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TR2/3/3A TR3 Temperature gauge

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houleyh

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Anybody kmows where I can find a capillary tube or an explanation of a conversion to a TR4 type of gauge?

Thanks

YH
 
Problem is, you need not just the tube but the ether inside.

One way is to buy an inexpensive mechanical temp gauge, and graft it's tube & bulb to your gauge. Here's a link to one article on the subject; there are more posted in other threads on this forum.
https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge

Another way is to send it off to Mo-Ma or Nisongers to be rebuilt.

Converting to a TR4 gauge is pretty easy. You'll need the gauge itself, a voltage "stabilizer" and the sending unit. Mount the stabilizer somewhere it gets a good ground (original was to the back of the speedo, but somewhere like the heater bracket or firewall near the fuse block would be easier, IMO). Run a wire from the sender to one terminal of the gauge, then another wire from the other gauge terminal to the "I" terminal on the stabilizer. Then a green wire from the "B" terminal of the stabilizer to the original green circuit somewhere, like on the fuel gauge or fuse block. That's all there is to it.
 
Also there are very early TR4 gauges that are elactric but look like the older mechanical TR3 guages. The numbers on the gauge are slightly different but other then that they match the other gauges in the TR3. I got one on ebay (it turned out to be broken, but I was able to fix it) but took some time to find it.
 
My gauge came back from Nisonger. I unfortunately failed to take before photos of the gauge, but here is the restored TR3B gauge.
GaugeTopW.jpg

GaugeFrontW.jpg

GaugeRearw.jpg

Now I need to go out to the garage and put this all back together.
I am truly happy with the work of Nisonger. Even the gauge mounting hardware and the firewall grommet are greatly improved/restored. I will be willing to work with them again.
 
They do some beautiful work. That gauge looks great. I like the fact that they give you the rubber grommet also. I see it's in Centigrade...that's what it was called when the gauge was made. I don't know where this Celcius business came from!
 
I'm guessing that maybe the 3B's were sold only in the NORTH AMERICAN market. So maybe this car was originally sold in Canada. Were they metric back in '62?
 
Ah, so there was a Mr. Celcius...but he had the scale backwards from what we know it. I think this sentence from that article seems to sum things up..."For everyday purposes, the scales are identical..."

They also mentioned that it was in 1954 that the name was changed to Celcius. I don't recall hearing that until after I was out of college in '67. While I was in, it was still referred to as Centigrade. I guess it takes awhile for things to change.
 
Not that I remember. If you ever get into a verbal conflict with a TRA or VTR judge, you could always say that the TR3Bs were assembled with whatever was left in the bin or on the shelf in the sidescreen stockroom.
 
Don Elliott said:
If you ever get into a verbal conflict with a TRA or VTR judge, you could always say that the TR3Bs were assembled with whatever was left in the bin or on the shelf in the sidescreen stockroom.
Click to expand...
In hopes that he'll have apoplexy before filing your scorecard ?

Art, they only say the Celsius scale was defined in 1954, not that it came into common usage then. After all, the SI system was defined almost 50 years ago, and still is not in common use here in the US.

And at least there is a real difference (tho small) between Celsius and Centigrade ... unlike the difference between Hertz and cycles per second.
 
Don Elliott said:
Not that I remember. If you ever get into a verbal conflict with a TRA or VTR judge, you could always say that the TR3Bs were assembled with whatever was left in the bin or on the shelf in the sidescreen stockroom.
Click to expand...
Quite possibly this would be a good argument, since many accounts seem to confirm that TR3B production truly did use up a large supply of leftover bodies and such. On the other hand, the last TR3B left the factory 45+ years ago now. It is certainly possible that a replacement temp. gauge was sourced for the car somewhere in the distant past, and that particular gauge was on the shelf at a dealer or came from some dusty warehouse....
 
Hi, anybody out there. I’m planning to replace my TR3A temperature gauge, but the wiring on the back of the panel is very dirty as well as some apparently custom (I.e. different color) wiring, and gauges are in different locations.

To start with, what would you recommend to clean the back of the panel: see photos below.
 

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Wiring on an old TR3A can be a can of worms.

Does everything work? If everything works and you are just replacing the temperature gauge you may be able to finagle it in there but if things do not work it may be time to do a refresh behind the dash. Label everything

This is a photo of my recently completed TR3A restoration dash with a new wiring harness. I tried to keep everything neat but there is only so much room up there.

David

PS.
Wiring under the dash s.jpg
Glad you asked abut the dash because as I looked under there for the photo I found my side light connection at the fuse has broken.
 
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