The 1942 temp gauge transplant was a success!

[47heaven]

Went over Norm (Normspeed's) house today and we converted the '42 Plymouth temp gauge into '47 one. If you recall in an earlier post, I mentioned that I had purchased a NOS temp gauge assembly to replace the one the mechanic damaged, but that it didn't fit the '47 cluster, due to the different back plate it had. Also, the '42 one had a different face than that of the '47, as well.

Anyway, using Shel_Bizzy's photo that he posted, Norm made a nice, but wider cut into the mounting plate of the '47 gauge with a dremel tool and slipped it off the coiled tube. Next, he cut off the mounting plate of the '42 gauge and we disgarded it since it was of no use anymore. The result was a perfect fit:

Then, since the needle off of the '42 was shorter than that of the '47, I snipped them both from the gauges, being sure that I left enough so that the longer needle could lay over what was left of the smaller one:

Then, I glued the '47 needle on top of the existing part of the '42 with a super apoxy and kept them held together with needle nose pliers for about 5 minutes. They adhered together very nicely:

Then, I repainted the back of the face plate and Norm polished up the plastic face. We then assembled the plastic face back onto the back plate only to realize that the back plate had to be screwed onto the gauge before the plastic piece could be assembled back on. That's okay though...we all go through that...LOL!

And the result was a nicely restored P15 temp gauge made from '42 gauge.

Just so you know... after we assembled the gauge, we then tested it's accuracy with some boiling water and found that it wouldn't quite reach the 210 degree mark, so Norm tweeked part of the mechanism so that the needle just about touched 210 at boiling. Now it's ready to install into the cluster...that's where the fun begins.

[John Mulders]

Good work, always good to have friends over to do things together.

I have to do most work with four dogs around me, sweet but not very helpfull...

It is tooooo hot at the moment, work is killing me so haven't gotten around to do anything. Wednesday to NY ! Looking forward seeing our friends and get away from it all for a week.

John

[Normspeed]

In the last photo, those little white lines were just flash reflections or something. The actual unit looks like new.

After Darin left for home, 3 of my neighbors asked me about his car. It sure looks good in that pale gren paint. Runs nice too.

[47heaven]

In the last photo, those little white lines were just flash reflections or something. The actual unit looks like new.

After Darin left for home, 3 of my neighbors asked me about his car. It sure looks good in that pale gren paint. Runs nice too.

Norm...those lines are actually stress cracks, but since the gauge was turned sideways they showed up better. Looking straight on you can't see them.

[47heaven]

The other day I attempted to get the temp gauge, that Norm and I converted, into my cluster. Unfortunately, during that first attempt, the needle got hung up and broke off. It was a real bear trying to get it in there. Since it was getting dark, I decided to stop, glue it back on and attempt it today. The problem I was running into was trying not to hang up the needle on the opening, but I kept running into the problem of the needle getting bent up against the plastic face. So I had to keep taking it out, bending it back and trying to stick it through the opening until finally I got it to slip in there. Putting the other end into the engine wasn't too bad, but boy did that anti-freeze gush out quick. Luckily, I was able to get the temporary one out and carefully insert and tighten the converted one in there without losing too much...maybe a quart. I wanted to test and make sure that the needle moved freely, which it did, and now the temp is registering between 160 and 180...like it should. Thanks again, Norm!

When you are ready to put in your gauge...let me know. I can help you on that.

[Normspeed]

Thanks Darin, glad to help. I'll take you up on that. My true reward though is scoring another convert to the church of the 5 minute epoxy.

[47heaven]

Thanks Darin, glad to help. I'll take you up on that. My true reward though is scoring another convert to the church of the 5 minute epoxy.

Well, I was cheap and bought crazy glue...and it worked! LOL! I couldn't find the kind you have, so I bought that instead. I did find the right McGuire's wax for the cars, so I'll wax it this weekend.