Behind the scene dashboard improvements

by Douglas Jack

"Have you ever had your hand in the never, never region behind a TR dashboard with the intent of reaching the round nuts holding the bracket to either the tachometer or the speedometer, only to find that the nuts are very, very tight against the bracket and that your fingers cannot unloosen them?"

As shown in the picture, here is a simple trick to alleviate this problem. It is a brass spacer, 5/16 in O.D. x 1/4 in I.D. x 1/2 in long. Any material may be substituted for the brass one (I happened to have a short piece of tubing). Installing the nuts and spacers will enable you to have a better grip on the nuts. With the spacers in place, removing the nuts will also be easier. It will be helpful to run a tap through the nuts and also chase the threads on the instruments for greater success in the future. For those who have access to a metal turning lathe or a machine shop, here is an alternate one-piece design that will also make it easier to install and/or remove the nuts with only one hand. I hope you find this tip helpful.

Douglas A. Jack