gauges i think

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:05 pm

i'm restoring my traveller.

i want to put a rev counter , temperature and oil gauges in.........

there was 2 oil gauges when i removed them for some strange reason, my engine is a 1098 gold coloured one.

there is a hole for a sender just below the thermostat and another hole just above what i think is the oil pressure light but this one looks like a brike pipe union has a hole and a threaded part.

can anyone advise me in plain english please how to do it.

the one from the thermostat had a hard pipe coming out of it which broke off and the other was a hard pipe too

i'm looking to get a couple of gauges off ebay hopefully as i have an oil just need rev and temparute.

if anyone has a temp gauge they want to sell cheap give me a shout

thanks

Post by **Rob_Jennings** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:25 pm

water temperature sensor goes in the front of the block just below the thermostat housing on the same side as the spark plugs, some thermostat housing also have a temperature sensor point in them, but I think it would be better off in the block. easiest temperature sensor is electric, and one wire is routed back to the gauge the other is connected to the 10v regulator behind the speedo.

Oil pressure is measured directly in the gauge and requires the oil pressure switch to be removed (towards the back of the block under the distributor and oil filter) and a flexible pipe routed from there to the dash. If you want to retain the oil pressure warning light you need a t junction and adaptors to fit both the switch and pipe to the same hole. Route the pipe back to the gauge, tighten it up, run the engine and just loosen the gauge nut until oil flows through to the end and tighten up again. (not strictly necessary but leads to more stable reading)

ebay is ideal for finding what you need, any type will do and there are plenty, so you might want to look for someone selling a 'matching' set.

Rev counter depend on what you buy, some require a supply and all require a connection to the low voltage switching side of the coil, I would not mess about with mechanical rev counter that would be more difficult to fit.

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:36 pm

i reckon i've got both senders but he'd put an oil gauge onto the temp one cos he didn't have the proper one.

the oil is sorted i've just turned the engine with it not connected by mistake i hassten to add and i now have a puddle of oil on the drive.

so that sender is connected up now.

the one near the thermostat is in the head and just below the stat
so i reckon its got to be a temp sender it looks like it.

i presume all these do is just clip a wire onto it and connect to the gauge and hey presto hopefully.

also while i think about it how do you fit the gauges onto the drivers side box.

do you attach a piece of ply if so how when and where.
thanks

i will say it was nice to hear the engine turn even if i didn't get it running as no leads etc are connected yet

Post by **Rob_Jennings** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:56 pm

you could not put the oil sender into the temperature one unless it was an electric sender? oil feed is normally plastic tube to mechanical meter. You can use electric ones, but they are expensive. Also it is a pressure sensor? not another temperature sensor for oil temperature? What you have described sounds like the pressure sensor switch, simply and on/off for the oil warning light in the dash. It's normal for that to be fitted there.

(water) Temperature sender, yep one wire from the temp sender to the meter, and one from the light green wire behind the speedo (MUST be from a 10v regulator output) and it should work.

putting them in is a matter of personal choice.

some buy simple holders and bolt them under the dash say either side of heater, others build housing in glove box like you describe. You could find a closing lid glove box and cut/drill to fit or a piece of ply painted or covered. you could even use 'pods' above the dash

Post by **Packedup** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:49 pm

If the engine's been used in a Midget then it would've had a mechanical water temp gauge as standard - Someone could also have fitted that type to a Minor of course.

The description does sound like the remnants of such a thing.

Post by **bigginger** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:04 pm

Rob_Jennings wrote: towards the back of the block under the distributor and oil filter.

? Is it? I thought it was above them, close to the back plate - I'm confused now, and don't have anything by the oil filter - unless I'm (as usual) being very thick.

Post by **Dominic** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:04 pm

some buy simple holders and bolt them under the dash say either side of heater, others build housing in glove box like you describe

I used a piece of 1mm steel sheet from B & Q, that I cut to fit the rebate in the glovebox surround. I had to bend it slightly so that it fitted the contours of the rebate, then cut out three holes for the guages. When marked out parallel to the flat underside of the surround, it looked as if the holes were higher up on the offside, so I centred them vertically to make them look "right". (OK, so the scuff on the new paint doesn't enhance them!!!!)

