Chris, most of the early Bs used a non-electric capillary tube style temp
gauge, this capillary tube is a thin copper tube wrapped in a metal
spiral to protect it, and filled with a temperature sensing fluid
like alcohol. It seems that this capillary tube contacted the starter
solenoid hot connection, resulting in a short to ground through the metal of
the
tube. Knowing how much amperage is present at the solenoid, I'm sure
this fried the capillary tube, releasing the alcohol and rendering
the gauge inoperative. I'm not surprised this could happen, these
Smiths capillary tubes are usually a standard length, which means
there is extra length in the MGB engine bay, this is usually wrapped
in a series of loops at the back of the engine (fairly close to the
solenoid.
Hope this helps, Paul K.
Paul D. Kile
kile_paul@aphub.aerojetpd.com
(916) 355-5162
GenCorp Aerojet
POB 13222
Dept 5784 Building 20019
Sacramento, California 95813-6000
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