Question about 1938 Temp Gauge

jim galli

jim galli

Senior Member
So I read up on using the capillary tube from a donor gauge, putting it in ice slurry with salt to keep the ether in the bulb, blah blah blah and figured I could accomplish the surgery, but after taking my old gauge out, I don't see any red goo inside the glass tube anymore. This car spent some extremely warm years in a garage in Hemet California. Did the red goop dry up, or escape as vapor? Am I wasting my time on this particular gauge? Good images below.

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Temp2.jpg



Temp3.jpg

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Wasting your time.Line has been cut.A NOS one is listed in the for sale section by member, gkgeiger.
 
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Yes when cut its dead.Williamson's in AR was redoing them and they used to charge $1.75 an inch or something like that so you are better off with a NOS.In recent years the lines that have been repaired and charged - the red dye fades out.That red dye is now outlawed.The repo's sold by the vendors are made in Argentina.The glass tube is slightly smaller in dia and over time the red fades out also.The Temperature Gauge Guy in VT used to redo them but figure at least $250.The Early Ford Store in San Dimas,CA might have a NOS and if so will be over $300.
 
NOS would be nice, but even that is no guarantee that the gauge is good. NOS is still old and can be dried up also. If the fluid is still fluid, that's the clue that you are on the right track. Don't buy it if you can't verify the fluid. If at a swap meet, the sender bulb in a very hot cup of coffee will verify the integrity of the unit. I'd say hold a match under the sender bulb, but that was the old days when they weren't so valuable. Do that now and the seller would have a heart attack.
 
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