1935-36 gauges and speedometers

[Mark in MT]

I am restoring the gauges on a 36 woody wagon project and have a question on them. Are all the 35 and 36 gauges and speedos the same or are there differences in background color and style variation? The gauges for the 36 look just like the ones in a 35 truck that I have, but the speedometer looks like it may be a 39. I picked up a complete dash for a 35-36 at the swapmeet yesterday and need to know if it is right. I rebuild Model a speedometers, but am no expert on 35-36 stuff, so I am asking the ones who are experts.

Thanks,

Mark in MT

[Pat/Ohio]

As I recall, the '36 speedometer has a "Ford" script at the bottom of the face and the '35 didn't. I believe it was red with an oval. Pat

[wamnram]

There are different variations between the two years, and variations between early and late years, and there are also two or three different manufacturers of the speedos themselves.

[Don Rogers]

Here is the latest from my research at The Ford Archives.
Don Rogers


SPEEDOMETERS
The new speedometers for 1935 had a “silver brush finish” dial face with “grey litho” mile marks and dial ring. The five mile marks, dial pointer tip and counterbalance were painted “salvia red”. The speedometer bezel had a “satin/butler finish”
There was no Ford oval on the face of most 1935 speedometers. The oval began to appear on Ford engineering drawings as early as June of 1935, but may not have gotten into production units until the 1936 model year. The three speedometer suppliers were Delco, Stewart Warner, and Waltham. They supplied similar, but not identical units. Standard vehicles for both years had a three digit trip odometer and Deluxe models had a four digit odometer.
In 1936, Ford continued using the same speedometer with the addition of a “bright chrome” bezel. By then, most 1936 vehicles had Ford ovals on the speedometer. With the introduction of wood grained dashes in May 1936 the speedometer face coloring was changed. Speedometers now had a “brown mahogany litho” face, and “dark mahogany brown” pointer and calibration markings.”

GAUGES
1935 Standard models came equipped with two single gauges, an amp meter and a hydrostatic fuel gauge. Deluxe models came equipped with dual gauges, a fuel/oil gauge and a temp/amp gauge. Dual gauges could be ordered at extra cost for Standard models. From mid August on, all 1935 models were equipped with a dual amp/temp gauge as standard.
The 1936 gauges were basically the same as 1935 except for the new electric fuel gauge. Standard models in early 1936 were equipped with a fuel gauge only but a combination fuel/oil gauge was included as standard from May 1936 through the end of the model year.
The bezel around these gauges was changed from satin to bright chrome in 1936.

[flatheadfan]

Don-

Years ago, when my eyesight was MUCH better, I used to restore speedometers. And, it seemed like 99% of the speedos for '35-'36 were the same three manufactures you cited. However, I did come across some made by "Unity." I suspect these might have been manufactured in Canada for Canadian production.

Tom

[mrtexas]

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36 gauges came in two colors, light and dark brown. See the 36 woodie in my avatar. Got the 36 book?

[Don Rogers]

Flatheadfan, You may be right about Canadian production. However, there was no reference to Unity in my research at the Ford Archives in Dearborn.

[Mark in MT]

Thanks to all that responded, the info here is great. I found a non script (1935) dash assy at a swapmeet today and bought it. It looks much closer than the 39 unit that was there.

Mark