I plan to have my inoperative 32 PB temperature gauge rebuilt. It appears that to remove it from the car, I can unscrew the cable from the back of the gauge and pull it forward through the firewall. This would greatly simplify removal, however, a local mechanic said removing the cable from the gauge would likely make the unit unrepairable. If anyone has had experience removing the temperature gauge, let me know your recommendations. Thanks
Your local mechanic is correct!
That is not a cable but rather a thin metal tube that is permanently attached to both the sensing bulb located in the engine head and the dash unit.
To remove, you need to remove the bulb from the head and then feed the tube and bulb through the firewall keeping the whole assembly intact.
If you think the problem is not in the dash unit but rather in the loss of ether and you are confident in soldering and you don't mind a slightly non-stock look you can repair it yourself. See https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge
If you have found a good instrument repair shop they should be able to bring it back to a totally stock condition, properly calibrated, etc.
Thanks Tod,
I paid a bit extra for this car because it was supposed to be totally stock. My guess is that it probably lost the transmitting agent, ether, so will look for a good instrument repair shop. Thanks for your help.
Ellis Smith
I'm pretty sure when I removed mine to replace with a working one(40 years ago) I unbolted from the dash and engine and pulled engine sensor through the firewall . May have to remove the large grommet on the firewall .
Didn't see Todfitch response on removal. I removed mine as he suggested.