need heat gauge rebuilding information

[TFR]

Does anyone know who rebuilds or reworks heat gauges. I have three that need repair and hate to see them just be wasted.

 

[NutmegCT]

Larry - if you're talking water and oil temp gauges, try Nisonger:

https://nisonger.com/temperature.htm

Tom

 

[TR3driver]

Or,
MO-MA
1321 2nd St NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 766-6661
momanm@aol.com

 

[amcboy]

Nisonger is the only place I know where they use the original methods/tools used when your gauges were made.

They are pricy. Very pricy IMHO.

I helped a guy finish a GT40 (NOT a Ford GT) and he got his gauges from them. VERY good stuff...

Capillary gauges are challenging (read expensive) because ther little bulbs get broken off anf the hoses get crimped and then Nisonger has to solder on a new alcohol-filled pipe/bulb assembly in a barometric chamber.

Bimetallic electric dudes are less of a challenge. Ususally a new strip and a calibrate and away you go.


I am a little huffy with Nisonger right now:

I shot them an E-mail to try to get them to convert my 12cyl. Jaguar electric tach to 6cyl.

Said it couldn't be done (bad thing to say to me...), so I did it myself.

Changed one 15Kohm resistor with a 47Kohm resistor and presto! One workin' 6cyl. tach.

Without giving those guys $400 for a new stepper motor tach and re-screening to match...

Of course I followed all safety procedures and used a resistor substitute box to select the correct value.


Oh poo, I've gone an hijacked your post.... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

sorry.

Nisonger can do it.
Prepare to vent your wallet.

 

[martx-5]

Or, you can rebuild them yourself. I did this last year following the directions from this site.

You need a good working donor gauge with a capillary tube & bulb that has the ether in it. They can be bought at most auto parts stores for less then $20.

 

[TFR]

Every place that specializes in repair of a discontinued parts is always expensive. Every place that is specialized is expensive... The word specialize is the key. Pay for the experience...

Guys, have you ever delt with motorcycle performance or repair? Piston kits are five times the cost of a car kit. Cranks, rods, head work, five times the cost.

Repairing a gauge for $130.00 is cheap. Especially if it looks and functions as a new one.

Thanks for all the information. Need to evaluate the my gauges and see what I need to have repaired.

 

[amcboy]

Art, now that is very cool!

I woulda never figured that one out.

I'm now going to have to try this! Sit-by for a future report!

Mmmmmmmm ether....

 

[DrEntropy]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif

animal. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif


I saw a similar description to the one Art linked, haven't tried it yet but: the ether bulb gauges have been around for a LONG time, it can't be "rocket science" to do the repair. Just put up the "Nosmo King" alert when doin' it. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[Brosky]

Just for the record, Margaret from MoMa emailed me back. They are "MONTHS" behind. No offer to do the gauges or answer any pricing questions in my email, so I wouldn't count on them for any help in the near future.

 

[CraigLandrum]

Just did a 1959 Triumph temp guage rebuild using those 33 plymouth online directions and they worked just fine. I'll summarize them here along with a few things you want to think about. You will need:

1. A decent soldering iron (a good temp adjustable electronic one worked fine for me set on highest temp)

2. A dremel with a cutoff wheel or equivalent. Don't even think about using a pair of snips (except to cut you old cable to length) since it pinches off the capillary tube.

3. Some solid wire 50/50 solder and flux (I used the liquid kind) - both picked up at Ace Hardware ( you will only use an inch of this stuff).

4. A copper tube with 1/16 inch I.D which can be a pain to find. I used a small bore brass tube available at any hobby shop. You will need 3/4 of an inch with burrs sanded off each end. They usually come in 8 or 12 inch lengths (Hint, take a small length of your old capillary tube with you to test fit).

5. While you are at the hobby shop a length of very small piano wire will be useful for ensuring that the capillary tube openings on the cut ends of your tubes are open. About the size of one strand of a stranded copper wire is about right.

6. A cheapo donor guage. I ripped off one from my son, but you can get one from the local Auto Parts place for $16-20. Nothing on the dial matters so you don't care about looks.

7. A small spring clamp or clothespin.

8. Something to hold the capillary tube while you work the solder and iron.

Things to think about:

- When done, the distance from your gauge to the bulb wants to be about 7 feet. The cables on the cheap Chinese gauges are about 6 feet, so be sure to leave enough of your old cable to work with so it all adds up to around 7 feet.

