Vauxhall dials?

[tigerdog]

I appreciate the look and photos of cars with Lockwood dial conversions, but I am an old-school purist: I like black backgrounds, white lettering and orange indicators. Lockwood seem to make every combination except black with white lettering! Smaug already has Autometer gauges in place of the stock volt/oil/boost trio, so they're taken care and the period-correct blaupunkt also fits the bill. Unfortunately, the interior now looks uncoordinated.

I understand the gauges, switches, etc, came from a Vauxhall of some sort. Since Vauxhalls don't exist in the US, I wouldn't know what the stock interiors look like. Any chance the garden-variety Vauxhall had classic black with white gauges? How about the hazard switch, AC switch and ventilation and fan controls?

Any chance of nicking some cheaply from a dismantler in the UK? Or has anyone tried the MetalMonkey gauge faces?

[rip]

I believe that the hazard switch is from a Carlton. Th UK climate meant that air-con was not standard for a Carlton, so you may find this a little more difficult to get hold of. I am not sure about the heater dial or fan slider.

The instrument panel looks very Vauxhall-ish, but I cannot remember which one it is from. I do seem to remember reading that the speedo reads differently though.

I have also avoided going 'white dials'. The last time I did this (in a Cavalier, which has a similar dash), I broke the tachometer needle when removing it. When I fixed t back, it never read accurately. Calibrating the speedo was a pain too - you cannot just put the needle back and hope for the best. My white dials also discoloured to cream after a couple of years, but the car was kept outdoors.

[dapinky]

To expand on it a bit, the instruments are the same as the Cavalier / Calibra Turbo of the era, and also the V6 model (don't know if that would affect the tacho reading though )
I can't remember what colour the dials were on them, though, so I may be no help at all!

The switches are from a Carlton / Senator, so AC switch should be availlable from the Senators.

[tweetdriver63]

Sportscar World has many of these parts shown on their Elan page. If you click here you'll see one of the funboy three gauges, and a hazard switch, which may help answer some questions about the stock look. I'd give them a call and see if they have the AC switch.

[tigerdog]

which may help answer some questions about the stock look.

Thanks, tweet! What I'm really looking for, though, is pics and sources for these items with white lettering on a black background. I was hoping the Vauxhall they were nicked from would be white on black.

[GeoffSmith]

sources for these items with white lettering on a black background.

You mean a bit like this then?

[DeeAitch]

I was hoping the Vauxhall they were nicked from would be white on black.

IIRC they are from Calibra but you will need a specific model to get the calibration right. In fact I think you might need to mix n match from two models?
All Astra / Carlton / Calibra OE's I have seen are White Characters on a Black background, as are the switches. These ones are from an Astra, You can see that the Rev counter is NG. FOC to you if you want them
You will need to remove the needles to fit them, I think you avoid this with the Lockwoods?
Worth a trawl thro' some Vauxhall / Opel sites, there must be some discarded ones from those changing to Lockwoods.
As a bonus you can also get a heated seat switch white on Black Another Winter project I have in mind, bit late for this year tho

[tigerdog]

Worth a trawl thro' some Vauxhall / Opel sites, there must be some discarded ones from those changing to Lockwoods.
As a bonus you can also get a heated seat switch white on Black

Great photo - excellent! This is exactly what I'd love to find! Anyone have suggestions for sites to check? Being in the US, we're a bit Vauxhall-challenged.

A question for those who have fitted Lockwood dials, how do they avoid removal of the needles?

[lotusgirlmarie]

look into VDO as all off the "three amigo" factory dials are made by them. If you really want to go crazy you can do this upgrade.....Esprit gauges

[rip]

A question for those who have fitted Lockwood dials, how do they avoid removal of the needles?

They did not avoid this on either of my Cavaliers to which I fitted them. I cannot imagine the Elan differing in this respect when its dials are otherwise the same.

[tigerdog]

They did not avoid this on either of my Cavaliers to which I fitted them. I cannot imagine the Elan differing in this respect when its dials are otherwise the same.

Were you able to successfully remove and replace them without messing up the calibration of speedo or tach? Misinformation would drive me even more crazy than a mis-matched dashboard.

[Paul.P]

A question for those who have fitted Lockwood dials, how do they avoid removal of the needles?

They did not avoid this on either of my Cavaliers to which I fitted them. I cannot imagine the Elan differing in this respect when its dials are otherwise the same.

The main dials are designed so the needles don't need to be touched when fitting white dials ( full instructions are included ), but as for the FBT, there is no needle stops (as per main dials ) so you have to mark where the needle is before removing, Monty did a write up on this in the Lockwood thread, its quite easy really !

[Elanlover]

Those metal monkey guage faces look quite good.

[peter canepa]

Marie,

Did you do that? That's the BOMB!! Where do I start? I'd love to do that upgrade.
Peter