oil pressure gauge

[timmsy]

hi guys i was thinking of putting an oil pressure gauge in my 1500 can anyone tell me firstly is it advisable to do this and secondly the biggest question is how do i fit one? and where is the sender unit will it be already in the car any help would be very much appreciated

[Alex]

Easy to fit with a T piece off your oil pressure switch....but
If you fit one you'll always be watching it,they dont call them worry gauges for nothing ;D

[Bainzy]

If you use a mechanical one, you don't need a sender - just a pipe.

[Rich_s]

I fitted one to mine, bought a T piece and pipe from my local mini shop as the threads are the same, really easy to fit but as others have said, you do watch then all the time, nice to know the pressure is good but can't stop watching it!

Rich

[Blubayou]

I put mine between the two existing gauges & moved the lighting switch above.

Gauge & switch (early Marina type) cheap from autojumble, pipe, tee & fittings from the incredibly helpful Speedograph Ritchfield I seem to remember.

They made it all up for less than a tenner I'm sure, but that was 10 years ago.

[MarkB]

i fitted one to a 1500 Spit I owned, and fitted to the right of the steering wheel. There's a whole in the metal dash blanked off in the Spit by the wooden dash, probably because it is the same panel used on the GT6 which has a air blower in this position.

Cheers

Blue

[rotoflex]

I replaced the temp gauge in my GT6 with a Smith's temp/oil pressure combo gauge.

[Velocita Rosso]

rotoflex wrote:

I replaced the temp gauge in my GT6 with a Smith's temp/oil pressure combo gauge.

I saw one of those once when it broke and the oil was filling up behing the glass.............reminded me of the equalising gauge you see on submarines when pressurising for divers to exit

[rotoflex]

michael_charlton wrote:

I saw one of those once when it broke and the oil was filling up behing the glass.

That would give me horrible The Enemy Below flashbacks in a close hardtop like the GT6.

[Tim Bancroft]

I reckon they are essential-I'd rather know if the engine was suffering than live in temporary bliss!!!

Go for a mechanical gauge. Mini 850s used to be a good source of Smiths oil pressure gauges.

[drofgum]

Hi,
For the earlier Spitfires with the chrome rimmed Jaeger gauges, the TR4 oil pressure gauge is a perfect match.
                                                               Cheers,
                                                               Paul

[leigh]

Ok im just fitting one to my car to can someone please confirm if these bits from James Paddock will be the bits i need for a Smith Mechanical gauge.

jps972 - Pipe and End fittings including fiber washers
jps974 - T Piece
jps973 - Oil pressure adaptor for T piece

Or does any one know of a cheaper place?

Thanks

Leigh

[WIMPUS]

3908 wrote:

Ok im just fitting one to my car to can someone please confirm if these bits from James Paddock will be the bits i need for a Smith Mechanical gauge.

jps972 - Pipe and End fittings including fiber washers
jps974 - T Piece
jps973 - Oil pressure adaptor for T piece

Or does any one know of a cheaper place?

Thanks

Leigh

That's normally everything you need to get it working, bought everything at the same place for mine at the time  :)
Don't think you can get it cheaper ..  :B

[yorkshire_spam]

IIRC I got those 3 parts as a kit from a mini-spares place or something? Not sure 100% sure though.

[leigh]

Ah ok will look at mini spares to see what i can find, oh doesnt seem much in it for price.

[Mj17]

Is it advisable?
Yes.  Wish I'd had one fitted BEFORE I started getting this strange noise...that turned out to be about 10PSI at hot idle :(

How do I fit one?
Simplest way is a mechanical kit.  Mine came from Paddocks - JPS971.  This gives you gauge, pipe and T-piece that replaces the oil pressure sender unit under the distributor.  I added an eBay special gauge mounting bracket that hangs off of the outside parcel tray mounting bolt.

[WIMPUS]

Seems at mini spares it's around 10£

Need to buy another kit and oil pressure gauge for testing the oil pressure in some cars  :)

[cook1e]

I fitted a smiths one from a mini to my GT6. I took the oil pressure gauge apart and used the orangey red needle from a scrap GT6 fuel gauge in place of the white mini needle and also painted the bezel black so it's a pretty good match to the other standard Smiths gauges fitted to Mk2s and early (rotoflex) MK3s.  I fitted it to a pod under the dash as I didn't want to cut a hole in my standard dash.

or late Mk3s there is an oil pressure gauge used on TR6s of the same era that matches, but they are pretty hard to find and expensive as you have to pay the "TR" tax applied to all TR 5 and 6 parts!

[leigh]

Ah thanks for help chaps, got the parts coming from James Paddock and i got a Radio plate made by LouisW off here back in March and going to fit it all in over xmas period along with a few other jobs which i will be asking about help with.  ;)