So... I have an old Stewart Warner tach I'm about to mount onto my steering column with a tach cup that uses a radiator hose clamp to secure it. I'm not feeling the radiator clamp. Anyone have any ideas on other methods of mounting a tach cup unfortunately my column is already painted so grinding and welding etc. are out of the options.
Use a piece of tubing with an inside diameter the same size as the outside on the column. Weld the tach mount to the tube. Split the tube in half and weld ears on to screw it together. Or have it just large enough to slip over the column provided there are no obsticals on the column tube. Drill a hole in your tubing weld the tach mount on the top a nut on the bottom and use a set screw to secure it.
Well, I welded a tab onto the back of my column drop, and mounted two tach cups to it. The other one holds the speedo. The cups and the clamps are from Cl***ic Instruments.
If it's just the look of the clamp that bothers you, run the hose clamp through some shrink tubing and put it back together. Then you can place the screw mechanism at the bottom of the column, or hide it under the tach cup. The shrink wrap hides the clamp and protects the column too.
Yeah, it's pretty much the aesthetics. I'm not totally dead set against the hose clamp but I want to explore other options. Thanks for the responses
I cut a piece of rubber sheeting used for in grond pools to wrap arund the column and then the requisite hose clamp but with the screw part underneath the column to hide it. Pretty clean and protects the paint.
Many years ago, before shrink tube, I remember using a strip of leather under the clamp. Has anyone ever made a tach cup? Was thinking maybe a spin on oil filter could be gutted and made to work.
Sometimes billet works...pretend that it was made by a machinist mate just returned from the Pacific in 1945.
The real traditional way to mount a tach is with a piece of inner tube to prevent getting the column scratched, and using a stainless hose clamp. Thats how it was done back in the day.
For something different than a column mount -- This is what I am using in my 30 Coupe. Old SW tach in a custom made bracket that will also have a ****on for the horn. Mounted by door. Dash is 34 Chevy. Bracket made from a piece of sheet with a bead rolled around the edge, a lip welded around the sides and top then ground smooth, tach mounting surface textured with course sand in sandblaster. Canuck
I used a hose clamp on mine, column was black, so I painted the clamp, then put a piece of electrical tape over it and trimmed. Good enough then, good enough now. Alot of good ideas here though.
I really like this idea a lot. I think I might try something like this in my Unibody. But I think I will put a start ****on there instead of a horn ****on.
Lots if good ideas. I wound up flattening the tach cup mount and attaching it to the column drop. I then proceeded to mount the friggin turn signal switch with a hose clamp Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I drilled a couple of holes in my dash (38 Chevrolet) and mounted it where I could actually see it, probably too Street Roddy for some, did that back in the 70's, to me it looks right and it will be there until the time someone else is it's caretaker or it gets parted out
Rather than use the steering column, I mounted mine to the windshield garnish moulding. You can't see it in the picture, but I made a bracket with a piece of hanger strap left over from installing a garage door opener. It's mounted to one of the garnish moulding screws. To avoid drilling a hole in the dash, the tach wires are run along the bottom of the garnish moulding in a piece of black plastic loom that's attached to the other moulding screws. Works for me.
A buddy of mine had a great idea for his 50s-60s cars. He picks up a cheap speaker grill for the dash at flea markets, mounts the tach to the speaker grill and then he has a replacement if he sells the car and keeps his tach. No holes in the dash to repair. I'm a column mount kinda guy. everybody used the hose clamp where I came from. It just says street racer to me. I want an early 60s Dixco black face tach. The first one. The first is always the best. I have an old Sun tach with a hose clamp but a Dixco holds a special place in my heart. I know they make repros but they are repros. I remember buying it from the local Penn-Jersey store that I shopped at on Fri. nights fresh from the bank after casing my check. Then off to the Mo.
Why's the tach down there where you can't see it at the top of second gear? I'm mounting mine up front and high, like a gun sight, so I can see it when I need it at redline....... RooDog
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