Speedo / Tach / Gauges: Radioluminescent

[Neal in NM]

[poweroptions]

I recently pulled all the gauges in my 52 Champion. I was going to replace or repaint them since they were doggy looking. I ended up using 409 and paper towels and they really cleaned up. The luminescence returned at night and the paint didn't come off with the 409. They look like new again. I did find luminescent paint at National Parts Depot. I ordered some but it was not as good at glowing as the original gauges.

[irish]

I recently pulled all the gauges in my 52 Champion. I was going to replace or repaint them since they were doggy looking. I ended up using 409 and paper towels and they really cleaned up. The luminescence returned at night and the paint didn't come off with the 409. They look like new again. I did find luminescent paint at National Parts Depot. I ordered some but it was not as good at glowing as the original gauges.

I do believe the original paint was radioactive and that glow just can't be duplicated with safer paints.

Joe

[DEEPNHOCK]

Here's an interesting read on radium as used in watch dials and gauges....

http://elginwatches.org/help/luminous_dials.html

http://www.roger-russell.com/jeffers/radiumdials.htm

Jeff

[garyash]

I've got a couple of M truck gauge clusters, but no Geiger counter. The inside of the cluster housing and the speedometer housing are painted with the light blue-green paint. I turned off all the lights, didn't see any glow. Is 60 years too long for it to keep working [if it ever glowed]? I'm not sure that it was supposed to glow, as much as to slightly alter the color of the light from the bulbs by reflecting mostly blue and green. The original plastic shields around the light bulbs also had a blue-green tint.

I'll stick with the Studebaker corporate mentality: why would they spend an extra penny per car/truck on radium paint if they didn't have to? I've been painting the insides of the housings off-white and putting slightly-diffuse clear (uncolored) Mylar rolled into a tube over the bulbs. It's hard enough to read the M truck gauges at night, even with the lamps turned to full brightness.

If you want to make the housing have a little glow, stimulated by the light bulbs, take a look at the Ultra Blue paint (water- or solvent-based versions) here:

http://glowinc.com/glowinc.com/

A 1/2 ounce bottle will be more than enough to paint the gauge and speedometer housings.

[radiotech]

Had an M5 35/40 years ago and don't think the guages 'glowed in the dark' as they did on a lot of the passenger cars. The 50 to 52 cars come to mind that did.

[Neal in NM]

Well Gary, if you say the gauges are difficult to see at night then it may be beneficial to use the glow-in-the-dark paint. I agree that the Blue on the page you provided is probably the closest to the original. Since I have never seen the cluster lit up at night I have no basis to compare if I go ahead with the luminescent paint. I will keep you all informed how it turns out. Thanks. Neal