Oil Pressure Gauge Questions.....

[NardisCNC]

My stock oil pressure gauge in my '66 midget has a splice/brass coupler in the line running from the engine to the gauge that has developed a small dripping leak and is making a mess.

Is there an alternative method of measuring pressure in a 1098/1275? Perhaps a pressure sensor that connects to the gauge electronically? Where would a person find such parts if so? What are quality brands to look for in gauges? I don't care about originality as much as I do form and function.

I am a novice so please excuse me if any of this sounds ignorant.

 

[bug_sixty]

first ingnorance is necessary to be on this site... sooo your in the club.... that aside your starting off with trying to reinvent the wheel... Just get the same item used.. It isn't something that goes sideways every few thousand miles.. There are other thing that have a tendency to do that... haha

 

[Trevor Jessie]

All the cars had a "splice" to prevent vibrations from work hardening the copper line. If you repair it then it should be good for another 75,000 miles or 20 years.

 

[NardisCNC]

Ok, great! Now, my car currently has a plastic oil pressure line.... should I repair it using a plastic / nylon line or is there any advantage / disadvantage to fitting a new copper line?

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you had a the original copper line that someone installed a coupler rather that the rubber flex line.
In my sprite I have a black nylon tube that was supplied with my aftermarket gauges. It has a much thicker wall than the stuff supplied at the big box auto parts store.

 

[dklawson]

I have used nylon tubing for some cars but it is fragile, heat sensitive, hardens with age and is easily damaged when bumped. For a couple of dollars more you can buy the copper line kit which has obvious advantages compared to the nylon tube problems I just mentioned. However, to prevent fatigue damage you will need to wind a storage loop or two in the line between the engine and the firewall. I usually do this by wrapping the tubing around a small bottle then removing the bottle so there is a "spring" in the tubing.

The female fitting that comes in the gauge installation kits will fit the back of the Smiths mechanical oil pressure gauge but it is not made for it. The original factory fitting seals with a leather (or fiber) washer. The aftermarket kit uses 1/8 NPT fittings. They will seal if you put a wrap of Teflon tape on the gauge threads before installing the female tube fitting.

A more expensive but nice looking alternative is to get a metal braided oil pressure line kit from some place like Summit Racing. They sell kits from Longacre that are available in different lengths with longer hoses being more expensive. The braided hose kits are very nice looking and more robust than either the nylon or copper kits.

 

[David_Doan]

I have used nylon tubing for some cars but it is fragile, heat sensitive, hardens with age and is easily damaged when bumped. For a couple of dollars more you can buy the copper line kit which has obvious advantages compared to the nylon tube problems I just mentioned. However, to prevent fatigue damage you will need to wind a storage loop or two in the line between the engine and the firewall. I usually do this by wrapping the tubing around a small bottle then removing the bottle so there is a "spring" in the tubing.

The female fitting that comes in the gauge installation kits will fit the back of the Smiths mechanical oil pressure gauge but it is not made for it. The original factory fitting seals with a leather (or fiber) washer. The aftermarket kit uses 1/8 NPT fittings. They will seal if you put a wrap of Teflon tape on the gauge threads before installing the female tube fitting.

A more expensive but nice looking alternative is to get a metal braided oil pressure line kit from some place like Summit Racing. They sell kits from Longacre that are available in different lengths with longer hoses being more expensive. The braided hose kits are very nice looking and more robust than either the nylon or copper kits.

Doug,

I looked for the metal braided oil pressure line kits, but have not been able to find anything. Do you have a link?

 

[dklawson]

Summit does not make it easy to find the kits on their web site. Normal searches with logical keywords do NOT get you where you want to go. You practically have to know in advance what you want.

Try the following. Go to Summitracing.com and in the search field paste the following string: "Longacre Gauge Supply Line Kits"

That should result in a page with (4) different pre-fabricated gauge line kits in different lengths.
Their part numbers: LNG-45020, LNG-45030, LNG-45040, LNG-45050 (Prices from $20 to $32)
(The last non-zero number is the length of the line measured in feet).

A four-foot gauge line is also available from Mini Mani as their part C-AHT9. However, they want $70 for their kit.

 

[David_Doan]

Perfect, Thank You!