i think of using my current idiot light set up along with some new gauges, just as a heads up when there's a problem.
does anyone know what kind of material the car companies use for the info. centers? how they sheild one light from another and how do they make those cute little letters ie oil pres.
thanks, john

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Bad Papa's '69 Chevelle (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/badpapa's%2069%20chevelle.jpg)

The lights are seprated by cardboard squares. the front display is a thin piece of plastic died to show what they wanna show. I've heard them called "gells" before. Just transparent things.

-good luck. these guys are tricky to "move" and even trickier to "reproduce".

I wish I had the metal cuting ability to make a "<" and ">" and maybe a"D:"for blinkers and high beems. That'd pretty much rock.

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71' 3880# with me. Big Block 402, Merlin oval heads, 10.2:1CR, TH400, 3.73 posi,
1/8th: 8.0 @ 88mph
BEST 1/4: 12.5 with 1.89 sixty foot (street tires)
BEST MPH: 108mph

Picture of me roasting the tires and other guy stuff (http://www.auburnextremeracing.com/drivers/mike/)
Video of me staging (smoke of course) (http://www.auburn.edu/~ledfojw/vids/mike_chevelle_burnout.avi)

hi mike, that sounds good. it shouldn't be too hard to drill the center out of the arrows for turn signals and finish them off with a dremel tool. the bow tie for the high beams is goint to be tough. i was hoping somebody would post " oh yeah this web site is a company that makes the dash parts for us" no such luck ...yet. just click here.
dreamin????

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Bad Papa's '69 Chevelle (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/badpapa's%2069%20chevelle.jpg)

Thought about this a little today;
I would make tubes out of brass,abs plastic or something that would take some heat? As you dont know when these lites may get stuck in the on position.(you wouldnt want melt down)
Anyway as the lites in the dash of a 69 are press fit into holes, you would want the tubes an I.D. that the socket assemblies would press into.
I would then mount the tubes onto a plate with holes drilled into it at the spot where you want the lite to project toward.
Then mount your idiot sayings "OIL" "WATER" ect... onto a lexan piece that has been cut to fit into the dash i.e.center ac block out plate on a non ac car. (Johns idea)
It must be painted to block out where your not putting one of you lites from the back side. I would match the dia. of the tubes. Then the tube assembly could be mounted to the plate.
For the small figures try etching them out of copper sheet, you can use Radio Shack etchant an acid for making pc boards for this.
You can use dry transfer letters,numbers, ect. for this.
The problem is you want a reverse transfer, so that the acid will eat out the letter not the surounding areas.
Acrylic paint will also work, mabe tape the whole area and cut the logo or whatever out with an x-acto knife?
The idea is that the acid will eat every thing thats "NOT" covered with transfer/paint. You just leave it soak for as long as it takes and you have to cover both sides as it will eat the back also.
hope this helps?
T.C.

sounds good.
i went to radio shack to find some plastic to form the cover plate. transparent enough to see the light through but appear blank with the lights off. no luck. i did see a large face LED clock that the cover piece might work for the cover lens. i like your idea about the tubes, it would isolate the lights from each other. thanks john

John;
You can get lexan or plexiglass sheet at any glass shop or hardware store.
The size you are talking about you could get out of the trash at one of these places.
I personally would get lexan due to the fact it is more scratch resistant and doesnt crack as easy as plexiglass.
Keep in mind you have to cut this very slow or it will melt back togeather on ya.I would also skuff the places to be painted with sand paper or sand blast it so the paint will stick.
Thats another idea, you could sand blast the logos into the lexan and get a frosted efect?
For the tubes, try a hobby shop ask fo K&S brass they make tubing 12"long from 1/32" to over 3/4".
They will also have brass sheet and shim stock for the brackets.
A goood shop may even have plastic in the same shapes and sizes that would be easy to work with, just be sure to get good glue.
T.C.

thanks tc. good information. should make for an interesting project. john

Iv'e restored a 66 idiot light dash in the past. Had to make all new "OIL","GEN","TEMP" & "BRIGHTS" indicators because the originals were so faded. I made new one's by purchasing clear laser printer film (available at Staple's) and created the proper sized lettering using "Word 97" and printed them out on my laser printer. Purchased some red and amber colored film from local paper supplies store and cut and fit them into the original indicator holders, putting the lettering behind the colored film. Came out as good as factory!!! You can even add customized indicators (i.e. high beams instead of brights) or different colors. Mike, M22

Mike, Thats a great idea!