Swept57

All of the gauges in my 63 have a silver background, except the ammeter which has a distinct gold background. And it looks to be anodized gold, not painted. I searched for pictures on the web and almost all look to be silver. There were a couple of pictures were it looked goldish but it could just be the lighting. Is there any explanation for this? I can post a picture tonight.

Frankie the Fink

I have two original '63 clusters BOTH populated with gauges and neither ammeter is gold. Here is the one in the car now.

Your explanation is easy - somebody swapped in the wrong gauge or improperly refinished the right gauge.

rene-paul

Are you sure it is not a "yellowed" plastic lens? Another 63 only item.
Brgds,
Rene

Swept57

Definitely not the lens discolored although I did wonder if the anodizing on the aluminum might discolor with age. The gauge is identical style to the others in the cluster and it probably was changed at some point. Is it possible the same gauges were used in another GM application with a gold background? Like I mentioned, it looks like gold anodizing. It seems unlikely that someone would go to the trouble to re-anodize to a colored background, but I suppose it is possible.

Chuck Gongloff

Definitely silver, and should match the others.

Swept57

If someone did change the color, they probably did a whole set as a bit of customizing, and somehow one of them ended up in my car. That is what I am going with unless someone comes up with another explanation. I'll post a pic tonight, it is not a subtle difference, but a different color. Thanks for the replies.

vettebuyer6369

I think the silver cone in the gauge just discolored badly due to age. If you look at a series of unrestored '63 gauge clusters, you will see some of them turning yellowish in various degrees. I'm willing to bet yours just did that. It's also common that its just one or 2 in a cluster.

Swept57

This may be a bit out there, but is it possible this one gauge discolored due to the high current through the ammeter? Laugh now, talk later.

I did find this pic on the web. They are not mine, but mine has a similar color on the ammeter, just more intense. I am going with the discoloration theory now.

Frankie the Fink

Now that I see the photo I agree - that gauge was once silver and is now gold with age.

Sorta like me but backwards, I once had golden blond hair but its mostly silver now (and missing in some places)

vettebuyer6369

All 3 of my '63s came with a couple gauges that had yellowed... it's what they do.

JohnZ

Nope. It's not an "ammeter", it's not in series with any loads, and doesn't see any high current. It's a "battery gauge" that measures voltage at the starter solenoid and at the horn relay, and displays the difference across a shunt wire as (+) or (-) to indicate whether current is flowing TO or FROM the battery. C1's had real "ammeters", but they disappeared after 1962.

Chuck Gongloff

FWIW......I've had my 63 for decades and all of the gauge faces are silver with no discoloration.

Frankie the Fink

This reminds me of the issue with the later C1 trunk medallions. Apparently they faded over the years so folks thought they were one color whereas they started out as another.

I can't remember if it was from gold-to-silver or silver-to-gold due to aging. I believe my '61 repro is gold "off the shelf"...

TheSaint

I have never seen any other GM car use the same gauge as 1963-67 Corvette but was there any other GM car that used one or more gauge like the ones in Corvettes?

BADBIRDCAGE

If that gauge was in a car that was owned by a heavy smoker you are very likely looking at a film of nicotine. All the gauges in my 63 were yellow in the cones when I purchased it. Roger at Corvette Clocks by Roger looked at them and said, somebody sure smoked a lot in this car. He restored the gauges and they all cleaned up to factory fresh and the aluminum cones were once again the original silver. Not painted, just nice and clean.