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i269/ ... G_2232.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i269/ ... G_2233.jpg

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:09 pm

so how did you attach it to the panel?????????

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:11 pm

the sender i'm on about is one the head (next to the spark plugs) and the thermostat

Post by **Packedup** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:15 pm

Does it look anything like the one in this pic?

Post by **Dominic** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:16 pm

Steve, I laid it on a bed of plastic padding, much like puttying in a pane of glass. When it was at the leathery stage of curing, I carefully cut back the excess. Sanded when dry, then sprayed to match. Not 100% happy with the spray job, despite careful cleaning, it still came out with an orange-peel effect.

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:19 pm

Does it look anything like the one in this pic?

yes thats the one!!!!!!!!!!!

and the oil looks like its had a T piece put in i've got that sorted anyway thanks just this one now

Post by **bigginger** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:42 pm

I'm still puzzled as to where the oil pressure sender should be.It can't be both on the head and below the filter

Post by **Packedup** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:20 pm

Yeah, it's an olde mechanical temp sender. IIRC there's a brass plug that screws in to clamp everything up, then another (steel by the looks of things) fitting with 2 flats that winds into the head.

As soon as the pipe is chopped/ broken it's game over for it as far as I know - Mine's dead and I won't be fitting the original oil/ water combined gauge to replace it (for starters they're not on the cheap side)!

Do you know the head casting number? I'm guessing the original engine number will have been replaced by the recon ID, but if the head is a 12G206 or 12G295 chances are you've got a Midget engine, hence the gauges.

The electrical sender will screw straight into the head when you've got the bits of silliness out the way

Post by **steve4063** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:57 pm

where abouts in the head has it got to go.

will it go in the original hole or do i have to blank it and drill another

Post by **Packedup** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:38 pm

You undo the old mechanical bits (brass nut and strange whatsit that screws into the head) and put the sender in there - I've already done this I just haven't managed to wire up a gauge to it yet (not that it matters as I currently have no coolant to gauge, thanks to an escapist core plug).

There'a no problem with threads etc, the leccy type just screws straight in

Post by **dunketh** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:16 am

The electrical sender goes in the original hole once you've unbolted the mechanical one.
The oil pressure sender will be between your dizzy and your engine backplate. I have a take off for a pipe which goes to a guage on mine. Standard minor blocks have a screwed in sender with a metal tab for connecting to the oil warning light in the dash.
If you wish to retain the warning light AND have a take off for a guage you'll nee a T piece that splits the feed in two. (try ESM and the like for one)
Some engines have an additional sender on the housing for the oil filter. This has a metal tab for going to another warning light, this supposedly warns you when your filter is blocked.

(edit: MG man beat me to it)

Post by **steve4063** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:35 am

is this normal????????

i've got my oil gauge all connected and at idle its 50/55 lb and when i rev it it goes up to 70lb

and the temp gauge is wired up and that reads half way between cold and half?

seems to be running very cold but hey thats better than hot

Post by **Onne** » Mon May 14, 2007 4:57 pm

It should be around the middle of the gauge.

Oil pressure seems ok

Is this with the engine hot or cold?

Post by **steve4063** » Mon May 14, 2007 5:45 pm

Onne wrote:It should be around the middle of the gauge.

Oil pressure seems ok

Is this with the engine hot or cold?

oil pressure both it was that when i started it and i had it on tick over for around an hour and the only time it went up was when i revved it and i got it screaming at one point to check it.

funny because when i had a short piece of wire on the back of the speedo to the temp gauge it went up to 1/2 way.
but when i changed it for a longer one to accomadte where it will go it went lower on the gauge, and also my fuel gauge was nearly 1/4 and then it went to just over empty.
could my little box on the back of the speedo be dodgy?

and also my red ignition light is on but goes off when i really rev it hard.
put another battery on checked all connections how do you check dynamo?

wires on dynamo are white and black to + its a neg earth is that right?
thanks