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TR6 Questions about TR6 gauges

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MrPandy

MrPandy

Senior Member
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The old dash is off my '71 TR6 and now the fun begins.

Temp, gas and oil gauges don't work. I tried grounding the wire at the temp sender - temp gauge swings completely to Hot! Ordering new temperature sending unit.

After further investigation, I determined that previous owner hooked up the trunk light switch wires to the fuel tank sending unit. I found the correct wires, touched the one to ground, and gauge reads Full! However, attaching them to the fuel sending unit does nothing. Cound the sender have gotten damaged by the power from the trunk light being hooked up? I guess it's "drop the tank and replace the sending unit" time. Add it to the order.

Oil pressure gauge - mystery! There's a clipped-off green wire on a screw terminal and an unused spade terminal - no oil tube connector. It's a Smith's gauge, but this isn't original, is it? Is there any way to make it work on my car?

Finally, I'm going to take off the rings and glass from the gauges to give them a good cleaning. I need the rubber rings that go between the glass and the gauges. Has anyone been able to just get these at a hardware store?

Thanks!
 
Andy -there is a place I think in Canada who sells them .If no one can help I will have to go to another source and find the name.
don
 
There is a gent on Ebay that sells the o rings. Just keep an eye out in the parts section of Ebay motors and you will find him. I think he is located in Florida.
 
Thanks for the replies, folks. I would appreciate the name if you can come up with it, Don. Roman - I actually did get a set of rings on eBay from a man in Florida, but they are to go around the gauges, between the gauge and the dashboard, rather than under the glass. I'm going to try my local hardware store just in case they have something similar.
 
Andy, Nisonger has all that stuff. I bought new lenses, bezels and gaskets from them some time back and they didn't charge me an arm and a leg. They do really nice rebuilding as well.



Bill
 
Andy- I mis read your post, I thought you meant the outside seals. Bill is correct go to Nnisonger, or just google smith guages you find someone.
don
 
You guys are great! I just sent in a request for the Nisonger catalog. Thanks!
 
The reply from Nisonger:

"Your original gauges have been out of production for decades, thus new replacements are no longer available. Because our supply of replacement parts is not replacable, we reserve them for gauges that we rebuild in-house. The only item that we resell is the gaskets/o-rings that are used between the instruments and dash panel..."

That's the part that I already have. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Oh well, I'll try the hardware store.
 
I thought perhaps Nisonger would help you so I chose not to post earlier.

I haven't worked on the larger TR6 instruments but routinely tinker with the smaller Spitfire/GT6 gauges and the common 52mm (2") gauges used in many LBCs. I use two things behind the chrome bezel when reassembling gauges. I use soft 1/8" OD rubber tubing (or comparably sized heat shrink tubing) and a ring shaped gasket made of black gasket paper. I fit the tubing to the back side of the bezel and place the gasket paper against the glass. Cut the OD of the gasket paper to just fit the ID of the bezel. Put it in place and use an Xacto knife to cut out the ID using the bezel as a guide. The gasket paper will be pushed against the glass by the tubing and keep the assembly from rattling. If you omit the paper it's hard to get a rubber tube or o-ring that will touch the glass... it will keep the bezel in place but the glass will rattle without the paper.
 
Andy,
When I cleaned up my gauges I used plumbers putty to bed the glass to the chrome trim ring. Works well, just don't use too much since it will place stress on the glass and potentially break it.
 
I'm just learning many things on this 73 TR6, so forgive me if these are stupid questions. But, I have a question about simply changing the bulbs on the instruments (namely the oil pressure warning light). All of my gauge bulbs are surrounded by numerous metal claws that don't seem to want to bend. But, it is impossible to get a grip on the bulb without moving these claws, because the bulb sits further back then the claws. Am I missing something obvious? I appreciate any help.
 
The "claws" are designed to do two things: Keep the holder in the socket and to shred the dickens out of your fingers if you try to grab them. Actually, I think those bulbs should be push-in-and-turn.


Bill
 
Yes, I guess I'll attempt to pry the claws back with some needle nose pliers. I can't think of any other way to get a grip on the recessed bulbs. On another note, I was able to finally get the tach. cable unstuck and out of the car. I replaced the cable, and the needle in the tach. did jump, but the tach still doesn't work right. It actually spins counter-clockwise on occassion. I believe the tiny pin at the 0 is gone (unless the pin shouldn't be on the tach?). Also, in addition to the two bulb holders on the bottom of the tach (oil and ignition), there are two more sturdy holders on opposing sides near the top of the tach. Are these also bulbs? They do not budge, and seem almost part of the tach (they have red wires leading from the back. Does it just take a firm pull or twist? If I can get these two buggers out, I'm sending the tach out to be repaired (suggestions for tach repair shop is welcome). I really appreciate the help from everyone.
 
Do not try to bend the claws on the bulb holders. Because of the temper of the steel, bending them will likely result in their quickly breaking off. To remove the bulb, hold the socket in a nest formed by your thumb and first three fingers. Pull the wire "back" tightly and hold it against your palm using your pinky finger. Then use your other hand to unscrew the bulb. If you can't get the bulb to move with your finger tips, try a small ball of modeling clay or similar pushed against the glass of the bulb.

Sorry, I can't comment about what other lamps are on your gauges.
 
The 2 other lamps on the Tach are the night time illumination.
I know that many of us don't think that these gages have bulbs to light them up at night since most of them are so dim, but they do! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
To get them off just get a good grip on them and pry.
 
Thanks, DKlawson. That is something I def. would have never thought of. I will give that a shot and let you know. It did turn out that those two stuck pieces were bulbs. I pulled one so hard, my green low pressure oil light popped right out. Oh well, hopefully a gauge repair shop can take care of that, as well. Thanks for the excellent advice on the bulbs.
Roman, I know what you mean by the dim dash lighting. Have you also noticed when driving at night, the glare from the lights of the instrument panel hits the windshield so badly, that I have you have to turn down the gauge lights (rheostat)to dark? It's ludicrous. The lights are too dim to see straight on, yet they blind me when I look out the windshield.
 
I appreciate everyone's help. I was, eventually, able to get the bulbs out of the tach gauge. Of course, when I attempted to use the replacement bulbs, they would not work. The replacement bulbs I got from TRF are 12 Volt 2.2 Watt. Yet, the old bulbs in my gauge (which DID work at one time) are 12 Volt 3 Watts. Does the extra Wattage matter in making the bulb work? Could I have the wrong replacement bulbs? I am beginning to feel like a punch line to a bad joke. I can't even replace a freaking bulb.
 
Watts are a measure of power and therefore a measure of the current the bulbs draw. For most purposes the Watt rating of a bulb is also used as an indication of how bright the bulb is... but that isn't carved in stone.

What about the new bulb(s) doesn't work? There are a couple of different bases for dash bulbs but most LBCs I'm familiar with have small screw-base type bulbs. The German cars I work on have either bayonet or later type push-in bulbs. What type did you have and what did TRF send you? If they fit... they should work. Have you tried powering the bulbs directly off the battery using test wires... just to make sure the bulbs weren't DOA from TRF?
 
The upper 2 bulbs are for night illumination. The bulb sockets simply press into the metal tubes which are part of the tach housing. Simply grab the bulb socket near the red wire and pull gently. The socket will slide out of the tach housing sleeve.

Randy Haikio
73 TR6
72 TR6
62 Spitfire 4
79 Panther Turbo Lima
 
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