Oil Temperature Gauge

[dean_ratpac]

Good morning all,
I was wondering where the white dials can be sourced from? I would like to put an oil temperature gauge where the clock is, after seeing it on one of the Surrey TVR group cerbera’s last night.

1. Where can you get the similar looking gauges?
2. How easy is it to install?
3. Has anyone attempted themselves?
Dean

[trackcar]

unfortunately you can't get similar dials .. they're made by CA, part of smiths and part fo speedy cables I think ..

you can get one like the oil pressure/coolant temp but only with a red needle.

I choose to fit the racetech dials, they are black faces but have a really *racey* look, are pretty accurate, are good value for money.

Note you can only get *full scale* deflection on a central pivot on mechanical gauges .. all electrical gauges have a narrow sweep across the face .. electrical are easier to fit, but mechanical give a better scale.

Once you fit it you'll scare yourself how low the oil etmp is .. on cold days you will never see it move off 40degC .. fitting a thermostat is easy but again the finned sump is so good at cooling it never gets decent temp in there.

I have a temp gauge on my S and in winter it never gets above 50degC and in summer track days it gets to 130degC even with a cooler on! lol.

[simonsparrow]

I put an electrical oil temp gauge in mine, where the stereo used to be. I got a spare oil filter housing and had it drilled and tapped to take the sender. When the car was serviced next, I had the filter housing swapped over and then wired it all up (using the stereo wiring and a 'DIN' plug. Pretty painless, but elapsed time was over a year due to my 'planning'

[simonsparrow]

trackcar said:

Note you can only get *full scale* deflection on a central pivot on mechanical gauges .. all electrical gauges have a narrow sweep across the face .. electrical are easier to fit, but mechanical give a better scale.

This is what I thought too, but I found a full sweep electrical gauge from here www.impossible-performance.cwc.net/ check out the S7 race gauge.

Joo is right about the temps! I've always allowed 10 miles to warm up and go over 3k RPM, but last sunday even 80 miles didn't do it

>> Edited by simonsparrow on Friday 25th November 10:57

[dean_ratpac]

simonsparrow said:

I put an electrical oil temp gauge in mine, where the stereo used to be.

Do you have any photo's?
i'm not looking for a TVR logo'd dial - just something that is roughly similar?

[simonsparrow]

dean_ratpac said:

simonsparrow said: I put an electrical oil temp gauge in mine, where the stereo used to be. Do you have any photo's? i'm not looking for a TVR logo'd dial - just something that is roughly similar?

Unfortunaltely not, but if you check the link in my other reply, its the S7 gauge. Looks nothing like the TVR ones (mine are yellow), but I figured I'd go for contrast as opposed to 'close, but not quite'

[Neilus]

dean_ratpac said:

after seeing it on one of the Surrey TVR group cerbera’s last night.

Oh dear, what have I started.

trackcar said:

in winter it never gets above 50degC

I can confirm for this, 190 miles of motorway driving and it resolutely stuck there at 50degC. Only moving upto 60degC when I came off the motorway and was crawling along at 30mph.

Neil.

[gazzab]

If they show such low oil temp in winter does that mean
that is fine and car is warm enough for revs or that we should keep revs down in all cold weather ie does this undermine the benefit of a gauge?

[bilton_d]

or should be block off the oil cooler at the front?

[dean_ratpac]

Neilus said:

Oh dear, what have I started.

well i thought is was better than the clock!

[NJW 77]

I fancy one of those guages, just need someone in Sussex/Surrey who'll fit one for me for the cost of beer/tea/sandwiches (may push it to a pub lunch if you do a good job)? Where's Steve_T when you need him?

I will be attempting my new Leven windscreen wipers this weekend, but thats about as far as my handyman skills go

[trackcar]

bilton_d said:

or should be block off the oil cooler at the front?

that would help .. but really you need a thermostat in there, but the sump does so much cooling anyway that you'll never see proper oil temp on a cerbie through the cold weather.

a std cerbie has no thermostat in the oil lines, the oil temp will be around 30degC most of the time??

[bilton_d]

30 degrees doesn't sound too much ..... glad i use a good quality oil ..... nice Valvoline 5w50 Racing oil and she never drinks a drop

>> Edited by bilton_d on Friday 25th November 14:30

[purpleheadedcerb]

I'm sure there is a company in Wales that do guage repairs but also bespoke items. I would guess that if you were able to get a Smiths black faced guage, they could replicate the TVR magnolia and overlay/replace the black face.

I'll see if I can find the details. I assume you can use the brushed aluminium surround for the clock so that it matches the petrol guage?

[speed8]

Smiths Telemetrix is the closest match for the original dials. They do the gauges for TVR

Here was mine.

[markh]

I had a yellow oil temp guage made by these guys to match the standard set, I think I paid about £65

www.caigauge.com/Customised_Vehicle_Instruments_and_Gauges.htm

They made a great job

[diycerb]

Hi, I've just bought an voltmeter and oil temp gauge from www.greengauges.com They are linked with Cai gauges and speedy cables, all out of the same place in swansea. They made the original gauges for the cerb but can't supply them with the TVR logo. On their websie you can design you own gauges. Very easy to use, I selected the option for black pointer and numbers, aluminuim bezel and magnolia background. They took four days to arrive and look exactly the same as the original TVR gauges haven't got any pictures, just look at the website. There is a small logo where TVR should be but its not significant.

I'm not sure about mounting the oil temp gauge in the oil filter housing as this would measure the oil temp after it has passed through the oil cooler. Wouldn't it be better to measure the oil temp as it comes out of the block??? As you would a water temperature.

I thought about buying a oil thermostat housing and mounting it in the pipes to and from the oil cooler, there about £30 from mocal. This is where I'd mount the oil temp gauge as well.
Rich.

[dean_ratpac]

speed8 said:

Smiths Telemetrix is the closest match for the original dials. They do the gauges for TVR Here was mine.

spot on thanks - how much !!

[simonsparrow]

diycerb said:

Hi, I've just bought an voltmeter and oil temp gauge from www.greengauges.com They are linked with Cai gauges and speedy cables, all out of the same place in swansea. They made the original gauges for the cerb but can't supply them with the TVR logo. On their websie you can design you own gauges. Very easy to use, I selected the option for black pointer and numbers, aluminuim bezel and magnolia background. They took four days to arrive and look exactly the same as the original TVR gauges haven't got any pictures, just look at the website. There is a small logo where TVR should be but its not significant. I'm not sure about mounting the oil temp gauge in the oil filter housing as this would measure the oil temp after it has passed through the oil cooler. Wouldn't it be better to measure the oil temp as it comes out of the block??? As you would a water temperature. I thought about buying a oil thermostat housing and mounting it in the pipes to and from the oil cooler, there about £30 from mocal. This is where I'd mount the oil temp gauge as well. Rich.

I'm pretty sure it goes through the filter before the cooler, but yes, it will measure tempature at that point. I guess what you need is to get a feel for 'normal' and then you can see if its hotter or colder.

[olly]

dean_ratpac said:

speed8 said: Smiths Telemetrix is the closest match for the original dials. They do the gauges for TVR Here was mine. spot on thanks - how much !!

I've just built a magnolia faced, black dial, black needle oil temp & it's £39.95 (including VAT & postage)