190E instrument restoration

[Charles Morgan]

The instrument binnacle is off my 190 for a few things and I wondered if anyone knows of a good way of restoring the colour of the dial arms that have gone a bit yellow from the original orange.

 

[brucemillar]

Charles

The BMW guys used Sharpie Pens. Cheap but effective. Maybe worth a try

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[Charles Morgan]

What a good, cheap idea. Thanks Bruce!

 

[stwat]

That does sound like a good tip. I used revell model paint a few years back in my S.

Before

First coat

Fuel needle not painted here to show the contrast

Final coat

Clocks back together and re-fitted B)

 

[Charles Morgan]

That looks good too.

 

[jaymanek]

Stwat do you have the colour code? I want to do this to some of my cars.

 

[stwat]

Sadly I lent the pot out and never saw it again. But I'm fairly sure it was this one, Revell 14ml Luminous orange Matt enamel paint # 25 | eBay

 

[Charles Morgan]

Having collected the instrument binnacle yesterday, I've had a go with the Sharpie permanent marker. With attention to the sides and letting it dry I am very happy with the result.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Excellent and a good time to replace all the dash bulbs, if you haven't already done so.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Dash bulbs being done on a preventative basis, and the LCD external temp gauge is being replaced too. It's rather nice to be able to do all this just with a screwdriver!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

If you paint the arms wont they become invisible at night? arent they lit?

 

[brucemillar]

If you paint the arms wont they become invisible at night? arent they lit?

The light shines through the ink if you use a Sharpie Pen. Did this on my X5 and it worked a treat.

 

[Charles Morgan]

The final result with touched up dials, new cluster bulbs and external temperature LCD. New heater matrix and ventilation fans working perfectly too.

 

[201034]

What colour sharpie pen did you use?

 

[219]

Very nice !

I did one of my cars with model paint years ago too ; I just went into a model shop and picked what looked a good colour .

I didn't remove the pointers from my instruments : just slipped a piece of paper in behind to protect the dials and painted them in situ .

I'd like to obtain a combo instrument with economy gauge for my 190 as it's a late car without . Alas , the OTG's are like hen's teeth , usually expensive and often faulty , so unlikely I'll get one of those ( I do have a W126 OTG but I know it won't fit straight in , although I do have a spare 190 cluster I can look at modifying ) .

Also I still need to fix the backlight on my r129 OTG .

 

[219]

If you paint the arms wont they become invisible at night? arent they lit?

On the 190 and contemporary cars , the light is from in front ( two lamps up at the top of the cluster shining down on the instruments ) .

 

[Charles Morgan]

What colour sharpie pen did you use?

Orange