Guest Hooli Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 He plays by sense of smell PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momentary Lapse Of Reason Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 "Ain't got no distractions" PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 This morning I decided to start on the fuel gauge. Only one side of this is burned up. However, argh! Smaller gauge wire. Thankfully it's the same as the wire I bought, 36AWG. Executive decision made to re-wind the fuel gauge for 6V, especially as the other bobbin doesn't undo and is still in good shape. Plus, it'll limit the current through the sender unit, which is made from fragile wire. The label on it gives big warning about hooking it up wrong else it'll be burned out. Unwound it, counted 1055 turns. Cleaned the metal up. Wind wind wind. Much better! Cleaned the paint out of the frame as it was kinda burned and flaky also. New coat of Heirloom White, which looks a funny color because the light in that side of the garage quit working. Fitted the coil back in and soldered it to the terminal lug. Tested on 6V through the regulator with random resistance lamp hooked up to it. Works well! Phil Skizzer, Junkman, Squire_Dawson and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebargeken Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Frankly rather impressively amazing. jumpingjehovahs and PhilA 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Had a bit of a go at the horn push. That didn't fix it. He plays by sense of smell"Ain't got no distractions"Can’t hear no buzzers or bells. PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserone Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 This thread is a constant source of awe LightBulbFun and PhilA 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Calibration! Spent a bit of time pfaffing with the coil positions to get things right. 30 ohms (full). 15 ohms (halfway mark) 0 ohms (empty) And powered down on the stop. Getting somewhere now! Next up, pull the wiring out and test the fuel sender. There should be a reading as the tank has a certain amount of fuel in it. Phil adw1977, scdan4, LightBulbFun and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Dentressangle Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Beautiful work. Nice to see gauges which can be restored, given some ingenuity, skill and research. LightBulbFun and PhilA 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 He plays by sense of smellwhen the missus shouts dinner he runs for the kitchen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Bon Phil SiC, LabRat, adw1977 and 15 others 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatfoolish Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Calibration! Spent a bit of time pfaffing with the coil positions to get things right. 30 ohms (full). Not exactly ideal for upping the voltage to 12v, that; half an amp is a lot for frilly little bits of wire, and presumably the current goes up with the fuel going down? Or is it a voltage divider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 It's a voltage divider. So, I'm keeping that one standard to original (130mA) so it's calibrated for 6.0 volts, rather than the original 6.3 on the vehicle's regulator. Should be a bit more accurate now. Phil LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 Well, as it turns out, it's now verging on impossible to get the original engine temperature sender unit.That, and the original ones have a habit of being wildly unpredictable and unreliable. On the scale: 130 ohms is cold60 ohms is normal5 ohms is OMGHGF So, I went to AutoZone. I found a sender unit with the correct size and thread pitch. It's for a 1972 Chevy C10 pickup truck. 1500 ohms is cold700 is normal250 is OMGHGF What I'm going to do is rewind the coils to match the (more modern and easily available) sender unit. Phil somewhatfoolish, DeeJay, tooSavvy and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 Well, I spent until 11pm in the garage last night screwing about with the temperature gauge.I unwound the "pull" coil by eye, got it to read for about 600 Ohms, unwound it a bit more and completely upset the balance. So I rewound it again and will need to work on that a bit more. What took the time was resetting the needle/core/return weight position as I caught it with my finger and upset it all so the needle wouldn't return and was also pointing at the wrong points for minimum and maximum scale. I think I have a handle on that now. It's probably going to be quite a fine adjustment, looking at it. Phil somewhatfoolish and Joloke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 I'm trying. I don't know if I'll be able to make the gauge sensitive enough for this sender. Thankfully there are others available that don't have quite as wide a range of resistance from hot to cold that physically fit. Failing that I put it back as it was and gut one of these senders and put a thermistor in that with as similar a curve to the 50's original that I can get. Phil Joloke and tooSavvy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 I have a "nearly right" sender unit coming in on Tuesday. However, on a side note I did find a picture of an original (bASe spec) interior, complete with the grab handle rope.You can see the top part of the horn ring being broken is common... That and the hood latch pull. That's what I need to duplicate. Apparently it was a chain inside a plastic tube with the cover sewn up over it. Also this is the original green for the engine. I think it will clash with the blue. Thoughts? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooSavvy Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Use 'Austin Green'..... *I recall a colour like that on Deltic ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 chain in plastic sleeve- bike lock if long enuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 Maybe. It might just stay black. You can see the fuses though- one gray, the other painted some gaudy yellow. I put out feelers for a spare. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 chain in plastic sleeve- bike lock if long enuff?Good call that man. Hadn't thought of that. A wire rope version may be better suited, because thinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort1977 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Pretty sure you can buy chain and sleeve by the foot at home despot or the blue one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 I'll have a shufty next time I'm there- I didn't look at the mounting anchors yet to see how it's meant to be fixed in place. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 That engine-green looks much like the colour British military vehicle engines were painted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 That and Onan generators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightBulbFun Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 That and Onan generators. and invacars (tho it looks a little green for that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Dentressangle Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Looks like the Land Rover engine colour called 'Duck Egg Blue' as well, AKA Light Admiralty Grey: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500ml-Land-Rover-Light-Admiralty-Grey-Duck-Egg-Blue-Engine-Paint-High-Temp-/252067571663 PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat_the_cat Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 I'm trying. I don't know if I'll be able to make the gauge sensitive enough for this sender. If your nearly right unit isn't good enough, you could give in and buy something like this (assuming you have similar your side of the pond). https://www.spiyda.com/fuel-gauge-wizard-mk3.html I have one for the fuel gauge on the Stellar, which works well after I gave up trying to match it by adding series and parallel resistors! Skizzer, LightBulbFun, Scruffy Bodger and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 That's a handy device. I would probably be able to use something like that- I had tested before and managed to get the gauge to read 0-600 ohms but much past that and it wouldn't pull over smoothly and had a large amount of hysteresis, meaning the linearity was gone. It would lift up a little then snap over in the last 50 ohms or so.Luckily it's not a very dynamic needle (unlike an oil pressure gauge or volt meter, say) so getting it balanced is the key. It's a case of experimenting- I have a bit of wire left spare yet to try. Phil LightBulbFun, mat_the_cat and Scruffy Bodger 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeJay Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Just watching fast and loud.A 54 Chevy belair has the same type of rope behind the front seats. PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 Almost- the fittings for the non bench seat are slightly different, that was brought in for the 1953 model year. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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