Could someone with a 'nice' 41 Hydramatic please post a picture of the selector quadrant. I am particularly interested in the appearance of the "Hi" graphic. Mine appears to have a horizontal line in it that aligns with the detail line in the body (please see photo attached). I want to be sure that is right, and not just a defect. Also, if anyone has replicated these inserts, I would be interested in your choice of materials & technique.
Thanks
Paul
Your picture tells the whole story. Some time in the dim, dark past, the indicator "arrow" scraped the housing AND the plastic tabs, and described a line across the whole thing. If you want to put the thing right, you should take the housing off and buff out the line, then take each tabout and polish out the groove.
BTW, the color is a tad to much like chocolate. See if you can match the original color a bit better.
Thanks Doug - exactly the type of info I needed. There has been lots on 'unwinding' of things previous owners had done on this project, in this case the mechanical scraping and bad paint. I have everything apart already and the housing bead blasted. It will be relatively easy to make the lines disappear. As to the correct color - I have a deluxe heater blower housing that appears to be original paint - is that correct color to match?
Paul
No. The heater paint color is more nearly what the brown is on your picture.
It's hard to describe it, but if the steering column has the original paint on it, down in the engine compartment, it would be the proper color.
Thanks. Guess I need another reference point. The steering column & trim had been overpainted by the same brown inside and by black in the engine compartment. I have already stripped that off. about the only other interior item that looks original is the inside of the glove box cover. Would that work, or do I need to find another color reference?
Paul
Paul,
I checked mine and what you have looks to be scratched. I have a couple of extra letters, but not a complete set. I also have an extra housing for those letters that was nicely chromed, but the information I've seen indicates that the housing should be painted. I thought that the authenticity manual said that they should be the standard brown color of the column and emergency brake handle, but I may be wrong there. Also, I'm pretty sure that the manual said that they may also be body color. I'll check.
Ken Karrer 1941 6227D coupe
Thanks Ken. Let me know if you want to part with the spare letters. Not sure how mine will survive wet sanding to take out the scratch. Authenticity Manual calls the color Gold Bronze by Dulux. Guess I need a color formula or source for that, if the glove box cover doesn't work. I'll wait for Doug's expertise to help on that.
Paul
Not making any promises, but I may have a complete quadrant housing too, letters and all. I sometimes surprise myself with what's in my parts stash. It may take a couple of days, but we'll see.
Doug
I can be patient! Thanks for the efforts to help.
Paul
Couldn't find a spare one, so I borrowed this one off of one of the cars. It has never been refinished.