1/1/05
The Last Ride Before the Gauges

It was unseasonably warm today, and conditions were almost right for a nice drive in the Ferrari. There was a little snow on the ground, but the warm temperatures was quickly melting it all away. Unfortunately, the dirt road outside my house was a little muddy, but I decided that was not going to stop me from driving my car! It’s hard sometimes to take my car out in inclement weather after putting so much of my time and energy making things perfect, but I constantly have to remind myself that I built this car to be used. I’m getting used to the fact that from now on, any scratch or scuff I put on this car is adding to the patina of the car, and not to the ruin of my perfection!

I wanted to get one more drive in before the weather really closed in on me for the Winter. In the Northeast, it’s rare we get clear days in January where the roads are not yet salted from a major snowstorm. Once this happens, all the collector cars get put away, and we sit around waiting for Spring. For every day like this one, we take our cars out, because the next one may not come until April!

I’ve been exploring the back roads around my house, and I’ve found some nice ones for the Ferrari. In Columbia County, there are a lot of twisty two lane roads with very little traffic, and I’ve mapped out some nice 10, 20, and 30 mile loops from my house. Having the excuse of needing to test the tire clearances on the car, I told my wife I’d be back soon! As I pulled into the driveway, I had a satisfied grin, hoping that this ride would hold me over until the next time!

That evening I drove the car into the garage and pulled my speedometer and tachometer. I promised Mike at D&M Restorations that I would send him my gauge faces so he could make a set of MPH gauge markings. A fellow Ferrari owner made a set of blanks with the correct bevels for my car, but Mike realized he did not have the right silk-screens for my gauges. Sending him mine will give him a correct set to copy and to keep a set on file for others who need MPH markings for their gauges.

The hardest part in pulling gauges apart is in separating the chrome bezel from the gauge pod. The tabs have to be carefully pried back to release the glass face, and all the other layers of the gauge. A strong small screwdriver works for me.

Here are the gauge faces that I will send to Mike. You can see how yellowed they are from exposure to UV light The edges are less yellow because they were covered by the gauge body.

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