Home made gauge faces–with powerpoint

[edward ericson]

Finally, a good use for PowerPoint!

gleeped from the MG board (go ahead and read the whole thread & see the pics):

fthemanj [ PM ] Freddy Jones Raleigh, NC, USA   1961 MG MGA 1974 MG MGB

Posted: March 06, 2013 04:39PM Registered: 3 years ago Posts: 247

Here’s something that should prove helpful if your gauge
face is worn/damaged/faded/unreadable, and you just don’t want to shell
out the cash for a professional refurb (or a new gauge).

I made a mess of my fuel gauge face a while back and realized that I
would have to fix it myself (or spend more money than I had any desire
to). I used Microsoft Powerpoint and constructed a replacement gauge
face using the built-in Drawing tools. I then printed it onto some
adhesive-backed labels and placed it right over the existing faceplate.
If you’re patient, you can create a pretty convincing gauge face that
way.

Here are some tips:

1) I set the zoom in PPT to about 200% so I could align all the graphics

2) I got the Jaeger logo off of Google

3) I did all the lettering in text boxes, so I could position them easily

4) The font that I used is called Bog Standard (again from Google) and it’s a pretty close match

5) The labels I used were Avery Weatherproof Shipping Labels for laser printers.

5) You need a high-quality printer so you can fool around with the zoom and the image quality to make it all fit right

6) Be careful when affixing the label because it’s hell to get back off (print a few copies in case you screw up)

7) I used an Xacto knife to cut the hole for the gauge needle. If the
white edges of the label paper start to show, you can use a black marker
to color them in.

A little time consuming, but it was worth it to me not to spend the money…

[Steve Struchen]

Great Find.

[edward ericson]

It’s so cool I kind of want to try it. I’m running a Mac so it’ll require commandeering my wife’s machine . . .

[Author]

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