1940 Instrument Cluster Glass

[CraigD]

I had several cracks in my 1940 LaSalle instrument cluster glass. To replace it, I took the original glass, scanned it, and used Photoshop to “clean it up.” (This may sound simple, but it took me many hours to clean it up.) I then sent the cleaned up version to VistaPrint and had a decal made. I cut a piece Lexan to the correct size and applied the decal. I am very pleased with the results. I am willing to share the file I sent to VistaPrint. I had to use a large decal for the whole instrument cluster to fit on, so I put two copies of the instrument cluster on it as well as the radio glass decal that I had to replace earlier using the same technique. I am quite willing to share this file with anyone who wants it. Just contact me with your email address and I will send the file and more detailed instructions.

[Tom Boehm]

Very clever and resourceful. That piece has not been available since Scott Young stopped production. Here is a link to a source for the radio glass only.https://www.radiodaze.com/1940-cadillac-lasalle-radio-dial-glass-set-item-dg-462/

[39LaSalleDriver]

Essentially that is what I did with my 39. However I took my file to a company that was able to print a white decal with laser cut out letters. All I had to do was peel the extra materials off, line it up on my salvageable original glass, and press it on. Looks factory original now.

[spolij]

Craig I don't understand. what was cracked the clear glass or the face of the instrument panel.

[CraigD]

There were two sheets of glass. The outer one has the lettering for the "titles" of each gauge (Gasoline, Oil Pressure, etc.) and the numbers for the speedometer. The color is an off-white/gray. I am assuming that this is not just a discolored white. The inner one which was cracked in three of the four corners with a small part of the glass missing has the 5 MPH gradations for the speedometer and the rest of the gauge information in white. I am assuming that because the colors are slightly different, they did the different colors on different panes of glass. Otherwise, I don't know why there were two panes of glass, each with silk screening on them. I did everything on one decal.

[spolij]

Weird but i understand. Maybe it was done to give the area some visual depth.
Any way great fix.