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MG TD TF 1500 - Gauge Installation

I'm going to install a temperature gauge (and 12V power port). I don't want to alter the dashboard face, so I plan to install it at the bottom of dashboard. What is the optimum location to do so, i.e., viewable and not interfering with one's legs or shifting action?
Corey Pedersen TD #7169

Corey, the neatest way to install a temperature gauge in an early TD is to replace the oil pressure gauge with a combination oil pressure/water temperature gauge. 12 v power ports can be readily installed in the side of the glovebox or on a bracket at the bottom of the dash. Bud
Bud Krueger

Bud, I'm not willing to spend the $500 Moss price for an oil/temp gauge. Is there a reasonably priced alternative combination gauge?
Corey Pedersen TD #7169

Coery, my 52 has a fitting for the temp line in the radiator. Does yours have one? It's really not the ideal location for reading the temp. It would be much better if it were located in the head. You could probably find of after market electrical units at your local parts house that come with a universal mounting bracket and mount it on the lower edge of the dash. Most likely will mean you will have to have negative ground, which I assume you have anyway if your putting in a power port. I found the least restrictive place for mounting my heater controls and a cigarette lighter was under the glove box. easy to reach on these compact jobs. Made a little bracket out of aluminium angle.


L E D LaVerne

I had no desire to bugger the dash either. Maybe just find a motometer for the radiator cap?


L E D LaVerne

On the TF I mounted a vacum/boost gauge under the dash on the drivers side. Not ideal but it works for me.


L E D LaVerne

....oil/water gauges available at swap meets and such for much less.....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Well, mine is in the dash, and thus out of the way...
Looks like it belongs there...Of course, it was done back in the '60's , when the original dash was replaced with solid walnut.
Edward


Edward Wesson 52TD

My TD 25009 has an aftermarket water temp gauge mounted under the dash - not the greates location, you have to bend over to actually see it from the driving position. I have the combo water temp/oil pressure and although the oil pressure part seems to work, the water temp doesn't. Once I finish building the new building and get the TD in its permanent home I intend to send the gauge together with the speedo, tack and ammeter to be reconditioned. I talked to a company in CA and they, of course, said they were fantastic but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with instrument reconditioners?
Thanks.
Jud


J K Chapin

eBay 111009249348 a rebuilt Buy-it-now for $195 with a year warranty. Bud
Bud Krueger

That looks really good - has anyone had any experience with him?
Jud
J K Chapin

Back in the fifties a VDO temp gauge was mounted in the footrest of my TD. A very weird place for a temp gauge...

So I moved it to a place under the dash, using a home made alu plate for the mounting, following the curve of the dash a bit...

Jasper




Jasper Nederhoed TD #3966

ebay.co.uk 390056474980 has combined gauges for £135 + international shipping. Perhaps you can negotiate to have 20% VAT removed.
You'll need to check for the correct bulb screw fitting.
Tim
Tim Wilkinson

Corey,
Before the thermostat opens the water temperature in the engine and in the radiator are very different. I wanted my gauge to tell me the temperature of the water in the engine not in the radiator. I moved the pick up point from the radiator to the elbow just below the thermostat.
I drilled and tapped it for a close nipple and added an adapter. I used some thread sealant and it has been fine for over two years now.

Mort

PS: Succumbing to some mild pressure from this BBS in the past, the bright yellow fan is now black.


M Resnicoff

Corey,

I strongly recommend a dual gauge. It just looks right. The less stuff hanging from the bottom of the dash the better, both visually and for line of sight. Try this site and scroll down to the 1301 and 1310 series. They come with the temp pick up.
I had a print shop make a decal for me on another gauge. Cost me $60 and it came out great. They did the art work in PhotoShop, made the decal and pasted it on the back of my old gauge face.

Mort


M Resnicoff

Also check with Hugh Pite jenntoo@shaw.ca to see if he has a used gauge.

"You could probably find of after market electrical units at your local parts house that come with a universal mounting bracket and mount it on the lower edge of the dash. Most likely will mean you will have to have negative ground, which I assume you have anyway if your putting in a power port."

Most electrical gauges are not polarity sensitive, so a conversion to negative ground would not be required. As for the power port, if you get one that is housed in plastic body, you can hook up GPS, Ipads, Computers such that they receive the proper polarity and since all of these devices have the electronics completely isolated from any contact with ground, there is no problem with a short from touching any metal parts of the car. Below is a picture of the unit I used.
Cheers - Dave




Daved DuBois

I just bought a cheap one at Autozone and reverse wired it - ground (pos) to the center post and hot (neg) to the case and then wrapped it well with electrical tape. Right now it "floats" around in the passenger compartment (no glove box has been cut [yet]in my aftermarket, Moss plywood I think, dashboard so it does not yet have a home) and my Garmin (mostly as a substitute for a non-working speedo but yesterday I was up north of Tryon and got lost and the Garmin was quite handy)feeds off of it quite well.
Jud
J K Chapin

Wow, great response! I'll study all of the info provided.
Corey Pedersen TD #7169

FWIW,
I mounted a power port laterally behind the dash where it is out of sight but easy to reach. I reversed wired it for my positive ground car.
I use it for my Garmin and my wife uses it for her iPad and iPhone when we travel. I also have a dual adapter so we can both use it at the same time.
I never leave anything plugged in when the ignition is off. Just in case!!!
Mort
M Resnicoff

I have a Jager water temp gauge in my early TD. It is in a similar location to Ed's

It is at the same height at the other gauges and IMHO, looks like it was part of the car.


