I'm looking to put a vintage or repop tach on my Model A w/ stock motor. Most likely bolted to the steering column. I'm currently running a 6 volt neg ground although, I'm eventually going to go 12v. I'm going for a late 40's-early 50's style. Price is always a consideration however, I don't want something cheesy looking. Thoughts?
If you're going to convert to 12 volt and aren't sure that you want a vintage tach, just get the "repop". A vintage tach will likely reguire service and a sending unit and a voltage conversion if you are purchasing a 40's unit. SUN and Stewart Warner both made good units for that time period, but all the vintage units are going to cost more than a modern one.
Morris is correct here get a repop or go mechanical. If you must go vintage my 40 Chevy coupe had an olive drab tach in it when I got it 40 years ago. It have a 4 screw bezel and ran from a little drive off the back of the genny. I am guessing that it was military and probably purchased from an army surplus.
Any advice on wiring or going mechanical? I'm sure there are threads here on the hamb but, I can't narrow down the search to find them. I'm pretty stupid when it comes to this stuff.
A modern unit usually has three wires: power, ground, coil. A mechanical tach will need to be driven. Most people have a distributor or cam drive. If your engine is not so equipped, a crank drive can be fitted. We have been impressed by Pegasus Racing's unit. You would simply need to fabricate a mount bracket. Custom length tachometer cables are easily ordered and not very expensive. Essentially, as previously stated, the easy/cheap way is to buy a new electronic tach, hook up three wires and mount it in a column mount chrome cup.
Walls I like mechanical tachs but as a rule they bounce a bit. Some fellas find that annoying. If you buy a newer repop tach most of the time they are adjustable for 4-6 or 8 cylinders but you will be limited to what voltage they are and that can be a problem of you are running 6 V and decide that 12 V is better. it is also going to be a pain to find a repop tach that will fit your era most of them are '60s era tachs. I have seen aircraft tachs or military surplus tachs in our cl***ifieds on occaision. They are normally electric but I have yet to figure out how one would make on work on al older car. Aircraft donot come in 6 or 12 volt as I remember so you may have to run an extra battery to power the tach or something along those lines. I may look for a mechanical tach if it were me.
Mac's auto parts site shows 6V and 12V 0-3500 rpm tachos. http://macsautoparts.com/search.asp?sb=0&ls=y&camid=MDA&year=0&make=&ss=tacho&x=23&y=12
Go to the local marine store if you have one. There's lots of 4 cylinder tach's for boats. I had a similar "quest" for mine and that's where I ended up. Good Luck, Tim
I dont like the ones from MACs they are expensive they look like ****, the connections are weird and i had trouble getting it to work accurately.
Thanks for the replies fella's. I'm gonna see what's doing at the boat place and go from there. If I find anything cool I'll post a pic.
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