I thought I would try my hand at beautifying the gauges on my K0. This is the first (and with luck, the last) time I will do this. I’m putting this is Tips and Tricks for others to add to or correct any false assumptions I made along the way. I should add that none of the pictures do justice in terms of detail because of compression and resizing.
I’ve hunted around for new gauge faces and for the K0, but there seem to be limited options. The gauges are different from later models in several ways. First, plastic cases and lens and second, the gauge face is illuminated from below through the translucent numbers and marker lines. Yamiya carries meter board replacements, which I’m sure, are top-notch, but I choked a bit at the $150 price tag. I found an alternate source
www.clocksndials.co.uk that provides decal faces for several 750 models, including the K0 and thought I would give them a try.
K0 Clocksndials Decals
Since they were $90 cheaper, I figured that difference could be spent elsewhere and since I’m not interested in a concourse restoration, close enough would be good enough for me.
When they arrived, the first thing I noticed was the red-line zone seemed to be more red than I anticipated, but out of curiosity I took a high-res picture of them side-by-side, loaded it into Photoshop and sampled the color in the new face, vs. a sample from an area adjacent to the pointer pivot on the old face (green arrow)
Color Comparison
which seemed to be somewhat protected from UV exposure due to the overhang of the needle. Surprisingly, visually, the colors were identical. Overall, I rate the face decals as high quality. The material is vinyl and the lettering, makers, etc. are very crisp and sharp, no fussiness. The text and markers align properly so the backlighting is still transmitted through them. How well they hold-up, well only time will tell.
The decals come with some fairly detailed instructions on how to disassemble the gauges. Unfortunately, the disassembly and re-assembly instructions are for later gauges with the metal bodies. However, there was one suggestion for removing the needle pointers that I thought was elegantly simple. Instead of needle nose pliers, etc. it was suggested that you use two teaspoons on either side of the needle pivot point and gently press down. It worked like a champ, popped the needle right off without the risk of gouging the face in any way.
The black plastic case is affixed to the gauge base by means of a wrap-around lip. This had to be pried away using a small screwdriver, and in doing it, it comes off in a few pieces. I managed to keep it to three pieces and put them aside. I noted three dimples of you will, in the metal meter base of each gauge, where it buts against the plastic case edge. At first I thought these might be for alignment and there would be corresponding lugs in the plastic. No lugs though. My guess, and I emphasize this is a guess, these are intended to provide some access around the plastic case, which otherwise fits quite snuggly, to allow for some air circulation to avoid condensation on the underside of the lens.
After removing the plastic case I held the lens up to the light and noticed a faint brown residue on the inside of the lens. Another guess here, it was lubricant vapors that had adhered to the lens surface and over time, dried. I soaked the cases and lenses in a warm, mild solution of dishwashing liquid for several minutes, then wiped the inside of the lens with a soft, clean piece of fabric soaked in the cleaning solution. Gave it all a good rinse and carefully dried it and the residue was gone leaving a badly scratched, but clean lens.
I gave the meter boards a good cleaning and drying using a similar solution. The decals are affixed by spraying a very weak solution of water and dish detergent ( 1 drop to 8 oz. of water). You spray the meter board liberally, affix the decal and position it properly, spray the surface of the decal, then squeegee it from the center out in all directions using a credit card wrapped in several layers of Saran Wrap or something similar. This protects the gauge face from the sharp edges of the credit card. You then let the meter boards dry for 24 hours so the adhesive can cure.
I also touched up the needle tips with some paint, Model Master-Fluorescent Red # FS28915. The color was suggested in a Honda restoration article in the VJMC magazine.
While waiting for meter boards and needles to dry, I decided to tackle the lens. This is what the tach lens looked like in the beginning. The speedo lens was the same by the way.
Tach Lens Before Polishing
Many fine circular scratches and what appears to be a splash mark from some sort of solvent or perhaps brake fluid. In searching about for plastic polishes, I found several products, and ultimately decided on Novus products. There are several grades depending on how badly the plastic is scratched and how deep they are. I felt mine were numerous, but fairly fine so I only picked up Novus #2 (fine scratch remover) and #1 (plastic cleaner & shine). It worked quite well, I think.
Tach Lens After Polishing
With the meter boards dry and the lenses polished I reassembled the gauges. After piecing and gluing the case edges back on, there remained some small gaps as a result of the distortions from prying them off. I decided to run a thin bead of silicone sealant around the edge, but not covering what I believed to be vents.
Vent Dimples?
The chrome gauge covers have some fairly large openings that face forward. On the speedometer, the trip odometer reset knob protrudes forward through a fairly large opening. Both gauges have a very large opening for cable housing. These seem to let quite a bit of dust, grunge and dirt to enter as evidenced by what I found in there. This isn’t a serious issue on a new, well sealed gauge I guess, but this was the reason I felt the bead of silicone might be a good idea.
Overall, I was pleased with how things turned out. I guess the only remaining issue is how well they hold up over time.
Finished Gauges
Gauges Before Restoration
