I will be at Beaulieu on the first day, Sept 2, with a couple of buddies. We’re staying at The Newton Farmhouse nearby. My plan is to meet any Pre-XK people who might be there. And, buy parts for the '37 SS 1.5 Saloon. Which is running pretty well. I am looking for: Carb or carb parts (Solex 30 FAI???), gearshift knob (I have a nice repro, but since I will be there…), headlamp adjusting/tightening parts (the adjusters are worn and cannot prevent the headlamps from wandering), and the rear bumper badge (this one has been rechromed enough that the SS legend is not distinct.) Also some tool kit items. And a fuel gauge.
Are there some specific vendors that I should seek out first? Anyone want to meet top and say hello?
I have been going religiously every year for more than 20 years but am not going this year. Unfortunately there used to be several stalls specialising in our cars but I can only think of one now. That is the stall of Derek Sharpe and Tony Larkins that I think you will find at about R826. This may be rather approximate because I gave up carrying the Beaulieu catalogue in 2002.
The bumper badge is smaller on the 1 1/2 litre cars . However the area around the"S "Ss can be built up with layers of masking tape , carefully and the end result use to mould for casting in bronze, Then file /mill ba ck the flats. I have done this in the past for the 3 1/2 size badges
The gear shift knobs are mushroom shaped with raised writing 1.2.3.4 and R- lift]"on the top face, excellent repros are available . moulded from originals.
I’d be a bit surprised if I did’t have a petrol gauge for one of these , although it’s a bit dark to look now,
Despite my confidence- I found that the 3 double SS instruments I had lying around were all ammeter/ oil and no petrol gauge/ water
However what is the issue with yours ? If you have the instrument with face , it should be repairable or alternative this arrangement of several small instruments in one dial was fairly common and i see similar instruments for other cars on ebay uk regularly , Not particularly expensive
One could just use the mechanism from one of those and your face . And discard the remaining gauges in the bought set.
The fuel gauge has never reported near accurately, so I just fill up at every opportunity. Full and empty are not far apart on the gauge. I don’t expect precision, but something better than this. I will bring photos and measurements of the original to Beaulieu.
The gear shift knob IS a repro, made by one of the better shops in the southern hemisphere. So as long as it is ~faithful to the original, I’m happy.
And the rear bumper badge has been through the chroming process enough that he edges are smooth. If I find a more distinct one, great.
I’d also try with a fresh sender first, or some resistors before fooling with the gauge.
I won’t be at Beaulieu, although I would want to (missus’ birtheday on 1st and we will be in Goodwood the next weekend) but I would love to hear about it.
It is my belief that the guage can be calibrated to the sender I don’t believe the sender can be altered.
The coils on the guage have two angled slots to adjust the coils and by filling tank to say 1/4 volume by measurement and then adjust guage to read 1/4 then full to half and same with full.
may need adjusting several times.
beware the wire on the coils is thinner than human hair!
We did the fuel guage in my original XK120 back in 1977
“If your fuel gauge has a linearity problem then I’d be inclined to suspect the tank render rather than the gauge”
Yep, I did exactly the same thing on my 120 many years back. I clamped the sender to the steering wheel, ran extension wires to it, and so could move the float up and down while adjusting the positions of the two coils on the back of the gauge so the needle read full and empty.
You can adjust the float by bending the wire so it moves about the height of the tank, allowing for the sender being set down in the top a bit.
I tried a couple of years ago to bench-adjust the gauge with the sender. It seemed to work ok, that is, the fully-descended position on the sender gave a near empty reading on the gauge and so on. And the little coils seem very fragile indeed!
I measured the tank depth and adjusted the sender rod length accordingly.
At this time the gauge does not report less than 1/4 tank even when it’s lower than that. I will try it again and in any event if I find a correct gauge at Beaulieu I will grab it.
