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TR6 TR6 gauge rebuilding

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mrv8q

mrv8q

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I thought I'd clean up my gauges on my poor '6, and cracking open the fuel gauge, I found a funky remnant behind the bezel:
IMG_0813.jpg


At first, I thought it was a dried up rubber grommet behind the bezel, next to the glass, but the Spare Parts Catalogue shows nothing of the sort, just the rubber grommet between gauge back and dash. Anyone familiar with this crud? Should I just scrape it out, and reassemble the gauge?
 
Now you've done it! The warranty is VOID. I have taken tons of gages apart in the last 23 years (mostly TR3 and 4) and most looked like that, but some had what appeared to be o-rings in them. Anyhow I always put an o-ring in the bezel to keep the glass from rattling.
 
It's the rotted remains of a rubber gasket to keep the glass in place. Stig uses the same thing I do. An O-ring. Actually O-ring material from a spool and *Permatex* "super glue" to make the right diameter seal. Just as easy as splicing recording tape or movie film (if that analogy has any meaning in this digital environ).
 
I'm getting ready to do mine once the engine is finally finished. These are the seals for the bezels and for the dash that Nisonger supplies.

(2) 125mm + (4) 52 mm of each.

You will notice that one is flatter than the other. There was no marking of the packs as to which is which.

I do have a set of gauge to dash seals that I bought on eBay, but don't have them handy right now.
 
I typed a lengthy message and somehow hit the wrong key and lost everything. OY!!!

Succinctly, two sets/types of seals: gauge to dash, & glass to chrome bezel.

The gauge to dash seals I've bonded together from 1/16" O-Ring cord stock as suggested above. It's easy and hidden behind the gauge. You do not need to spend the money on the custom square profile seals normally used by the factory.

The other "seal" (and I've never seen one that didn't look melted) goes between the glass and chrome bezel. I remove the bezel and soak the part in lacquer thinner to soften the old seal for removal and clean up. Everyone has there own preferred replacement. Please consider using mine as it doesn't involve something that's hard to reverse or remove later.

I use window screen spline. This is tubular material with a spline shaped OD. I buy 0.125" material for the small gauges and I've found that the 0.142" material works for speedos and tachs. You may have to visit a couple of different stores to find both. All you need to do is cut a strip of this material long enough to make a loop that rests inside the chrome bezel such that the cut ends are close. You do not need to glue this.

The window screen spline is much softer than regular O-Ring material and this makes reassembly of the gauge much easier. It's also more readily available to the general public than O-Ring cord stock. However, if you want O-Ring cord stock for this or the gauge-to-dash application check with local bearing suppliers. If they don't have it, there's always mcmaster.com
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I typed a lengthy message and somehow hit the wrong key and lost everything. OY!!![/QUOTE]

Doug,

When that fatal little mistake happens, try hitting the "Undo" button first (before you type anything else) and if it's not there, then try the "Back" button on your browser. It may undo what you just typed and get the other information back.

I bought these before any of these fine informative threads started to pop up. I'll get some of the screen spline that you speak of and try it to see which works best. I'll photo the differences and post them when I do the gauges, both here and on my website.

Your method of removal sounds good to me, so that's what I'll do first. Thanks for the tip!
 
Paul's right, that 's a good tip, Doug, especially since I happen to have that size window spline sitting around..... thanks again!

As to Paul's computer tip, holding control key, and then "Z", or on Macs, "Apple command" and then "Z", is a continual lifesaver for me. I work on a computer program with 32 levels on "undo", and I use it a lot!
 
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