Set of new Gauges in 55 Ford


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By johns55ford - 17 Years Ago
Hi Guys:  Can the Temp. gauge be connected up to the right hand head, passenger side?  There is a pluged hole at the back near the distributor.  How would you pull that plug after draining the coolant and is the hole threaded for the fitting? I would like to keep the left hand head connected to the dash gauge.  JDH
By paul2748 - 17 Years Ago
Theoretically, yes. The problem is that there may not be enough room to use something as tall as the sender unit. The plug is a press fit and can be removed and the bushing for a temperature sending unit can be installed.



To pull the plug, I think you have to drill and tap a hole and use a puller. I've pulled the bushing out of the left side to install the correct sending unit on my Tbird. Casco (the TBird parts supplier) has a tool to remove the bushing, although a tool should be fairly easy to make.



On my 312 powered 54, I used the stock gauge. They can be calibrated, there is a procedure that some one else here may know how to do. I just got my car up to running temperature, checked the actual temp with a thermometer in the radiator, compared it to the gauge so at that point on the gauge I know what the temp is.



There is an old saying when it comes to operating temperature - if its not boiling over, leave it alone.Smile
By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
John:

Putting a sender or a wet bulb gauge in that hole will make it very tight for the distributor cap.  As stated above, the freeze plug can be removed from that hole and a sender bushing installed.

John in Selma, IN

By johns55ford - 17 Years Ago
Thanks guys for the replys.  You are probably right about the clearance to the dist. cap.  I haven't taken any measurments yet.  The factory sending unit in the left head is close to the head, maybe I could put that over in the other head and the new sending unit in the left head.  Food for thought.   Thanks again.  John
By charliemccraney - 17 Years Ago
If you don't have power steering or a supercharger, you could use that boss on the water pump.  I don't know if this will work well, but you could T into the heater lines at the engine.  If you don't mind performing some minor modifications, you could drill and tap the intake or thermostat housing -might be easy to strip the threads, though.