Technical Do you want to run a 12 Volt tachometer on 6 volt positive ground?

If your car truly has been changed to 12 volts, you do not need something like this. It is possible to retain the original coil in a 12 volt conversion , usually by adding something called a "ballast resistor". This brings all of the voltages in line for a 12 volt system, allowing a regular 12 volt tach to be wired up normally. This is ***uming that your car has been wired up negative ground. The polarity is almost always changed from positive ground to negative ground when a vehicle is converted to 12 volt operation, but you never know what might have happened in the past. Check your polarity first, and if you car is negative ground, you're good to go. If it's positive ground..... Well, get back to me and we can go from there.

One last thing here; If your car all of a sudden starts to run badly, missing, etc. The first thing to suspect is the coil. Most people don't understand the current and resistance requirements to make the ignition work properly. If not set up just right, you'll end up with burned points and coil problems.

You may not need my tach driver, but how's about one of my severe duty "Trash Can" condensers? They not only work great they add a touch of panache' to your distributor.

 

FWIW, one of those truck guys, with straight cut gears and non-synchro trans who would be in your tach buyers market. 6V positive ground. We'll see where I need to go after I get my truck on the road, but I am curious. I am also waiting for the cheaper alternative unit that was allegedly built.

 

"LeoH", Tell you what; why don't you PM Mr. "d2_willys" and ask him of you can purchase one of his units and get back to me.

If you are interested, I still have 1 unit left from my original production run. I plan on making more this fall. I have been busy and haven't had time to push this product.

 

Oh yeah, for the third time in over a year. Mr. "d2_willys", I'm still waiting.

 

Hey, Tubman;
Just saw this thread. Did see your comment to me on other speed-parts/mfgrs thread. Thank you.
Stude guys might buy, but most are "caso". (Cheap-***ed Studebaker owners. Their term, not mine... ). There are a lot of guys into the hi-po stuff, they will pay a fair price for good stuff. Esp if it solves a problem, like say replacement for things NLA, + being easy to hide.
Since Stude used S.W. gauges in 6v up to '55, n 12v 56 n later, & the tachs used the dizzy-electric-drive, will your box work in it's place? Also maybe I missed it, but will this allow a 6v pos-grd tach in a 12v neg-grd system?You mentioned in beginning of thread, that you didn't have one of these tachs? I can loan you at least one 6v n 12v, if you need them.
There are at least 3 places to advertise in Studie land.

Turning Wheels club mag
Antique Studebaker Club club mag

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forumdisplay

http://studebakerswap.com/studebaker.shtml
http://racingstudebakers.com

1st 2 would cost for ads, but product mention probably could be had for free, at least once.
3rd guess no cost, don't know for sure.
4th no charge
5th pretty sure no cost.

HTH. If you don't know anyone in the Stude clubs/forums, I might be able to help. It's just barely possible someone (vendor or dealer) might want to do a min volume order. I'm willing to make introductions, iffen you'd like.

Also VW guys might be a good target for the tach-box, maybe the IH guys too.

d2_willys:
Since you posted on this thread, this is fair game:
I & others would like to see what you do, & can do(Seriously). Start a thread, esp if you are willing to create helpful solutions. Although it sounds to me like tubman is giving you permission, *&* a dare - to post on his thread, your competing product, I encourage you to do so. (Enquiring minds *need* to know... ). Ryan himself opened a thread for this a couple of days ago. Compe***ion 'twixt products doesn't *have* to be nasty. Different strokes for different folks. Lots have different needs/wants - there's lots of room. If you can build quality product for that low cost - I've got more than a couple ideas.
Wish I had your knowledge/talent, it's not something I understand easily, to say the least.

Marcus...

