Those look fantastic Capt!! Would you be able to get the 69 label done as well? The colors would be the same, just different lay-out, and I believe it would fit everything but the Riv's.
Update. The non-ac unit has arrived, all the info the shop needs for that style they now have. Im having them run off both styles in all black print. They said the end of next week for the next prototypes, but I expect that to be longer based on the history of how things go.
Okay, got another run off sitting on my bench. Both AC and non/AC. Ill tell you right off they goofed up the non ac, but not bad, just put on group of labels on the wrong side. But they also tried to get creative on me and tried a different material, which I must say, looks absolutely sweet, HOWEVER, it is a solid black backing so no light will show through. Ill get pictures up in just a bit, I got some paperwork to finish before I can play so hang on, Ill try to get it up within the hour.
Thanks for the update. I will say though, that factory appearance will likely be a large deciding factor in selling these. It always is. Hope they can do them right.
I agree, I want it to look like it belongs there. As nice as these look, they dont match the dash the way they should as they are too shiny. Hard to take any pictures of. These have a brushed aluminium look to them, but there again, no light shines through. Also, they made an obvious mistake on the non ac version. Im going in to their shop tomorrow to have them correct the errors and go back to the clear lexan with the print on it tomorrow. We are close to both types at least.
I have to say, they do look nice! But can you have the "Climate Control" script removed from the non-a/c version? Mine is totally blank in that spot, no lettering at all. Yeah, the other mistake is pretty obvious. :error:
Same here no "climate control" script and the "selector" is at the wrong side of the wheel :error: the one Capt. have in hands (mine) is correct (no script & selector at the left) They do look great I prefer black lettering than white like the previous run .. if light could pass ... why the original ones have black letters and light pass ??
The small lettering looks black on my faceplate, but if I hold it up to a light, it actually looks like a green-ish tint with the light shining thru the letters. I don't really drive my car at night I guess, not sure I ever noticed this before, at least not since I drove it home 4 years ago, with some dark early a.m. road time. Capt, is this going to be a translucent material, so the letters will be lit up at night, but appear dark in daylight? Or are we asking too much?
Ok, upon closer inspection, the block lettering on the originals is actually cut out of the faceplate material, not painted or printed. That's why the light comes thru, they are holes. The plastic behind the letters looks to be a green translucent plastic, letting light thru, but appearing dark in daylight.
The latest run is printed out on a piece of black vinyl. No light can pass, it is printed, not engraved. They do not have equipment that can cut out the lettering without damage. Even their laser cutters damage the material with the small print. If you look back at a previous page in this post, theres is a picture of one of the runs that was printed on clear lexan, and it shows what it would look like at night. Not like the original at all unfortunately, but it does illuminate. The trouble is the originals were made in several pieces, you have the body of the faceplate, then a thin layer of clear blue plastic, then the top label that was stamped out of thin metal. The only way this particular shop sees a way to do that is to create an engraving stamp which would cost thousands, and they arent even equipped to do it. Im not sure where else to turn, I originally started out to just have them make one for myself, as I wanted one that looked decent and wasnt too concerend about it being a purist show quality piece, and then I thought, since for now anyway there arent any other options available, maybe others here might be interested. If someone has a better idea Im totally open to it. And Im not in this to make any money either. I just want a nice label for my car. Anyway, back to illumination, check back at the other pic and see what I mean. Im going to go have them start on the changes tomorrow, and have them run them outon the clear lexan again so that they can at least glow a little at night.
Oops, the backlit picture is on this page. Thats also why the new label started with white lettering, we thought it might work better when the lights were on, but it didnt really seem to matter.
Sorry Capt, I just went back and re-read some of the early posts where you stated they could not laser cut these, I'd forgotten about that. My preference would be to keep black lettering, as the rest of the lettering on the left side of the bezel, for the lights and wipers, is also black. I would not be bothered by lack of light coming thru in the dark. I think most of us don't drive our cars at night anyway. Just my opinion. But I would probably still buy with white lettering if a majority preferred that style. They do look veeerrrrry nice!
I do also prefer black letters even if light does not , or so little , shines . I do not drive often at night either and even if I do that won't affect my driving since my heater core went out anyways LOL . Correct lettering and black letters that's ok for me IMO That's true , letters are diecut (very thin) and that is why it's so "fragile" and broke easilly if you touch 'em .
I prefer the black lettering also, for the same reason, so that definatley stays. Even if the lettering does not illuminate, the temperature dials in the middle still do. But I think with the clear lexan printed out with black letters, it should work and still be able to be seen at night even though it wont be as original.
Here is the black material with the backlights on. You can see the outline of the dials, and although it doesnt show up on the picture, the fan controls illuminated dot does show up as well. I really think the lexan print is the way to go with black lettering as well. That way if you want it somewhat lit at least the panel glows enough to make out the lettering.
I am interested in one of these once you get them done. Are you keeping a list of interested members or what? I'll have to see if my brother has any interest as well.
Okay, they are working on the corrections now. As soon as they get done I will post some more pics and we will go from there. ts-gs, I havent been keeping a list. I thought it better to wait until there is a finished product with a set price, that way everyone has all the information to use to decide if they want one.
Non AC latest run Please excuse the glare, you all know by now that I am a crappy photographer. Anyway, the latest run of the non ac version. The ac version wasnt done when I picked this up, but hopefully this next week it will be. If it all looks good they should be able to be ordered after this last run if there are no changes to be made. It looks good to me, but let me know if you see something that needs work.
The full and correct spelling of temperature is there, but the darn glare got in the way. When I have the run the final product I will try to get a better picture for those who are interested.
