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gauge repair midget

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bobreynolds

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does anyone have experience from replacing oil press and temp gauge lines/ I need to know where to get the wire wth the spring around it and how to terminate it.I think it's called a thermocouple. p/o removed the lines with a wire clipper and I'm way over budget.I'd hate to cook a good engine by flying blind. Thanks! Badbobby.
 
Once it's cut off, send the old guage to Nisonger & they'll replace it...you can't do it yourself.
 
Actually I think that page, and the method described is completely valid, for a unit that can't be replaced at all. The British double guage is available new even now. I wouldn't use my precious time on that, where if it were a 1926 Packard... well actually I would still be tempted to use a new unit.
 
The new guages are right for all but the MK I and Mark II sprites and the Mark I MG. The others need a face with solid lettering.
 
Well, count me wrong then...its just Nisonger & the other repair facilities are a better value to me than spending my time on a repair like that....& they're actually less expensive than new.
 
I used the plymouth page as well. Still working fine.
 
:iagree: & its supposed to have argon gas in it, I believe.
 
Close Tony. It's ether (like the volatile part in starting fluid).

I too have used the Plymouth web page repair method. I fall somewhere between the "it's easy" and "it's impossible" camps. It depends in large part on how the gauge failed. If the capillary tube was simply damaged or broken, you'll see the temperature needle sitting horizontally on the left side of the calibrated scale. Those repairs are easy. The repair I performed was for a friend whose gauge did NOT have the needle sitting on the left side of the scale. The repair I performed involved a LOT of temperature cycles with tweaking the bourdon tube adjustments to get the gauge back in calibration.

My advice is therefore... if the broken gauge's needle is sitting horizontally at rest on the left side of the scale, try the repair yourself if you're mechanically inclined. It won't cost you too much to try. However, if the needle is somewhere below horizontal... and if originality is important to you... invest the money and let Nisonger do this for you. It will be money well spent.
 
I will quote what I posted in the "aftermarket temp gauge" thread about halfway down the page.


I thought I would bump this thread since I just did the repair outlined at https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge . It seems to have worked pretty well, and saved me about $135 on having someone else replace the capillary tube on my combo gauge. The fitting on the generic $17 mechanical temperature gauge at AutoZone fits just fine.

2332697947_614d206d73_m.jpg

"212, 215, whatever it takes."

Now that I have a flicker account I can start posting pictures of the 20 year restoration of my '59. It got kicked into high gear last year when my dad (He post under MarvJ) finished most of the heavy lifting.

Brian
 
When/if you try this repair - DON'T do what I did one time and try to get fancy! I removed all of the broken tube from the indicator head and tried to solder the new line directly in. Don't do this! It is very difficult! Just splice the old line to the new one and call it good, the hole in the indicator head is HUGE and a real pain to fill with solder.
Bill
 
In any case the first foot? of the old cable will be under the dash.
 
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