Guest Posted May 14, 2001 Share Posted May 14, 2001 My 63 Wildcat has no factory tach but I bought one and plan on installing it in a shorter console to accomadate bench seat. I would also like to install oil pressure voltmeter and temperature gauges. Those idiot lights drive me nuts. Any experience or suggestions in this field?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2001 Share Posted May 14, 2001 Use the gauges in conjunction with the idiot lights. I trust the the idiot lights more than my gauges. Idiot lights only come on when their is a major problem and you need to stop now. Gauges warn you that you need to take it easy or your going to break something. I bought cheap gauges, but I would recommend buying good ones if your going to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldtimer Posted May 16, 2001 Share Posted May 16, 2001 what i have been doing on my cars and some customers is getting the sending unit for a autometer pro light (oil pressure). you can choose between 30 psi or 15 psi (i would use the 15psi) and use some brass fittings to mate it to your block. wire it up (negitive to ground and positive goes to the stock gauge wire) and you oil light will come on at 15psi instead of 2-4psi. my light just so happens to come on at 1 qt. low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 16, 2001 Share Posted May 16, 2001 Good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Thats a great idea for oil pressure,is there anything similar for temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowLark Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 I'm not so sure that using an Autometer sending unit for your oil idiot light is a good idea.<P>I just installed three Autometer gauges and a tach in my '66 Skylark and find that the oil pressure runs from 12 to 24. Factory manual says 33 psi at 2400 rpm, so I'm a bit low.<P>However, 15 psi alert in any old engine may cause the light to come on at idle.<P>BTW, the installation took three nights, and I had to go to two hardware stores to make up the plumbing needed to fit the oil sending unit to my 340-4 block. A lot of crawling in very tight spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 What ever works for you. As you may already know you need 10 psi per thousand RPM minimum. So technically if you have 8 psi at 800 RPM idle then you have enough to get by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oldtimer Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 yea, you have to know how much pressure your running at idle and make a judgement call. i replaced a motor in a '51 ford (flathead) and for some dumb reason nobody repos the oil pressure sending unit for an electric gauge (old one was missing). where the sending unit goes there wasn't enough pressure to keep the light off when the oil got warm (checked with pressure gauge first). so i had to put a small gauge under the dash until i find a stock unit. but if you do use the autometer sending unit you MUST use the one for the PRO LIGHT, it's the only one for on/off (warning light) use. as for the question about water temp, i used the pro light water temp on a friends model a (350 sbc.....yea i know, but its not my car) and so far so good. the package say ranges of water temp on them (like 200-215), but to tell the truth we didn't test it first (ran out of time). i would wire it up to a 12v bulb, use some hot water and a kitchen thermometer to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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