DEATH OF THE NEEDLE

WHEN you get into a premium model car these days, chances are there are no dials on the instrument cluster. Everything is displayed on a highresolution screen through simulated dials and other multi-function displays.

It’s great for modern cars because motorists today want to know all sorts of things about their car, from the average fuel economy, trip meter fuel economy, logs of issues and problems in a car and maybe even real-time tyre pressure.

All of this information can be displayed by dials but then again, a car’s dashboard would look like a 1980s jetliner cockpit, and there would not be any room for the CD-player or cupholders.

So, in the quest for more real estate for the entertainment system while offering drivers ever more information about their car, driving habits and childhood issues, car manufacturers turned to the display screen industry and wondered if those wonderfully sharp phone screens could be adapted for cars.

Of course, it could and as the screens became available in highresolution and ultra-high resolution variations, manufacturers asked their designers to come up with cool graphical representation of the instrument panel.

I remember getting excited to see the names Jaeger, VDO Kingsler or Smiths on speedometers and rpm counters but these days, those names no longer appear on the dials, because there are no more dials.

Some entry-level cars are still using dials and that is because instrument pack manufacturers have not figured out a way of creating low-end simulated dials without making their high-end customers frown.

The fact is, production of a realneedle instrument is likely to be more expensive, at least from the materials and assembly points of view. However, the development cost may be higher as each manufacturer would want a unique design that incorporates various information.

Within the next few years, someone somewhere will figure out how to hack the display and the car’s entire electrical and electronic systems so that the speedometer and other display screens in a car can show the owner’s favourite theme.

Then you can probably buy instrument panel skins featuring either the Avengers, Hello Kitty, The Simpsons, Beethoven, Mozart or Upin & Ipin.

While this may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread, neither was Angry Birds and that managed to persuade people to waste entire hours of their lives every day.

Most of us, as classic car fans, will probably miss a proper dial that has a cable connected to something to show some state of affairs or another.

There is something exciting about having a cable twist whatever it is that they twist inside the instrument housing and, as if by magic, display the speed of the car or engine revolution. Then, there are those that keep us abreast with the state of voltage, amperage, Celsius, litres, psi or maybe even viscosity.

Over the past week, I have been really engrossed with watching videos on how to repair and restore classic dials and instruments.

There are people who spend their days caressing rusty dial housing, coaxing bezels loose, gently installing coloured gels, calibrating magnetic speedometers and even hand painting dials and refinishing needles.

It is a relatively small group people but they do valuable work of making sure that we can find the correct period dial when restoring important automobiles or motorcycles.

I know of a few people who can carry out full restoration of dials and instrumentations and if you are looking for restored dials, bring along tissue paper because the pricing can bring about tears.

Let’s face it, the market for properly restored dials is small and the guy who does this work has to keep a container full of old dials because there are just so many types out there.

Restoring one dial probably takes at least a week or two and if we accept that the restorer is an expert then we have to agree that he should get expert pay, like a professional.

Imagine paying a lawyer or accountant for two weeks solid of work on anything.

A restored dial will likely cost you four figures and that is only fair.

In Europe and the United States, there are many restorers due to the large market size and there are those who have made such a name for themselves that they become brand names in their own right.

I think small parts restoration could be a lucrative hobby as people need all sorts of parts restored, from door handle mechanisms to diaphragm pumps to analogue ignition systems and even dampers and brakes.

I would like to propose that our vocational school system offer a course on restoration of older technology, not just restoration of cars and bikes but sewing machines, electrical appliances, clothing, jewellery and maybe even hats.