gas tank/ fuel gauge

[Don Garrett]

so I had to get a gas tank fabricated and my fabricator is wondering about the fuel gauge system and frankly so am I. Here is a picture of the top of the tank where the gauge line, ( the small one ), and a picture of the gauge. Thanks for your input. 

[JFranklin]

Hydrostatic, look it up. early '30's Fords and other cars used them. Fluid can be had to restore them.

[viv w]

King Sealey fuel guage, common on a lot of cars, early to mid 30's Ford, 28/7 Nash, 35/6 Auburn and others used them. 

 Look up Curti on this forum, he sells the guage fluid and can probably send you some instructions on how to refill and calibrate your guage,

[alsancle]

You can also get parts from Staight Eight motors. Google for their website.

 

King Sealey gauges are horrible.

[Gary56]

Hello alsancle,I know what your saying level indicator and gage.  I have been looking for a king seeley level indicator for a couple of years.  So far I have not had any luck.  I understand to fill the tubes is major job.  Do you have any leads of where I might get a indicator?.  Please let me know.

[viv w]

Hi Gary56, what indicator part are you looking for, the tank unit or dash unit and for what car???

[Henry Holt]

I'm looking for a good King Seeley fuel gauge

 

 

Thank you

Henry

[Str8-8-Dave]

I just did a post under the Buick threads/Me and My Buick/My 1931 Buick-The Saga Begins on the AACA website..  Some time ago I bought a King Seeley repair kit with capillary tube from tank to gauge with fittings an a vial of red oil from Straight Eight.  I just discovered Straight Eight carries some panel gauge parts.  They are outrageously expensive but where else can you get this stuff:. 

 

King Seeley & Hobson Fuel Gauge Archives - Straight Eight (straight-eight.com)

 

I found reproduction hydrostatic fuel tank senders at KM Lifestyle who builds them to order. 

 

KM Lifestyle Mfg. (508) 792-9500 Antique Automotive Parts, Antique Radios, Fuel Senders, Ignition Coils, Temperature Senders, Electrical Generator Rebuilds (mykmlifestyle.com)

 

The previous custodian of my car restored the chassis but tossed the nice brass fuel lines replacing with steel.  That might have been ok but they tried to use the original brass double compression fittings which are useless on steel lines so I made all new brass fuel lines from tank to fuel pump to carburetor.  I got replacement double compression fittings from Blackhawk Supply.  

 

Double Compression Brass Fittings – Blackhawk Supply

 

Brass fuel line in 8ft lengths came from Online Metals

 

3/16" OD x 0.02" Wall x 0.1475" ID Brass Round Tube-H80 Seamless | Online Metals

 

I think I figured out a pretty good process for neatly filling the gauge reservoir with the red oil they use and that is discussed in my last post.  

 

This system IS A PITA to find parts for, work on and repair BUT when it works correctly it works well.

 

Last winter I ordered a replacement hydrostatic sending unit for my 31 Buick 8-66S from KM Lifestyle Mfg. in MA.   I had a time getting the lines disconnected from 

unit in the car because it was installed and plumbed with the body off.  The fitting arrangement could not be reached with the body on the car.  You can see I fatigued

off the tank to gauge capillary tube off at the fitting just to get the tank out of the car.

 

The original unit was falling apart.

 

This is the replacement unit I ordered from KM Lifestyle and it actually came with longer straight tubes for the fitting connections, which would have worked because

they were long enough to bring the fittings thru the oval hole in the frame cross member that the tank and gauge unit hide behind.  I elected to add the curved tubes

in this picture so the fuel line and capillary tube were not suspended far away from the cross member behind the axle.

 

New unit installed on the tank.

 

The other problem was the previous owner trashed the original brass gas lines and installed steel lines.  I had 3 issues with that arrangement, 1- the brass double

compression fittings are ineffective on steel line because they are softer than the steel line and cannot form the collar at the end of the line required to safely secure

the line connections.  2- brass is a much better choice for fuels containing any ethanol, they won't rust out.  3- steel lines on a 90yr old car don't look correct. So I

bought 5/16 0.020 wall brass tubing in 8ft lengths from Online Metals and spent hours forming new lines in brass.  The first line I made was the front line from fuel

pump across the bell housing to the passenger side frame rail.

 

So starting from the tank connections here's how the new brass lines run

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main chassis line connects to the front line at the double compression fitting shown here.

 

The front line runs from the passenger side frame rail across the bell housing to the fuel pump inlet.

 

The front line dodges around clutch and brake returns springs.  It does not contact the springs or their bracket.  Note the frame routing clip, left side of picture.

 

You can see the connection of the front line to the fuel pump inlet and the fuel pump outlet to carburetor line in this picture.

 

I took my gauge unit out of the instrument panel because the glass tube, which was broken and repaired, leaked at the repair.  I used Smooth-On industrial epoxy

to repair the broken tube and the Seeley red oil dissolved it.  It's the first time I ever had a failure with the Smooth-On epoxy.  fortunately I found another reservoir

and glass tube unit in some spare parts I got with the car and installed it in the instrument panel gauge unit.

 

Pictured below are a glass syringe and line that work very well for accurately filling the gauge reservoir in the car.  The wrench is covered in vinyl electrical tape to

keep it from shorting out the feed terminal on the back of the instrument light switch while working on the gauge line fitting.

 

the car has not been driven since I did all the fuel gauge system repairs so the gauge unit was filled to the Empty mark.  As soon as the car is driven fuel sloshing in

the tank just change the gauge reading to reflect fuel level in the tank.

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Str8-8-Dave
Arrange pictures, captions (see edit history)