How to Paint Your Instrument Gauge Cluster Needles

Are you tired of those ugly, faded needles that need some attention? You’ve come to the right place, in this tutorial we are going to show you the Simplest, and correct way to paint those needles in your cluster. There are a couple different styles and ways to paint your needle so read along and please take note that this tutorial is specific to the older style needles. By older style we mean 1950′s to roughly about 1990′s, the older style needles do not directly light up and are usually bright orange or white in color.

Things you will need:

• Bottle of Needle Paint
• Scotch and/or masking tape
• Piece of paper
• A clean work area free of dirt and dust

1. Preparing the needle

Preparation is key when painting your needles. You want to make sure the paint goes on the needles, and nowhere else. If the base of the needle is covered by something in the cluster, you don’t need to worry about taping it. Just slide a piece of paper under the needle so paint doesn’t get on the faces of your gauge cluster.

2. Masking off the needles

If you needle has a base, you will want to tape off the black area that you don’t want the paint. Here we used some scotch tape which works very well as long as you make sure you press the tape down well. Masking tape works almost as well, if you wanted to test out the two you can do so on a random piece of anything and then peel up the tape to reveal the edge it leaves behind. As long as the tape makes a good seal, you shouldn’t have an issue with paint getting places you don’t want it to.

3. Painting the needle

When painting the needles, remember to be consistent. The key is to paint the whole needle in one stroke, preferably in one coat, then let it dry. Don’t paint one spot more than another, or it will make the paint uneven. It is best to start at the base and work your way out, doing each of the needles one after another works best so the needle paint has the same mix consistency for each of the needles.

4. Drying time

Once you have all the needles painted make sure to let them fully dry before you remove the tape. To play it safe give them about 60 minutes or more to completely dry. After the needles are dry, carefully remove the tape. If you got paint on an area you didn’t plan to, there are a couple different ways to fix. The first is with a black sharpie marker, this method is not recommended but works well for certain situations and applications; The second is to carefully scrape off the paint, a sharp metal object such as a razor will work, as well as a household item like a paper clip or tooth pick. Dry paint will simply chip off.