VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Boyce moto meter

Hello

Is there anybody that rebuilds boyce moto meters?


Thanks Terry

You can purchase a "kit" to repair one. Define rebuild.

Hello

What I mean by rebuild is the top on mine flips open to fill. The seal is bad. There is a triangle on the front that has had some writing on it that I would like to replace.

Thanks Terry

You are talking about the radiator cap and not the MOTORMETER. You can purchase a gasket from Gary Wallace.

Does the front shield (with the writing) have three screws to allow it to be removed? I have several shields with initials that could replace yours if it is removable.

Numerous companies made radiator caps for the early cars. Some with a hole to mount the MOTORMETER and others that were drilled by the customer and a MOTORMETER installed. I have several examples.

Yes it is the cap. And it does have 3 screws. How do I get with Gary. This is old car stuff is new to me.

Thanks for all of your help

Terry

To contact Gary Wallace, go here: http://www.20schevyparts.com/

:) :grin:

Gary Wallace have moto meters in stock, even with Chevrolet logo, as well as some spares! But the glas thermometer to the Junior meter (fitted for 1916-1928) is not sold separately, while the bigger thermometer is delivered separately.

As far as I know the Junior meter (smaller size) was used for Chevrolets and similar brands, while the Senior meter was used for Buick, Cadillac etc.

Do not buy Junior (small) moto meters on eBay, not working (you can see the red stripe inside the glas all the time). A new one cost only $ 25,-- 30,-, and that is working, too.

Hey Fellas,
My experience with motormeters that are 'all the way red' is all good. So if you find an original one ( always better than reproduction I feel)then buy it.
The red alcohol fluid seems to go all the way up the thermometer when the meter is tipped on its side during storage. I have resurrected several simply by very securely holding it by the large end in my hand and throwing it as hard as I can downwards to the ground with the strongest flicking action I can manage, but of course making sure not to let go! If you are a champion flicker with the right technique, then the fluid will shake back down to the bulb. The several that I have done now work perfectly. I have done both the senior and junior models, some being a little more resistant to flicking than others, but all eventually went back down. Whether all you find will respond the same I cannot say, but it does need a decent and powerful action. It also works on those that have a broken line of red fluid with 'air' gaps in them.If you feel that the meter may slip from your hand then tie it to your wrist with a bit of string as a safety stop. I have found this helps you to flick it even harder because you do not have to put any effort into holding it, the string/cord taking most of the downwards thrust.
This is the same technique as those medical thermometers we used to have as kids and Mum did the same each time to get the mercury back down to the base bulb. Remember?
And of course tell the vendor you are buying the motormeter from that its no good mate and not worth anything with the red jammed all the way up- needs specialist treatment to fix. And now you know just what that might be.
Good Luck, and don't throw your arm joints out in the process.
Geoff.

Nice to read gmccorkelle's comment here. Even when we're aged it is possible to get new experiences in the hobby. Hopefully he is right about many old motometers, so they may come into use again after his powerful "adjustments".

Thanks!!

..and no telling how many of these Moto-meter repair experts will lose money because of this newly revealed secret process!Once i went to a R.V. dealer repair shop to drop off a teenager that I picked up. He was hitch-hiking to work. I went inside with him since I needed something for our R.V. and in the back room where he worked was 15 or twenty of the R.V. propane -electric refrigerators on a shelf upside down. I asked him what the deal was. He said that is how we repair them. It seems that in the ammonia cooling jobs that sometimes some debris would fall down and cover the orifice and the thing would quit cooling. They would let them sit upside down for a few days or a week and the debris would fall off the orifice and when turned upright the thing would be cooling again. They charges $25 to remove and reinstall the fridge, and $50 to "repair" it.
About a year later my 3 year old fridge in the R.V. quit cooling, I took it out set it for a week upside down and when reinstalled it worked perfectly for another 3 years.

He is not lieing about this check for yourselves!

Thanks for the pic and instructions, John! This procedure works as is evident in the pics below.

Cheers, Dean

Before bouncing:



After bouncing:

Unless the tube the liquid is in has cracked there is no place for it to evaporate to, it's a sealed container. Generally the old original moto-meter's are better temp gauges then the new repo. The new ones are more for show then use.
It's one of those things, they make the new Jr/Midget Moto-meter's but you can't buy parts to repair one. Go figure.

Not sure I would do that to an old instrument but tapped carefully should be OK.
I have done the same thing simply by holding it tight and shaking very hard, just like the old thermometers we used to have shoved under our tongues as kids. But do not let it slip or you will have bits everywhere!

If you read the boyce instructions I have done this to 2 meters so far and have been successful. I rather not throw my arm out or the meter flying and there goes my $$$.