Triumph Repair: TR2 temperature, temp gauge, voltage stabilizer

Question
Hi, I thought my TR2 engine was running hot, within 5 minutes of start up the gauge was up in the red.  Having put an accurate temperature sensor & measuring instrument on the thermostat housing I realised that I was getting an incorrect reading on the gauge.  I had a spare gauge and I tried that, it also read hot; at an instrument reading of 70-75, the gauge was reading 110. Is this just a defective sender?   My gauge is not original TR2, but a Smiths gauge from a Herald. I also read an article about spitfires saying you need a voltage stabiliser connected through the gauge or it will read high.

Answer
Hi David,
I have no idea what you have on your car but the TR-2 never had an electrical temp gauge. You need to find out what you have for a gauge and sending unit first. If it is a Tri Harold gauge and sending unit, you need to find out if what ever year Harold the components came from and then find out if that Harold used a voltage stabilizer. I have no info on the Harolds but most older British cars did use a voltage stabilizer to drop the voltage for the gauges down to 10v. The sending unit, gauge and voltage must match to get an accurate reading.
Howard