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1952 Roadmaster Temp. gauge & Speedo cable


krinkov58

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Since my car is not yet registered...have a few little projects to finish on it before it's ready..I've only been driving it around my neighborhood. Two things I've noticed:

The speedometer cable is making some noise and the speedo needle is doing the jumps associated with a bad cable so that's going to need some attention. Never done this; how easy is the cable replacement? I saw the post on here on lubricating the cable and I'm going to do that first...I am hoping it's the cable and not the head but we'll see.

Also, my temp. gauge has never really moved! I mean I'm only driving the car for maybe 5 minutes at a time and at a top speed of perhaps 50 mph (although the speedo says different) but no movement from the temp gauge needle at all. How hot does the engine have to be to register off of "C"? I have the feeling I'll be replacing that gauge if I can find a cheap one or the bulb at least.

Want to pass along a quick-fix tip regarding directional lights in the dash...mine, like every other early 50's Buick I've owned, don't really have much of the green filter left in front of the bulbs. It gets cooked off over the decades and looks yellow with light green around the edges. I had the idea to use a circle cut from a sheet of green cel from stage lighting and glue it on to the tube the directional light mounts in. But I found a seller on eBay named "super-market8" who sells green LED lights for Fender amplifiers which are 6.3V DC and use a BA9s bulb base. I ordered 5 from him for under $7 and was happy to find that they work and look extremely good! So instead of taking out the gauge and taking it apart etc. to correct a somewhat unimportant issue, for short money you can buy a set of these and make your directional bulbs look perfect.

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Your temp-gauge is an ether-filled tube. No ether no action.

You can repair them, but easier to get a new/NOS (I think Buick Farm still might have them - else E-bay)

You can get speedo cables from Bobs or Cars - it's a simple replacement job

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Erik,

Yeah unfortunately Buick Farm is out and the ones on eBay right now are close to $300 although I'm sure if I wait I can find one for cheaper. What is the process for replacing the cable? I see them for around $25 from the vendors you mention and also on eBay.

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The process for reparing the temp gauge can be found online, but I seem to remember something about freezing the bulb in an ice cube and then filling it with ether. This way the ether will remain liquid while the tube is patched. Cut the tube where it is leaking and sleeve it and solder it

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Although it probably is NOT the case are you certain the capillary tube is hooked up to your engine head? Reason I ask is my '55 Century temp gauge seemed to be defective but when I investigated someone had disconnected from the head (located between the end of the head and firewall so hard to see easily) and plugged the hole in the head with a bolt. No idea why that was done and the gauge worked fine after connecting.

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