Monday, December 7, 2015

Temperature Gauging

My old mechanical temperature gauge failed. Alas.  I found another mechanical gauge but was reluctant to install it.


The gauge assembly date was December 1967 and frankly, the braided wire was quite brittle. After fifty years there was nothing about to reassure me that it would work for much longer, either.

So I found a later electrical gauge and sender unit to match. The gauge date was 1982 and the sender itself brand new!

A quick check comparing the two senders confirmed that the newer version would be a perfect fit.


Then it was time to return to Midnight Motorsport for the swap.  First, we removed the old combi gauge, revealing a bird's nest of wiring.


Patrick also marked the light bulbs individually, to assist in returning them to their correct positions within the gauge. It wouldn't do to have the choke light illuminating in the oil pressure position!


After pulling the old sender and cutting the now-defunct braided wire the new sender was installed and the new electrical wire was run through the firewall.


Patrick wrapped the new wire in cloth tape to give it a period-correct look. 


It was nice to see that the grommet in the firewall was intact; my parts book neglects to even show a part number for it.


And then the job is done. The next morning, a wet and humid one, the gauge reads cold. Ha!





2 comments:

  1. Fixing a part that you look at every time you drive the car is so satisfying. Well done....excellent job.

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  2. Hey, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about your car, particularly how much gas it tends to eat, I'm thinking about restoring one of these in EU but gas price can be a real issue over here, would appreciate some help :)

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