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YOUR RESEARCH996 Gauge faces
Leading reported evidence
Use plastic faces
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
It seems like the Porsche factory used plastic faces with printed graphics for the standard black gauges, but that all the other colors were just stickers applied over a plastic backing.
Leading evidence: 'Use plastic faces' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace gauge faces' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Is there a vendor that specializes in changing the gauge faces?
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Suggestion
If any of the aftermarket options are soft stickers, run away fast
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Suggestion
Don't use the stickers....I know they are considerably cheaper but they never line up (see some of the examples above) and you run the risk of bubbling over time.
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Suggestion
Don't use the stickers....I know they are considerably cheaper but they never line up (see some of the examples above) and you run the risk of bubbling over time.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
It seems like the Porsche factory used plastic faces with printed graphics for the standard black gauges, but that all the other colors were just stickers applied over a plastic backing.
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The silver gauge faces on my 1999 996 bubbled up.
Any advice on a supplier for new gauge face decals?
Is there a vendor that specializes in changing the gauge faces?
IIRC, North Hollywood Speedometer, they advertise in Panorama.
FVD Brombacher makes nice kits.
You can also DIY with guage faces from Suncoast, eBay or other third parties.
The bubbles are on the tach and the one just to the right if it. the rest were fine. I took the unit apart and used a needle and an eraser, punched a holes in the bubble and rubbed it down tight. It looks better but still not too good. Still there are wrinkles
Anyone ever do the DYI? Taking them off with out doing damage to the face behind seems like the hardest part..
Any ideas or suggestions on how to do it?
I've been there and done that. Mine had factory Savannah Beige color-matched dials, which I think was a very expensive option, and all of them were bubbled. It seems like the Porsche factory used plastic faces with printed graphics for the standard black gauges, but that all the other colors were just stickers applied over a plastic backing. In dealing with mine, I didn't get the feeling that it was possible to remove the bubbles in the OEM stickers and, even if you could, I'm doubtful it would be long lasting.
I think the only permanent solution is to remove the OEM stickers and replace them with a true plastic face like the standard black gauges. The good news is that, for silver (and many other colors), there are aftermarket plastic dial faces you can buy and I suspect that they will all be much better than the OEM stickers.
For my situation, I absolutely hated the Savannah Beige gauge color (even if they weren't bubbled) and I wanted standard OEM black. I was hoping Porsche would have left the standard black dials with graphics under the stickers, but underneath they are plain black without any graphics at all
. I couldn't find any aftermarket dial faces in black, and I wanted OEM anyway, so I ended up buying a spare gauge cluster just to get the black dial faces. It was a pain, but I was very happy with the result.
I don't know if this old thread will awaken, but I am faced with same bubbled dial face project. I bought my 2005 Turbo S with the Guards Red dial already bubbled, and also seems the sticker faces digit and tick template slid a bit out of place over the illumination slots of the instruments. pic attached.
anybody have experience using a source like Gauge Face? they make the entire dial face instead of a sticker. nice YouTube tutorial
Gauge Faces
can't believe Sonderwunsch used stickers
I think the only faces that are �stickers� are the OEM custom colors. To add insult to injury, I think the �insta-bubble� custom color stickers were an $1100 option.
Underneath the custom color, it�s just black plastic, so I think any dial face will work. See my post just before yours. It�s been a long time, but my recollection is that the black OEM faces I transferred from another cluster were black solid faces with adhesive backing. I�d guess that any aftermarket dial face is similar.
If any of the aftermarket options are soft stickers, run away fast
.
I had great results with
www.gaugefaces.com
. They can do anything you can imagine, from bone stock to full custom. They made these from a swatch of fabric from my upholstery.
Wow. Nice tartan faces! Must be fantastic with upholstery.
did you completely dismantle the instrument cluster to install these? Specificly, did you need to separate the gauge front from the circuit board behind?
or just get the arrow needles off so the new faces could be installed on top of the original faces
thanks
Yeah, I disassembled the entire thing. The gauge faces are made of actual gauge face material; they aren't decals. I removed the binnacle, removed the gauges, (VERY CAREFULLY!!) removed the needles, and pulled the original faces off the gauge clusters. The new gauge faces pop into place where the originals were. (I applied a drop of superglue on the corners for belt and suspenders.)
A few pics of the process, and a peek at the seats for reference.
I got the GaugeFace set of faces. excellent material, perfect print. They fit exactly in place of the VDO faces with the junk stickers. Now makes the entire interior vibrant. I would post before after pics but reenlist is just not able to upload today.
The job was not as much trouble as I imagined even though it required taking the entire instrument package apart. Reinstalled, and everything works and lights up EXCEPT the tachometer. ugh.
The tach gave two half hearted swings at one point but otherwise sat during my 15 minute drive test. The tach needle was a little more stubborn than the other 5 needles but didn't seem to break or snap anything.
Three wiring harnesses appeared in perfect shape coming off and going back on.
Any advice as I contemplate taking the cluster apart again?
Don't use the stickers....I know they are considerably cheaper but they never line up (see some of the examples above) and you run the risk of bubbling over time. Just replace the gauge face template themselves since you already have the cluster apart. I've changed mine several times as I like messing around seeing what looks better......easy enough to do just be careful when removing the needles.
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