Skip or someone else with old electric gauge books

GPster · May 30, 2004, 10:22:25 PM

When I'm looking for something like this, I get onto one of the restoration suppliers and they can usually come up with an NOS or direct replacement sender.

I would venture a guess that the senders would be the same right up to '54 'cause that's the last year GM was 6 volts.

Fuel gauges, on the other hand, can be current sensing OR voltage sensing back in teh six volt era.

Once they switched to 12 volts, all bets are off. Thanks for the advise, GPster

For instance, the '79 Super Six in my '72 Dart needs to have teh '72 temp sender, otherswie, teh temp gauge is grossly incorrect......and the car originally had a 225 slant six in the fir4st place. The '79 slant six sender isn't compatible w/ the '72 gauge though.[/quote]

GPster · June 01, 2004, 09:14:00 AM

On Skips advise I spent about 4 hours yesterday with the "Best of the Web" looking at GMC restoration sites and temperature gauge sites looking for a sender for my temperature gauge. They all seem to not believe that an electrical gauge existed or the new re-manufactured gauge panel with a 12v gauge with 240 degree temperature gauge high end with a new sender is what I should do. I understand the reasons for the higher temperatures and voltage but I'm a 56 year old working with a 50 year old engine and radiator and a 54 year old gauge. I'd like to keep the technologies pretty much the same. I'm not de-faulting anyones ideas but can someone give me a lead what company would have been manufacturing electrical temperature sending units back in the 6V time frame? If I could get a name maybe I could get a part number and more of an idea of what I'm looking for. I even was looking at going to a mechanical gauge on the cheap but luckily I was out-bid at the last minute. I say luckily because I corresponded with the seller and the "hot water" test didn't move the needle on the temperature gauge. I don't mean to be a bother (but I am). GPster

enjenjo · June 01, 2004, 12:36:09 PM

Some of the bigger GMC trucks in that era used electric gauges, you might look for a gauge panel out of one of them.

I do have a set of gauges from a 49 GMC with a good temp gauge, the fuel gauge is bad though.

GPster · June 01, 2004, 02:30:27 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"Some of the bigger GMC trucks in that era used electric gauges, you might look for a gauge panel out of one of them.

I do have a set of gauges from a 49 GMC with a good temp gauge, the fuel gauge is bad though.

Sumner wasn't sure what these gauges had come out of but the trucks that the guy was stripping for parts might have included some "Big" trucks. I was thinking along the same line because the amperage gauge is -50 0 +50. Most of the gauge lettering sets that I have seen only show D-0-C. Also, with the 0 - 60 oil pressure and the year that the gauges apparently are (due to the matching 80 mph speedo) There would have been no use to put more than the 0 - 30 oil pressure gauge on a "babbit pounder" . For simplicity I would like to use a mechanical gauge but the gauges I've seen, and the one I have from a '51 chevy truck, top out at 212 degrees and the scale on my gauge cluster goes to 220. Maybe I'm being fussy but if I'm driving with a mistake staring me in the face I'll probably forget what I'm doing and run off the road. Maybe I'll start looking at "Big" truck restoration places. Found an old Borg-Warner catalog but none of their listing go back into years that would have had 6V instruments. Of course, if these gauges were out of a early '50s "Duece and a Half" they would be 24V instruments. It evidentally was all together once, I'll see if I can put it together again. GPster

1FATGMC · June 01, 2004, 05:15:36 PM

Those gauges worked, I think, in my truck and it was 6 volts. The battery was no good so I would put a 12 volt battery in the truck to start it and then it ran on the 6 volt battery. The battery would take the charge and keep the truck running off of the generator, but the battery wouldn't hold a charge to start the truck the next time.

I ran it like that for about 13 years, but probably never more than 120 miles in any one year except for the year I was building my house and hauling materials a lot more. After that it was just used to drive to the dump and back (28 miles) a couple times a year.

I think the gauges all worked at that point. I gave the engine/trans to a neighbor when I starte to make the truck into a street rod. I haven't been in touch with him for over 10 years, so I don't know if he still has it and the senders are in it and working.

I still think you should hook the gauge up to a sender with a pot in line with the power supply (battery) and see what happens with it in some water of know temp. You should be able to try this out for about nothing.

c ya, Sum

GPster · June 01, 2004, 07:48:18 PM

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I still think you should hook the gauge up to a sender with a pot in line with the power supply (battery) and see what happens with it in some water of know temp. You should be able to try this out for about nothing c ya, Sum[/quote] I understand the theory and I agree withyour idea, unfortunately I have a computer not an ohm meter in front of me. I was originally very scared that I wouldn't be able to find a senser (sender) when I found out what ohm reading I needed, and I got even more cautious after Skip's advise to use the correct sender and a voltage drop with a vintage gauge. I'm still filing all suggestions, GPster

river1 · June 01, 2004, 08:35:42 PM

hey joe have you tried over at chevy talk. they cover all chevies in their different boards.

http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/ubbthreads.php

later jim

Skip · June 02, 2004, 11:15:26 PM

Quote from: "GPster".

I still think you should hook the gauge up to a sender with a pot in line with the power supply (battery) and see what happens with it in some water of know temp. You should be able to try this out for about nothing c ya, Sum

I understand the theory and I agree withyour idea, unfortunately I have a computer not an ohm meter in front of me. I was originally very scared that I wouldn't be able to find a senser (sender) when I found out what ohm reading I needed, and I got even more cautious after Skip's advise to use the correct sender and a voltage drop with a vintage gauge. I'm still filing all suggestions, GPster[/quote]

I've found that the relatively precise voltake output of the Radio Shack solid state device is far superior to any fixed resistance so that's what I've been using for years.

Before the Radio Shack unit came on the market I used to build tyhem out of spare parts but they were pretty big. The Radio Shack device is smaller than a cigarette package.

enjenjo · June 03, 2004, 12:47:59 AM

QuoteI've found that the relatively precise voltake output of the Radio Shack solid state device is far superior to any fixed resistance so that's what I've been using for years.

I.ve been using them on Skip's advise, and pleased with the results.

GPster · June 13, 2004, 02:46:09 PM

The latest on this quest has been to come up with a suspect; Delco-Remy part# 1993400 . It appears to be the only temperature gauge sender that shows in pre 1951 GMC trucks. I'm still looking around on and old Delco-Remy book or another manufacturer that crosses Delco... numbers to theirs. The part seems to be somewhat available but my information has enough holes in it for me to wait until I get more information. Any of you guys that has bought out any old parts houses, check your stock, you've got the first shot at me. I spent the morning moving 3 wheelbarrows of mulch away from my garage door so that I could open it and move 3 kids bikes out of the way so that I could set 6 bags of sacrete in so I could get them out of the weather. Typing requests for information is the most work I'm getting done on the truck but at least it's out of the rain. Tha Jeepster is not that lucky> GPster