Bruce Cunha

You might also consider to remove the horn / dip switch button and use the opening for the temp gauge. Dip switch could be the (later version) footswitch. Alternative Horn button I have no great idea, though. (stop honking, just shout at people ??)

For power, I have a cigarette lighter installed in one of the dash button holes (done by PO) which works well. Not missing anything that was there before...

Mike


Mike Fritsch

Mort
Are you saying your Garmin will work on Positive ground?
Edward
Edward Wesson 52TD

There is plenty of room to install a couple of extra gauges in the instrument panel if you are careful. After I finished my restoration, I added a blower and two more gauges. I already had an under-dash panel for my heater on one side and the directional signal control in the middle so I decided against yet another one. My idea worked out well.


Jim Merz

Ed,
Yep, The Garmin works great. I have a Nuvi 765T. I remember calling Garmin to ask about polarity and then made my decision about the wiring.

Upper left shows the plug from the Garmin hanging from some wires under the dash. I reach down and plug it in when I need it. Of course if it's charged the Garmin battery will work for quite a while.

Upper right shows where I mounted it laterally just to the left of center.

Lower left shows the center lug is wired to positive ground. The yellow connector behind it is wired to be hot when the key is turned.

Lower right shows where I finally mounted the Garmin. It is just to the left of the rear view mirror. It makes it easy to see with minimal movement of my eyes from the road. It seems obstructive but it does not impair my view of the road.

I also have a shroud around it to minimize the glare from the sun.
http://glarestomper.com/index.html#.URlC6egZ9TU
I also use ear pods so I can hear the directions.
FWIW I also download music and books to the Garmin.
Toys! Toys! more Toys!

Mort


M Resnicoff

Reference eBay 111009249348, it looks like you're paying $195 for him to recondition your old one. In the detailed description it says:

"Pictured here is a restored T-Series MG dual gauge it is a combination oil pressure and water temp gauge. If you are the winner of the auction, send me your dual gauge for rebuilding".

In his feedback, there's a negative in which the seller replies "I'm still waiting for your old one" (in response to the buyer saying: "Purchased a remanufactured MGTD dual gauge").

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the ad, idea, workmanship or price, it's just sometimes you have to read carefully to see what exactly you're getting for your money.

- Tom.
Tom Bennett - 53TD 24232

Interesting comparison of instrument clusters if you can figure out a way to view Mike Fritsch's image next to mine. Mine has the turn signal indicator where Mike has a pull knob (starter? Enricher [choke]?) It looks like Mike's PO removedthe panel light dimmer knob (or maybe the fog light switch) to install the cigar lighter, I have both the dimmer rotating knob and the fog lamp knob even though I don't have fog lights. Mike seems to have a third knob and I wonder if it's a manual throttle knob. Neither Mike's nor Bruce's seem to have the turn signal indicator light. Was it an aftermarket installation?

Anyway, those electronic gizmos don't care whether ground is Pos or Neg as long as they get the correct polarity. As Mort said, the center lug has to be POS which is ground on our cars so the casing gets Neg and therefore needs to be insulated from the chassis (i.e., ground, i.e., Pos) Confusing but it works. Mort, did I read your post correctly?

Jud
J K Chapin

Tom, I must admit that I didn't read the details. Bud
Bud Krueger

I'm pretty sure the attached image is a stock TD from the factory instrument cluster (image taken from "The MG Story" by Joseph Wherry, 1967) so I guess the turn signal indicator light is after market. I also note the headlamp switch is quite different so i suppose this is from an early TD. Lastly, although hard to see in this image, it appears that the gauge to the right of the ammeter is not a combo guage so I wonder if the combo guage was added just for later TDs.
Jud


J K Chapin

Yes Jud,
The negative casing is isolated by being screwed into the wood only part of the dash.
Mort
M Resnicoff

Jud, the combination gauge was installed about 2/22/52 at Car No. 13914. The turn signal indicator lamp was installed at Car No. 22315 for North American TDs. (Ref: NEMGTR T Type Restoration Handbook) Bud
Bud Krueger

Thanks Bud. Jud
J K Chapin

Just purchased a new dual Jaeger gauge from MG Heathrow for BP 108.00, this is the tax exempt price for export,postage excluded.

Contact mgheathrow@hotmail.com

Rgds Trevor Burnett
t burnett

Trevor, are you certain that you purchased a new unit? MG Services sells refurbished units on Ebay. Were you required to exchange your old unit?
Corey Pedersen TD #7169

Is anyone familiar with West Valley Instrument Specialists, Inc. in Reseda, CA (Morris Mintz is the owner). They claim that they can recondition (restore?) all of my instruments to like new for a reasonable price. I send them my instruments, they recondition them and send my instruments back to me. If they do what they say they do and do it well, it sounds pretty good but then there's the old adage about the pig in the grocery sack. Any experiences will be appreciated.
Jud
J K Chapin

Hi Guys, no exchange, purchased outright, regards Trevor B.
t burnett

Jud, the knob that's off the regular patter in my dash is for the hazard lights. I would not have put it there but the PO had installed the fog light switch there which I swapped to the dimmer position that I never used anyway (it's dim enough when fully powered...).
The hazard switch nicely filed the extra hole.
The indicator light is above the speedo (another hole that I would not have drilled)
While the cigarette lighter is not original, it is very useful, once I converted to negative earth.
Currently acts as an INPUT socket for the battery charger over the winter.

Rgds Mike
Mike Fritsch

This thread was discussed between 10/02/2013 and 16/02/2013

MG TD TF 1500 index

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