- The nut to hold the bulb in the engine is probably shorter than the one on your original and when fully screwed down may not hold the bulb in place (test fit to be sure). I was fortunate enough to have my old nut so when I cut the donor cable I swapped the Chinese nut with my original. If you don't have your original, you'll need to think ahead, be creative, and put something additional on your cable so that the Chinese nut can hold that bulb in tightly. Just remember - once you finish the graft, you ain't gonna be putting anything else on that cable...

Here's what I did:

1. Get a mixing bowl and fill with ice cubes and water and pour a bunch of salt in and stir - it makes water as cold as possible. This will cool down the ether in the bulb so it doesn't boil away during the grafting.

2. Clamp the donor cable to the side of the bowl so the bulb at the end stays under water and starts to cool. You will leave it there until you are done with the graft.

3. Cut your original cable at an appropriate place (remember you want a total of 7 feet when done so measure first). I used a pair of dykes to snip the cable then I cut off the spring guard about and inch and half back from the end. I then used the dremel cutoff wheel to make a nice clean slice to cut off the pinched end.

4. That teensy pinhole you see in the cable end is what the ether travels through and it is really tiny. If you bought some very small piano wire at the hobby store, you can ensure the tube is open by rodding it out and inch or so. If you don't have the wire, just use the tip of a fine needle.

5. Cut a 3/4 inch length of either copper or brass tube. Brighten it up with some steel wool. Do the same for the end of your capillary tube.

6. Use your flux and 50/50 solder and tin about half an inch of the end of the capillary tube, but don't go all the way to the end - stay an eighth of an inch back from the tip to ensure that no solder clogs up the tube.

7. Using the dremel, carefully cut the spring guard from about an inch of your donor cable at the appropriate place - once you slice through the spring you can pull it down a bit to expose the capillary tube. Flux, and tin a half inch of this cable also.

8. Flux and tin the outside ends of your 3/4 inch tube section. Leave it clamped into whatever you are using to hold things steady.

9. OK, time to cut the donor tube with the dremel. This isn't anything dramatic, and nothing is likely to squirt out, but you may get a small whiff of ether if you hold the end up to your nose. Remember that scent because it will be useful for checking your work later.

10. Rod out an inch or so of the donor tube if you have the piano wire, or use the tip of a fine needle.

11. Insert the end of the donor tube in the copper or brass splice section and solder into place, being careful not to slop solder down into the splice tube where it could clog your capillary tube. That joint wants to be nice and clean with no gaps or holes. Don't move things around while hot or you can end up with a cold joint that leaks.

12. Solder the end of your original tube into the other end. Let cool for a few seconds.

13. Take the bulb out of the ice water and while watching the needle on the guage, you can do a quick bench test by either dipping the bulb into a pan of boiling water (best bet) or running the flame from a lighetr under the bulb for 5-10 seconds. If your needle moves, you are in business. If not, you will need to check your splice for leaks or clogs. In either case, hold up the splice to your nose and take a small whiff - if you have a leak you will easily smell it. A leak is fixable - just reclamp the bulb in the ice water and resolder your splice. Once you are leak-free you can attempt to calibrate by dipping the bulb into boiling water. Your needle should read about 212 when in boiling water and rest on the low end when held under cold running tap water. It is amazing how fast these things react - mine went from 90 to over 200 in five seconds and back in the same amount of time.

Good luck!

 

[DrEntropy]

Well spake, Craig! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif


And welcome to the forum.

 

[TR3driver]

Good write-up Craig !

Just curious tho, the original tube seems rather longer than necessary ... is there some other reason the seven feet is important ?

 

[CraigLandrum]

The original that was in the TR3 was about 7 feet long. I didn't remove this myself (am helping my son restore the car be bought in parts), but the gauge looks original and matches the others on the car. I wasn't real comfortable grafting a 6 foot donor cable onto the gauge and finding out it came up an inch short when reinstalled, so I made it a point to stress in the writeup that the original was 7 ft, the cheapo donor I had was 6 ft, and better to avoid having to do it all twice. No idea if I am being over cautious or what, but that was the reason.

 

[TR3driver]

Thanks, Craig.

I went a different route and simply installed the $20 gauge in the dash. It did look a little out of place, but I liked the 270 degree sweep and at least it had chrome surround with white on black hands & marking. Didn't check the length, but I still had plenty left over.