Small Guage Surround

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dotnmarty

New member
All my gauges at the helm but one have black surrounds. That one is white. Is there such a thing as a snap-on surround I could use so they will all be uniform?
 
I have a broken Faria/Suzuki 2" hours meter that you could try to get the bezel off of, but I think it's one piece. If it already has a bezel on it but the color's wrong, I'd just take it out, mask the glass and spray paint it matte back.
 
Hey Marty is it plastic? If so, you'll have a problem making the paint adhere. I've used the Krylon brand paint made for plasticw/ decent success. Rough it up if possible w/ a 3M green pad or similar, clean then paint.
 
Marty, if you had teenage girls in the house you would know that fingernail polish (yeah, no kidding - they make black!) is the way to go. It even comes with it's own brush.
 
dotnmarty":kks5g3su said:
Mike- I checked with the grandaughter. She gave me a funny look. Do they sell fingernail polish at ACE hardware?
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Maybe you could get her to apply it for you? I may have missed it, but will this boat have her name? Kinda important to keep her namesake looking good. 8)

Best wishes,
Jim
 
JamesTXSD":14ufrwkp said:
dotnmarty":14ufrwkp said:
Mike- I checked with the grandaughter. She gave me a funny look. Do they sell fingernail polish at ACE hardware?
Click to expand...

Maybe you could get her to apply it for you?
Best wishes,
Jim
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I'll ask her, but she's been busy
snow_fun.sized.jpg
 
If you are "shy" :oops: about buying gothic nailpolish you can always try any arts & crafts store. They usually have a good supply of small pots of acrylic or other paints that work OK with plastic

M
 
Personally, I'd go with the advice of the Volkswagen restoration expert (Mark). From the pictures of his vehicles, he knows of what he speaks when it comes to painting. (But if you want to get that black nail polish just for yourself, I'm cool with that and we'll keep it secret). :lol:
 
Both my old and new gauge have metal bezels. If not, the plastic-specific spray mentioned sounds good.

I would imagine it could be difficult to get an even coat of paint using nail polish. I've tried using it for bicycle frame touch-ups and it works ok, but it's not smooth. It's a lot easier to get an even coat with spray than with a brush IMO.

Another possibility is a paint pen used for plastic models. Testors?
 
The bezels are plastic. I went with L'oreal Ravens breath. It took two coats but did work OK. Thanks for the thoughtful responses everybody.
 
Marty-

Next time, put the gauge in a lathe, drill press, or whatever to turn it automatically at low rpm, then apply the paint with the brush while the bezel spins.

Should help eliminate brush strokes and other problems from fast drying paint.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
dotnmarty":2kxgl2m2 said:
The bezels are plastic. I went with L'oreal Ravens breath. It took two coats but did work OK. Thanks for the thoughtful responses everybody.
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Nice. And you should be able to find eye-liner to match! :mrgreen:
 
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