 |
| Condition of the instruments in 1970. |
 |
| Joey Lobo, owner of Mo-Ma Manufacturing. This guy really knows his business! |
Continued from Part One
After the Veglia tach cable broke I took it down to Albuquerque to Mo-Ma Manufacturing (http://www.momamanufacturing.com/) to see if the cable could be repaired or replaced. Joey Lobo, the owner, swiftly repaired it while I waited and as he handed it back asked "Why do think it broke? You know these cables are pretty tough!" I just assumed it wore out, but he suggested that I try turning the shaft on the back of the tach that the cable attaches to. If it won't turn, maybe the gauge locked up, causing the cable to part. Sure enough, that turned out to be the problem, necessitating another visit to Mo-Ma to have the tach's internals repaired. |
| The unrestored speedometer and tach: rusty chrome, cloudy faces, peeling painted surfaces! |
 |
| The speedometer after restoration by North Hollywood Speedometer in 2002. The restorer took liberties with The Alfatross' instruments--inside and out-- that cost a lot of time and money to correct. Thankfully, guys like Joey Lobo know how to make it right! |
 |
| The speedometer/odometer after re-restoration at Mo-Ma Manufacturing. Note the 5 white dots inside the number ring. |
Joey fixed the tach in short order and when I went to pick it up he asked who restored The Alfatross' gauges back in 2002. It was North Hollywood Speedometer--I still have the invoice. Then he asked if authenticity--correctness--was important to me, because he could not help but notice that the tach's dial face did not look as it would have originally. Using an unrestored set of gauges from another 1900C SSZ at this shop, David Smith's car, he showed me how the original speedometer and tach gauge faces were made up in layers: a one-piece concave bakelite plate painted "Light Driftwood" (a brownish gold) with a step in the center to create a 3D effect.
For the speedometer, the center is labeled "Km/h". while the black outer ring has "Veglia Alfa Romeo" printed directly to piece. This layer is overlaid by a clear plastic concave lens with the 0-220 white numbers and lines printed on its back side (I still remember seeing the speedometer for the first time 47 years ago, assuming it was in MPH, and thinking "Man, this thing is fast!"). The last layer is the glass lens that covers everything.
Joey pointed out a neat detail on the original speedometer face: five white dots on the gold center circle opposite 60, 90, 120, 160 and 180 KPH. Did they actually mean something or were they just decoration? Joey let me ponder that for a few moments then pointed out that the dots corresponded closely to five velocities in MPH: 35, 55, 75, 100 and 120!
So now The Alfatross' gauges are back and properly restored. This experience has taught me several important lessons: (1) Don't just assume that someone offering a service like instrument restoration knows what they're doing when it comes to your particular devices. It is well worth spending whatever time and money are required to vet potential choices before consigning your original parts to a vendor. (2) Make a thorough record of the original condition of the parts you consign to a restorer before you send them off--and thoroughly check them for appearance and function when they come back!
 |
| Some examples of the instruments Joey Lobo at Mo-Ma Manufacturing has restored. Many Pebble Beach winners sport instruments restored by Mo-Ma. All it takes is knowledge of what they looked like originally . . . and a warehouse full of unobtainable parts. Oh yeah, and then there's the 30+ years of experience. And the eye of an eagle. And the patience of a saint. And the hand of a neurosurgeon. And . . . . |
 |
| Gratuitous beauty shot of the properly restored tachometer. Joey was not happy with the quality of the chrome on the surrounding bezels. If he were doing the whole job he would have sent them to the chrome shop he always uses. Problem is, that would have delayed the restoration by another month, so I decided that was a level of perfection we could sacrifice in order to get The Alfatross back on the road sooner! |
