The next project on the list was to spruce up the dash-mounted binnacle that houses an inclinometer, a temperature gauge and a battery voltage meter, which had been damaged by a previous owner and no longer bolted into place on top of the dash. I also wanted to take a closer look at the inclinometer, which if believed, indicated that Digby was upside down on its roof..!
As the white plastic lugs through which the bolts were was mounted had been snapped off, leaving the whole unit ‘free-floating’, the binnacle was easy to remove by just unplugging the electrics. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that some of the missing parts of the broken white plastic were still held in place under the bolts that screwed into the metal brace at the top of the dashboard, which I carefully removed as there was just enough plastic that I might be able to superglue the parts back to the main body of the binnacle.
As the white plastic lugs through which the bolts were was mounted had been snapped off, leaving the whole unit ‘free-floating’, the binnacle was easy to remove by just unplugging the electrics. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that some of the missing parts of the broken white plastic were still held in place under the bolts that screwed into the metal brace at the top of the dashboard, which I carefully removed as there was just enough plastic that I might be able to superglue the parts back to the main body of the binnacle.
I carefully disassembled the binnacle housing, firstly removing the clip-off rear surround and then taking off the clear plastic screen, after which I was able to take the inclinometer out for inspection. It was toast… The housing within which the ball-like inclinometer floated was cracked and was empty of the lightweight oil on which it floated, making it easy to see why it no longer worked and why it would not be possible to fix.
I picked up the project a few weeks later as it always takes a while for items ordered off of eBay to arrive in New Zealand. After disassembling the new inclinometer from its housing, it was strangely an almost perfect size and shape to fit into space in the Delica’s binnacle, being just about 1 cm short and would need some sort of space to help it sit off the back of the white binnacle enclosure.
Once screwed back together, just the pressure of the clear plastic screen on the new inclinometer kept it firmly in place and it actually looked pretty good. I also glued the missing parts of the white plastic binnacle housing back into place and also strengthened the holes by supergluing a couple of small metal washers to each side of the plastic, and bolted it back into Digby, clipping the grey plastic rear housing into place.
I started looking for a replacement inclinometer unit but working 2nd hand ones were as rare as hen's teeth, and I couldn’t find a new assembly at any reasonable price, so I started to look at alternative inclinometers that I could possibly cannibalise and fit into the binnacle. I found a small plastic mechanical, (not oil-suspended) inclinometer on eBay, and as it was so cheap I thought it would be worth giving it a try.
I picked up the project a few weeks later as it always takes a while for items ordered off of eBay to arrive in New Zealand. After disassembling the new inclinometer from its housing, it was strangely an almost perfect size and shape to fit into space in the Delica’s binnacle, being just about 1 cm short and would need some sort of space to help it sit off the back of the white binnacle enclosure.
I had some small plastic sheets spare, (about 3cm square), that with some trimming could be made to sit in the back of the enclosure to support the new inclinometer at the right depth, allowing the domed top of it to fit snugly into the circular hole in the clear plastic screen.
Once screwed back together, just the pressure of the clear plastic screen on the new inclinometer kept it firmly in place and it actually looked pretty good. I also glued the missing parts of the white plastic binnacle housing back into place and also strengthened the holes by supergluing a couple of small metal washers to each side of the plastic, and bolted it back into Digby, clipping the grey plastic rear housing into place.
{Overall the binnacle looked reasonably good and was now firmly mounted to the dash. Whilst the replacement mechanical inclinometer was not perfect, it filled the binnacle well and at least didn’t indicate that Digby was on its roof…. Long term I may swap the inclinometer out for water temperature or oil pressure gauge, but for now, my ‘ghetto’ inclinometer will do.
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