From the Lift: Radiator and Instrument Panel

I got up this morning and the first thing I did, after making myself a cup of coffee, was to go pick up Stuart and go look at a Triumph Stag that has been sitting up in a garage for quite sometime. To make a long story short, the woman that owned it HAD to get rid of it because she was about to move to Colorado. It was in rough shape in some ways but in others it was really good.

Since he is in the middle of restoring one and needs a number of parts, Stuart negotiated a deal to buy it. We'll go pick it up Sunday. After I got back from that early morning excursion, I got busy in the garage. I couldn't wait to see how the aluminum radiator I purchased from Summit Racing, and the high power, low wattage fan and shroud was all going to fit together. I got to work on that and sure enough, just like Ray Livingston said, it all fit fine.

The only minor issue I see is just finding an aftermarket flexible lower radiator hose, but that shouldn't be much of a problem. The whole thing is just fitted, I'll have to take it all back off when I start to put the engine in if for no other reason but to allow myself better access. It's pretty easy, 4 bolts and it out.

Next, I pulled the instrument panel off the shelf and after taking a really good look at it, I thought, "Ya know... I have gone this far with this little 'clean-up' project, that I should repaint the bezels on these gauges. I took them off. I noticed that the vinyl covering was extremely brittle. Heck. I'm going to replace it too.. I'll order it tomorrow.

I took the bezels off of the 4 small gauges, which was no easy task, but with Stuart's advice and oversight (did I mention that he had come over to continue working on his Stag) I got the little bas.... uh... bezels off. The rubber that isolates the metal ring from the glass was shot.. all hard and brittle.. it'll have to be replaced. At some point during this it dawned on me that these bezels have been on these instruments since I was 13 years old, no wonder they are all dried up and brittle!!! Seeing this I figured I needed to do the same thing to the speedometer and tach. The condition of the rubber rings on these gauges was worse.
They just crumbled and fell on the
floor in pieces. Sigh... "I'll just order some new ones", I thought. "I don't have any idea if you can even get these any more. I think possibly Nisonger Instruments would be the only possible place." I checked online and it appears that they do carry just what I need. no prices on their website, I'll have to call them Monday. I had to wash up then, Donna and I were going to meet Rodney and Melissa and Mike and Kristine at Papa's for pizza... our usual Friday night group (the Darby's couldn't make it, they had out-of-town guests). When I got back, I prepped and sprayed the bezels, they are drying now. I'm going to pack it in as soon as I lay in some pictures here. I'll figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow, tomorrow.