Anybody have input as to the better setup? Prices don't seem to be that much of a difference, depending on brand. Electrical is probably easier to hook up but are they as reliable as mechanical?
I prefer electrical. I think they are just as reliable as mechanical and installation is not only easier, it looks better to (in my humble opinion). And it is easier to get an electronic spedometer "on the money" than messing around figuring ratios and locating the correct gears.
Now days the majority of guages seem to be electric. I think that they are very reliable now, (maybe not used to be). With electric you don't have to bring any liquid (oil, fuel, whatever) inside the car, therefore no leaks inside to worry about. With mechanical temp you have to be very careful to not twist off or damage the capillary tube. Electric temp, just run a wire.
On Temp, i like mechanical. It responds way faster. Let's say your car's running hot in traffic, and now it clears up, you're back up to speed and curious how that's affecting your temp. Seems mechanical's right now, but electric shows a drop in temp AFTER you've got stuck in traffic again (delayed reading) when you know dam well she has to be heating up a gain, not going down in temp. I hope that "reads" right? Also, if your car's hot, and you let it sit for a bit, it's nice to see the temp come way down NOW when you restart the motor. Electric won't do that for up to a couple minutes after the restart. Also, nice to lean in and see temp with key off.
I like mechanical gauges except for Tachs. I really don't have a reason why though,it's just one uh those things I guess.
Deffently electric. I had an oil line blow and it was nasty. but, i do agree that you will never have to worry about a sender failing with a mech gauge. i'm thinking of adding all mech gauges under the hood as well as my electric inside. maybe im crazy, i just think they look cool and i'd be the best of both worlds... sorta.
In my book mechanical always won out. Maybe electrical are better these days. Pretty much a personal preference
i would prefer mechanical gauges , but sometimes getting the temp sender and oil line through the firewall is a *****.....they give you about 5 feet on the temp , sometimes not enuff to run it from the dash down the inside of the firewall , through the toeboard so it is not so noticable , then up the back of the engine to a place on the intake...not long enuff , and looks like ****, the bulb on the end needs a big hole to p*** it thorugh..and that little plastic line for the oil that will never straighten out and lay flat with electric gauges , it's easy to hide the wires, and you can run those in engine color so they are not so noticable it's just easier to make the engine compartment sanitary with electric gauges i went for a ride in a toyota pruis tonight..all the gauges were electric, i think
Are you going traditonal? A purist? Trying to "date" the car to a specific era? I think those things determine what kind of guages you put in the car.
Mechical gauges are easier to read ... they have a 270 degree sweep Electric gauges have less sweep but are easier to install ... I use electric gauges ... but a mechical speedometer ... Getting the speedometer dialed in is actually pretty simple ... and I prefer them ... but the electric ones are easy to re-calibrate if you change tire sizes and rear gears often ... and you save the re-calibrate instructions. I know a few folks who have electric speedos they cannot re-calibrate ...
I am an old rodder and I was never comfortable with mechanical pressure gauges in the event of a mechanical failure (oil and fuel) especially after the copper capillaries were replaced with plastic tubing. It's a safety factor issue for me. Last summer I built a new gauge panel opting for all electric. Calibrating the speedometer is much easier and adaptable and I now have no fear of leaks inside the p***enger compartment. As far as accuracy goes you get what you pay for. I know of at least one popular company who sells gauges made by someone else but with their logo on the face. That's why I bought from an established quality company (Stewart-Warner) with over 75years of experience making not only stuff for guys like us but for heavy industrial applications too.
Never run fuel into the cabin...use an isolator, or mount it outside... I like Mech. temp, and oil...for the same reasons as stated above... throw the plastic tubing in the trash, thats what it is!...auto meter makes the copper tubing, with all the adapters, seperately...It will fit most any other oil gauges, with the combination of doo-dads from both... as far as the unimportant (you know, the rest of 'em ) gauges...I don't mind them being electrical...
It was ingrained into me at a young age that a "true" hot rodder always added mechanical gauges as soon as possible. The temp gauges were vague in the 50s-60s if you had any at all. I've had to replace several sending units for the factory electric units over the years. I may just be lucky but mechanicals seem to last forever unless I screw the capillary up. My first engine trans plant was a 383 into a 58 Plymouth. I hooked the 58 gauge to the 63 sender and it seemed to work. It indicated it was running too hot. I chased that goose for a month. I even bought an Imperial radiator. When I swapped out the 63 sender for the 58 sender, it was suddenly as cool as a cu***ber. It wasn't the senders fault but ever since I feel more comfortable with a mechanical gauge. I'm too old to change now.
The reason the water temp shows a drop when your stuck in traffic is because an electric guage is nothing but a voltmeter calibrated to read the right temp. the varying resistance of the sending unit causes the guage reading to change according to the water temp. When the voltage of the charging system drops like when your idling in traffic, the reading on the guage drops accordingly.
Not going for anything specific. Only looking for reliability. I think I will go for a mixture of electrical and mechanical. Had the factory mechanical tach in a corvette (61) that twisted the cable in two so I will use a electrical tach for sure.
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