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Corvair Today
I was looking to change the old style green glow of the instrument panel lamps at night. I found for a very small investment and some patience, I was able to change the color hue of my Corvair's dash lights.
You can choose any color you wish, but it must be a BRIGHT flourescent color to reflect enough light onto the gauges. I chose a fluorescent orange.
Materials I used:
(1) Bottle of white needle paint from whitegauges.com
(1) 11 oz. rattle can of fluorescent paint (Your choice of color)
(1) Rust-Oleum - High Performance Enamel - Semi-Gloss paint
(1) Roll of painter's tape
Rubbing alcohol to remove any overspray
Microfiber cloths
(1) Foam rubber Pad (Hobby Lobby, 5mm thickness) You'll cut 6, 1" x 0.2" pieces to replace the old hard or missing instrument rubber bumpers.
(1) Foam Rubber Pad (Hobby Lobby, 2mm thickness) You'll cut 3 round o-ring style gaskets to replace the old hard ones behind the turn signal and hi-beam indicator cardboard tubes.
1965 Shop manual
Skills Needed:
Patience. Especially needed if your Corvair is an automatic. Unattaching and reattaching the shift cable is best for thin fingers that bend backwards. Masking the parts to prevent overspray is another area that takes patience. Rushing that step will cause more work cleaning up overspray.
A light touch. You'll be working with 60+ year old plastic.
The ability to keep parts and fasteners organized. Losing a small screw and trying to replace it with one that "should work" can break a vital mounting point.
Tools: (After dash is removed)
1/4" nut driver
Needle nose pliers
General Steps:
Follow the shop manual instructions to remove the dash bezel and gauge cluster from the vehicle
Disassembly & Cleaning
Remove the gauge cluster housing by removing the six retainer screws
Remove the wiring harness
Remove the speedometer gauge by removing the two retaining screws. (Be careful not to damage the two, aged, frail grommets. Replacements are not available. The retangular foam gasket is available or can be made easily with the 2mm foam rubber material) No further disassembly is required.
Remove the fuel gauge and warning light assemblies. Remove the three nuts attaching the resistor and two connector terminals then remove the backing plate.
Remove the clock assembly or clock delete slug.
Remove the two silver loops from the cluster housing
You may need to take fine steel wool to the outside of cluster frame then wash it with warm soapy water, rinse and dry well.
You may also need to take some steel wool to the cluster's substrate that sandwiches between the gauges and the clear plastic lens. You may notice the MPH numbers are visible on the substrate. A little buffing with fine steel wool will help prepare the surface before painting. Be sure to wash the substrate afterwards and dry thoroughly.
Once the fuel gauge backing plate is fully bare, wash and thoroughly dry it.
For all other parts, use a damp microfiber cloth to lightly clean any mint green painted surfaces. (They should just have light dust. Avoid getting any of the gauges wet.)
Masking & Painting
Mask off the outside of cluster housing and then paint the bright fluorescent color of your choice on the inside and let dry
Mask off fuel gauge backing plate that faces away from the gauge.
Paint the fuel gauge backing plate your fluorescent color and let dry
Paint the side of the substrate, that faces the clear plastic lens, with semi-gloss black and let dry
Carefully mask off each gauge face to protect it from overspray. Be careful not to bend the gauge needles. Also cover any holes or gaps where the spray may enter, especially on the speedo. Note that you do not need to completely cover over the factory mint green paint for the new color to prevail.
Carefully paint each gauge
Remove the factory mint green paint off the clear gauge lens. I found the easiest way was to take a small, flat blade screwdriver and using the side of the blade, carefully scrape the green paint off the plastic. Afterwards wash with soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly.
Mask off the entire clear plastic lens, leaving only the two originally painted ring areas uncovered.
Paint the the plastic lens with the fluorescent color and let dry. (If you do get some light overspray on the plastic, you can use rubbing alcohol and a microfiber cloth to remove it.
Once dry (usually 24 hours min.), mask off the newly painted black side of the substrate.
Paint over the factory mint green paint of the substrate with your fluorescent color.
To paint gauge needles white, cut an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper to mask speedo, gas and clock (if equipped) faces.
Using the whitegauges.com paint, carefully brush the paint onto the red needles. It may require several coats.
Once all painted parts are dry, remove all the masking tape and inspect for overspray.
Reassembly
Cluster Housing Components
Reinstall the two silver loops into the cluster housing.
Reinstall or replace the o-ring gaskets that sandwich between the cluster housing and each of the three cardboard tubes. If the old ones are brittle and broken, use the 2mm thick foam sheet to cut out replacements. You may also want to try a rubber o-ring.
Reassemble the fuel gauge assembly and reinstall it into the cluster housing.
Reinstall the speedo gauge,
Reinstall the clock assembly or clock delete slug.
Reinsert the three cordboard tubes onto the prongs in the cluster housing. The two longer tubes for the turn indicators, the shorter for the hi-beam indicator.
Position the substrate onto the cluster housing over the gauge faces.
Position the clear plastic lens over the substrate.
Rejoining the Instrument Cluster to the Dash Bezel
Prop dash bezel to position the cluster mounting points level.
Position six foam rubber bumpers into their proper locations on the dash bezel. (These bumpers absorb vibrations and reduce rattles.)
Position the two round, green plastic lenses into their turn signal locations on the dash bezel.
Position the round, blue plastic lens into the location for the hi-beam indicator.
Carefully lower the cluster housing down over its mounting holes in the dash bezel.
Insert the six retaining screws and tighten. (Tighten to a snug fit. Anymore and you risk cracking the old, brittle plastic.)
Reinstall wiring harness, being careful to follow the color code indications for each socket location.
NOTE: You may want to consider replacing the factory 1895 incandesent bulbs with compatible LED bulbs.
Final Step:
Follow the shop manual instructions to reinstall the dash bezel and gauge cluster back into the vehicle
