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MG MGB Technical - Removal and refitting of dual gauge in a Mk 1

First; A happy new year to you all!

One of my winter excercises will be to remove - and eventually refit - the dual oil pressure/ coolant temp gauge from the dashboard of my 1964 B.

The gauge seems to be fairly inaccessible. Do I need to - or will it help to remove the radio(which only can be done by first removing glove box), or is it better to remove the speedometer? Or is it possible to remove the gauge without removing other stuff - with hands glove size 10?

Thank you for alluminating me on this!

regards

Jan
Jan Emil Kristoffersen

I changed an oil/temp gauge a little while back, but this was on a bit later car than yours, it was on a 1974 MY,the only thing I removed was the center consul which in your case would be the radio speaker consul,the only other part I did think about removing was the seat but in the end did it without, with my new gauge there was no new seal for the oil pipe in the box, so that held things up, as I had to order one,I was also able to gain some movement on the oil pipe which allowed me to pull the gauge back,so I was able to tighten the oil pipe union from the front of the dash,A.T
Andy Tilney

Probably radio in your case, my cars have the later fresh-air vents and I remove those to change the gauges. I wouldn't have thought the speaker case would need to be removed, that (in the shape of the later radio and switch console) hasn't been needed on mine.

Other than that there should be enough length on the oil pipe to undo and tighten the union on the back of the gauge as Andy says. If not simply disconnect the other end of the gauge first to allow the gauge to be pulled forwards, and reconnect that last. Remember the black earth wire under the knurled nut for the fixing bracket, that is needed for the illumination.

Be very careful with the temp capillary. Don't pull on it to straighten it out, unwind it so it isn't twisted. Once into the engine compartment before fitting the sender to the head wind the excess back up into several turns three or four inches in diameter by going over and under, again not twisting it. That lies by the heater to absorb movement of the engine, then passes under the heater valve where there should be a supporting clip in the bottom bolt, then near the port in the head makes a smooth turn away from the engine and loop back to the port. Use copper grease on the threads to aid removal next time.

But before doing anything, test it with the bulb in a pan of boiling water. As a Mk1 calibrated in F (or C) it should show 212 (or 100) of course. But if one of the later CNH gauges it should be about mid-way between N and H, where 212 is on the attached. I say this having replaced a gauge and the new one under-reading significantly. I can live with it, but it's annoying.

paulh4

BTW, if you wrap an under-sized bolt in tape you can screw that in to the head after the old bulb has been removed to limit coolant loss and mess.
paulh4

Jan, As Paul as regards radio removal but you may find that the one, or both, of the tubes are "P" clipped to the bulkhead internally. A long reach screwdriver is useful if this is the case.
Allan Reeling

Thanks folks, out comes the radio!

Regards,

Jan
Jan Emil Kristoffersen

I didn't have to take my radio out- just removed the face plate etc, unscrewed the rear brace and shifted it in and to the left. This gave enough room to get to the gauge. I still found I needed to lie upside down in the driver footwell to undo one of the mounting nuts, and to feed the capillary tube through the wires and other components.
John
John Minchin

This thread was discussed between 02/01/2017 and 05/01/2017

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