Smith's temp gauge question

[RestoCreations]

My temp gauge stopped working yesterday, so decided to take a look and see why. I removed the capillary tube from the intake and not realizing the tube was soldered in place, decided to heat it up with a torch so i could see if the gauge would move when heat was applied directly to the tube. Well guess what... the capillary tube flew off once the torch melted the solder. I just read that the capillary tube was filled with ether and that once it is punctured or the seal is broken, the whole unit must be replaced.
Here is my question...is there not some way that i can make this gauge work without the capillary tube filled with ether? Probably not, but i thought i would ask anyway. Should have gone with electrical gauges-doh!

Thanks