I'm putting original instruments back in my '38 Chrysler. I found a set on nice-enough gauges, but as usual somebody had just clipped the tube for the "Bulb-and-Tube" (I think its called "Bourdon" type) temp gauge. This is the same type of system all the brands used to use, so this fix will work on Ford, Chevy, or whatever you have. I won't go into the step-by-step; you can read that all here:http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge I'll just tell you that it works exactly as described, and the whole process only took about 30 minutes.
Thanks for sharing this. I'm interested in retaining the original gauges on my chevy, but had concerns about the length of the tube on my temp gauge reaching the V8 vs. the original 6 cyl location. Nice. I'll definitely bookmark the site.
hell yeah it works. found this link one here a while back and i did itto my 31 essex. i think it should be i nth etech archives if its not already.
I didn't realize you could replace a caiplary tube at home. I guess the ice bath is the trick, good to know.
I just used ice and salt like a hand crank ice cream maker. Never got so much as a whiff of ether, and the accuracy of my repaired gauge in the 180-212 degree range checks out well against a cooking thermometer.
My thanks to 4Woody for the shortcut to a useful article. I was looking at a very expensive repair.......with a little care, I should be able to do this at home.
The term "bourdon tube" actually refers to the movement in the gauge and is typically only used for pressure gauges. A bourdon tube is nothing more than a semi-flattened tube with one end crimped and the other end receiving pressure. Then the flattened end is rolled up like a snail. When you get pressure inside, the "snail" tries to unwind and moves the needle on the gauge itself.
Looks like they just bought a cheap Sun mechanical gauge. If you look at the pictures it appears that is the case. Should be in stock at any larger national franchise auto parts store.
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