Tube Repair Needed

[Stewart Loy]

Restoration folks,

I have a ruptured bourdon tube in a fuel pressure gauge ( in my father-in-laws) old car.

Does anybody know where I might find somebody to fix such a delicate beast ? If it were a CMP dash it would already be on its way to Australia, but I would like to find a more local source for this one. If it were larger I would pound it back to life myself.

The vehicle is a 1923 Cadillac Victoria so I am having some trouble with getting a replacement at Canadian Tire, as you might imagine.

I thought that the airplane gang might know how to fix pressure gauges like this - but I don't know anybody in that arena.

As always, I appreciate your assistance in this matter.


Stewart

[Richard Farrant]

Stewart,

I am in England so not a lot of help to you, but just to say that I had to get a water temp guage with Bourdon tube, repaired for a 1936 tank. A firm who specialises in repairing speedometers and other instruments did the job.

Richard

[Phil Waterman]

There are a number of shops that can fix this type of temperture gage. Check in Hemmings Motor News "Services" section of the magazine web address is http://www.hemmings.com/ for more on Hemmings

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/...pe=instruments

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally posted by Stewart Loy
I have a ruptured bourdon tube in a fuel pressure gauge ( in my father-in-laws) old car.

Stew...
All refrigeration pressure gages are bourdon tube style...
Probably the new guts from any number of them would work with some tinkering...
Pressure range and physical size would be the key stats...
The original frame and face could probably be reused ..with new guts..
I probably could find some thing that we could cobble together that would work ,if you bring it with you or send it up..
I assume it is for oil pressure..
If the bourdon tube it'sself is ruptured,it can be resoldered with Staybrite silver solder,low melting point..430Deg.F...with a soldering iron..
I've been using it for a zillion years and every mechanic should have a bunch of this around...steel to brass,copper to copper steel to copper..brass to copper..
Great stuff..
See here..

Stay-Brite® Silver-Bearing Solder 1 OUNCE KIT

The premium solder that solders all metals except aluminum (including stainless steel and cast iron). It flows freely and has over twice the tensile strength of regular solder. Melts and flows at only 430 degrees F, providing strength without distortion. Includes a 1/2 oz. coil of solder and 1/2 oz. bottle of flux. Can be used with soldering iron or torch. Lead free.

Versatile Stay-Brite silver-bearing solders are used throughout industry as a better-than-brazing method in many instances.

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Stay-Brite silver-bearing solders have the same excellent affinity as Stay-Silv and Safety-Silv to bond with all the ferrous and non-ferrous alloys (including stainless steel, nickel, copper, brass, etc.). Stay-Brite joints exhibit considerably higher-than-necessary elongation for sound dissimilar metal joints and vibration applications. Stay-Brite alloys range in temperature from 430°F to 535°F.

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Elimination of base metal annealment
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Cadmium-free - non-toxic.
Lead free
Acceptance by The National Sanitation Foundation
Stay-Brite has been used for over thirty years to join refrigeration/air conditioning tubing. This alloy has been used to fabricate millions of strong, leakproof joints. Stay-Brite connections are excellent for many HVAC applications.

Stay-Brite® Silver Solder



Properties
Composition Tin & Silver
Solidus (melting point) 430°F
Liquidus (completely fluid) 430°F
Joint Strength Copper
sleeve joint (in tension) 14,000 PSI
Shear strength 11,000 PSI
Electrical Conductivity 17.1
Color Bright Silver,non-oxidizing



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[Stewart Loy]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
Stew...

I probably could find some thing that we could cobble together that would work ,if you bring it with you or send it up..
I assume it is for oil pressure..

Alex,

Thanks for the offer. I might just use that to act as an excuse to come up to the Nation's Catpital in the next while. It will have to wait a bit 'tho, as my father-in-law is still tinkering with the car.

It is the pressure monitor for the fuel system. With the gas tank in the rear of the vehicle a small hand pump supplied 1.5 PSI to the system prior to starting, then a pump driven from the flathead V-8 kept the pressure in the system. ( This many years prior to Henry Ford 'inventing' the V-8. Both mills sound the same 'tho - nothing beats a flat head )

I suspect that it was blown up ( to use 'pressure terminology' ) when 85 years of sludge finally clogged the fuel system. The little tube looks rugged, but force feeding solvents under shop air pressure may have overwhelmed it! I thought that what came out of a Universal Carrier after degreasing was gross, but this crap was 20 years crappier!

Thanks for all of the suggestions.


Stewart

PS- I was at the officially unveiling of the Veterans Green park and veterans statue in Waterloo this afternoon. Lots of old and new veterans and many fine HMvs showed up, along with most of the ususal suspects from down this way. It really is an impressive bronze art work. Check out pix and more at:

www.canadianveteransmemorial.com