezel.

Gauge Overlay Removal?

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

mikestang63

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Gearbanger 101

Straight Outta Locash

mikestang63

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

mikestang63

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Attachments

Farrell5.0

Not sure what "DP" means, but know's he likes it!

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

Farrell5.0

Not sure what "DP" means, but know's he likes it!

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

Farrell5.0

Not sure what "DP" means, but know's he likes it!

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

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