Hot Rods Where and how did you mount your tach?

I have a header panel above my windshield. My rearview mirrow is mounted in the middle of the panel. I mounted my tach on the left side of the mirrow. With the low roof it is at eye level & I also use it for my speedo.............

 

40 Ford: On a bracket under the left windshield moulding. Easy to read and functional
28 Ford: On a drop down bracket under the dash. Almost useless.

 

I have the same tach. mounted in the same location.

 

I’m out of town so I can’t get a photo, but I mounted mine where the clock used to be in my ‘50 Ford coupe. It’s not a race car, so I don’t need it right in front of my face.

 

Everyone knows FRICTION tape is traditional!

 

1958 Impala choices under the dash lip. The small arrow was the final choice.

Hello,

My brother did not want a tach for his new 1958 Impala as he learned to shift with the “sounds” of the motor, as taught to him by several well known speed shops in our neighborhood. (Reath Automotive, Joe Mailliard, Jack Ewell/Mickey Thompson) The time it takes to eyeball the tach is wasted time in all things involved in starting line procedures.

Plus, the only ones we saw in speed shops were the big chrome Sun Tachometers. They looked good shiny and commanded attention, but he did not want holes in his dash anywhere. It also got in the way on the column like some other applications.

There is just too much stuff to get lined up to race. (plus, a friend’s dad, a CHP officer said anything attached to the dash is not legal) So, the sounds are a part of vision forward and hand on the shifter. A great start with power and no tire slippage is a fast start. Then listening to the peak performance of the motor to shift to the next gear. The eyes are on the starting light or the drop of the arm at the elbow. The elbow moves first, not the hands up.

almost half the size of a chrome Sun Tachometer...

We had been going to the aircraft surplus yards near the local airport and jet building places. There were tons of surplus stuff around. But, the local yard guy, we came to know well, told us that there was a military surplus shop back on the outskirts of Bixby Knolls on the street near our house. We knew of the surplus store as we purchased some clothes, shoes and other stuff there.

When we got there, the store manager knew what we wanted and brought out some of his stuff. The small black tachometer was half the size of a large chrome Sun Tach and was the right size to fit under the dash lip. No extra drilling required. It even had a built in light...


When we held up the small black tach, the only thing it covered up was the right side end with the 120 mph. We pegged the 120 mark at the dragstrip, so that told us nothing. On the street, no one goes 120 mph. So, the small black tach fit perfectly.

Jnaki

The column shift did not hit or get close to the tach, so it shifted smoothly every time. When we were able to get the C&O Stick Hydro installed later, the stick just did its positioning for each gear or just in "R" for race… ha, just kidding… “D” was more like it. It shifted like no other and now, it was stomp on the gas and hang on in a straight line to the win.

The C&O Stick Hydro gave us the advantage over other stick shifts, ( 3 speed/4 speed) as they had to content with coordinating everything from the floor, pedals, and shifting levers. The Stick Hydro just jammed forward and did its own shifting when necessary. We could do manual shifting, but the power to gear ratio was too short and the advantage was to use the “D” for all gears in the quarter mile adventures. YRMV

 

Hose-clamped to the column. Ho-hum...

 

On the A pillar for my Austin gasser, but typical steering column mount for my '39 chev coupe.

 

I have an OT car and mounted the tach under the dash angled towards the driver.

 

On my steering column in my '42 Ford. Works well for me.

 

I have no imagination…

 

Whatever! That is a dam clean install! Block drilled and tapped?

 

I'll second that....very nice (and traditional).

 

I have one mounted on the steering column in my 30 pickup, almost useless down there. I've thought about moving it up on top of the dash rail but thought I'd look too much like a poser with it up there, cause it's not a drag car. I still might move it up anyway, just so I can see it better, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

 

I'll third it! Very clean

 

@Kelly Burns that was the first thing I noticed, too! Very clean!

 

Yes, with a strip of 3M industrial strength 2 sided tape for good measure…

 

in my 37 Chevy coupe, the best place for it.

 

nobody has mounted one from behind? behind the dash that is

 

I'm doing in dash but it's still in the early stages

 

For me, a tach should ideally be in the dash and directly in front of me, where uppity OEMs usually insist on putting the speedometer, and as big as is practical. The speedometer could almost be in some obscure corner, as far as I'm concerned. That works with the way I drive.

It's not part of any build I'm planning, but converting an interesting '50s speedometer with an unusual action into a tach, and then mounting a tiny speedometer in an under-dash accessory gauge panel is just the sort of thing my perverse stubbornness might do.

 

The Studebaker Hawk Dash had a place for a tach, the 38 went to the top center of the dash.

 

Where the factory put it...

 

Hose clamp on the column. I have one of those cigar shaped adjustable shift lights I'm thinking of using to replace the one here.

 

Nothing wrong with your tach mount, but I REALLY like your "shifter boot"! Great idea!

 

My car is absolutely no race car, so no need to keep an eye on the tach. Hid it low on the left side in the traditional "knee-knocker" position. I can glance at it through the steering wheel spokes if I want to see what I'm turning.

 

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