Well, I thought I posted this question last night, but I guess something went wrong. I am in the process of building a '39 Ford 1/2 ton with a newly rebuilt '46 flathead (239CI, 59A). The truck still has the original gauge cluster which I want to keep. The oil pressure gauge only goes up to 50 pounds. The '46 engine has an 80 pound oil pressure sending unit. Can I use this combination or am I going to have problems with it? Is the newly rebuilt flathead likely to exceed 50?
I've played with these a bit. You will see 50psi when the sensor is at 80psi. The gauge value will be 5/8s of the actual pressure. It should not be an issue to run this combination of gauge and sensor. You want to know that there is pressure. If you have concerns about the actual pressure run a mechanical gauge along with the stock one. That will tell you what the value difference is and what the normal pressures are for the engine.
I'll take your suggestion on running a mechanical gauge along with the stock one; at least until I get a warm fuzzy on the pressures the engine is running. Thanks!!
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