 

Marcus,

Thanks for your reply. First off, with the scarcity of 6V positive ground tachs and the universal availability of 12 volt negative ground units, it would be pointless to make such a converter. I am absolutely sure that ours would NOT work in such a situation. I am sure such a thing could be made, but there would be absolutely no market for it. I have posted on the "General Studebaker-specific Forum" and the "P15-D24" Forum, which has resulted in ONE sale. From my experience, it is not "CASO" 's as you suggest, but "CAFP" 's (Cheap-***ed Forum Posters). I have had lots of comments and feedback from the forums, which have resulted in a few sales (not enough to sustain my operation). However, once I started listing on eBay the sales of the condensers took off. Once I get that under control, I'm going to have another batch of Tach Driver units built and list them on eBay. I have recently set up a web site hawking these units as well.

As to "d2_willys" (and a few others); they come on here and piss on my breakfast with unfounded and unrealistic claims. Then they disappear to never be seen again. I have a good product for which I think there is a genuine need out there, but these characters have sowed enough doubt (especially about pricing) to have a dampening effect on my market. If you want an example, check out "LeoH" 's post about three back. I never expect to see anything from "d2_willys" about this because what he says he can do is impossible I know because I have done it and know what is involved.

 

"CAFP" 's (Cheap-***ed Forum Posers)

 

do not worry about them after reading about their abilities Elon called them to work with him.the new upgrades should be released shortly at least that is what he is telling his investorsor it was them telling him

 

Maybe we can bet him back in here?

@d2_willys

I'd like to see what he came up with.

 

I don't think you'll see him. Getting something to run is just the beginning. After we had our prototype working, we had some problems with voltage spikes and other transient electrical anomalies that wiped out the board and even one of the 12 volt tachs. We had to add a whole additional layer of electronics to deal with these. If you are going to make one of these, it has to be able to operate under the adverse conditions caused by generators and solid core plug wires. The so-called "Pertronix problem" that many 6 volt users have encountered reared it's ugly head several times in the development process.

 

It's been almost a year! I am doing all right with my tachometer drivers, as there a lot of reasonable people out there. I am wondering about how "d2-Willys" is doing with his project? I really hate poseurs!"

 

How do I purchase one of these setups?

 

Just start a conversation on here.

 

I made the comment about Studebaker because the 1955 Stude Speedster came with a factory tach running on 6volt positive ground. My 1955 paper route Commander came with a Sun tach and the sender mounted under the hood. Just got lucky at the estate auction and out bid the guy that just wanted the gauges or they would have been on eBay 10yrs or so ago.

 

I was looking over my old threads and I came across this one.

"d2_willys" - Still waiting.......

 

I read a post by Tubman back in 2017 about a 6 volt tachometer kit that you were thinking of producing. Did you follow through and if so how can I get one and what is the cost. If you did not can you point me towards a 6 volt tach. I would like a digital LED 3 in gauge with a rev light if possible

 

I read a post by Tubman back in 2017 about a 6 volt tachometer kit that you were thinking of producing. Did you follow through and if so how can I get one and what is the cost. If you did not can you point me towards a 6 volt tach. I would like a digital LED 3 in gauge with a rev light if possible

 

At one time, we made a "black box" that would allow just about any 12 volt tach to be run on 6 volts negative ground. Although the project was a success, it was not economically viable, so it was abandoned about 8 years ago after the production of 20 prototypes. Unfortunately, all of those are spoken for.

Six volt tachometers are available from a company called "Westach". They are serviceable units that would look more at home on John Deere or Oliver in my opinion. I just took a gander at Google and to my surprise, quite a few 6 volt tachometers now come up. I found the Sun look-a-like from Bosch and one from Mooneyes to be of particular interest. Alas, I saw nothing like you want.

 

I have a Westach waiting to go in my 6 volt Buick, albeit negative ground. Im glad theres a company making them, they were great to buy from, it seems like a quality unit, and with the beige face sort of matching the gauge cluster, it should look so out of place, but if i was flipping through a catalog looking for a 12v tach, it probably wouldnt have been the first choice looks wise. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but i would hate a little extra character or different font. If i ever run out of stuff to do, i would consider trying to figure out how to make a replacement face, maybe that matches a little closer, but as long as it works, i'll be happy with it.

 

Really. Check out Google; there's a lot of interesting stuff that didn't exist a year ago.