Can this be done?

[Jerry Clayton]

Doug you can best answer that question by taking a piece of the material and seeing if you can work it over the guage---just for beginners---see if you can put a quarter thru a hole in a piece of paper that you have cut a dime sized hole---

Maybe Patrick can post some pics---

[Silverback51]

You can, but it will not look right.

You might want to consider making a slit in the material and slipping it around the sending unit conduit. It would be easier to then try to hide the slit.

[KevinW]

I reckon it could be possible, ............

assuming you can pull the dash out a little, and that there is enough capillary tube on those gauges to allow them to be pulled forward so that the bezel is proud of the dash surface by 1/2" or more.....

then I think you'd need to precut all the holes very neatly, and be located exactly where they need to be. If your dash is like mine (moulded, but not padded GRP), then it ought to be possible to prise the vynil naugu stuff over the chrome rim and make it stick down in the recess below the gauge. If you were a mm or 2 out wouldnt matter as the bezel will hide it. But it's going to be a tough call to get a complete set of holes in the right place imho.

be interested in how you get on, as i anticipate being in the same situation next year.

[DougD]

Originally Posted by Jerry Clayton

Doug you can best answer that question by taking a piece of the material and seeing if you can work it over the guage---just for beginners---see if you can put a quarter thru a hole in a piece of paper that you have cut a dime sized hole---

Maybe Patrick can post some pics---

I thought this was sarcasm - so I didn't reply. But after your second post, I thought I'd try it. And you CAN put a quarter through a dime-sized hole! Whooda thunk?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Jerry Clayton

Maybe Patrick can post some pics---

Of course Patrick can post some pics.

Originally Posted by DougD

I thought this was sarcasm - so I didn't reply. But after your second post, I thought I'd try it. And you CAN put a quarter through a dime-sized hole! Whooda thunk?

Yes Doug, the ol' bar room trick relies on pulling the folded semi-circle towards you (three dimensional, of course) thus expanding the diameter of the orifice. Like thus...

[DougD]

Orifice - great word.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DougD

Orifice - great word.

A more reliable trick is to challenge your buddy to spell the word "possum." They will invariably forget to start it with an "O"

[PDUB]

Originally Posted by DougD

Orifice - great word.

There was a Florida realtor named Phil Orr that had his business along the road we traveled to get to my folks place. His sign had "Real Estate" across the top, with his name in the middle, and "Office" across the bottom. No doubt he intended you to read, "Phil Orr, Real Estate Office."

Problem is, after real estate, as you read down the sign it came out more like:

"Phil Orr Office" !

... surprised it lasted as long as it did.

If you don't take it too far, vinyl has an amazing propensity to return to its original shape when stretched... it might take overnight, but I doubt that stetching over the bezels would be too much for it. Let it sit for a while and watch to see when it looks good to reassemble the dash, so you don't keep wrinkles. Then you should have no problems. Depends on the material, though. Test it first on some scrap and you'll know just how far you can go with it.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Ahhh--parlor tricks and a great manicure...

Winter hibernation must be ending.