1952-59 Ford reducer for feul gauge?

Hey gang! So im not sure if I need a reducer for my newer feul gauge. My set up is like this, its been coverted over to 12 volt. Inline 6, GM Alternator, external voltage regulator. I did a search, found lots of posts but no cigar. I bought the gauge at baxters it will be mounted in a so cal gauge holder. all the wires are original on the car, the gas tank sending unit is from mac's and that is newer. How do u know when u to put a reducer in? I understand that I need to wire it to a switched when the key is on. but on our cars do I just add a fuse inline to my switched. someone shool me here?

 

You may be between a rock and a hard place,the difference between a Ford gauge,GM gauge or an aftermarket gauge is in the ohms of resistance which means the gauge has to matched to the sender.Stewart Warner and Auto Meter offer fuel gauges to match the make of car as well as matching gauges to their own sending units.Mac's and other vendors offer sending units in both 6 and 12 volts which are made to match the OEM gauges.Your aftermarket gauge needs to have it's own matching sender,if you buy the matching sender there will be another issue the mounting flange on aftermarket sender won't match up to a '56 or earlier Ford tank,however Speedway sells an adapter plate just for that.

 

oh yes! very well said. didn't think of that I will look into that.

 

I have been there and done that the hard way ! My 55 was 6v and the last owner converted to 12v on the very poor and cheap side I must say . Only the critical things were changed to 12v and the rest was just not hooked up at all ! So NO gas gauge at all . I ordered a sending unit with my new gas tank . Well of course I found out it wouldn't work the hard way even though the seller said it would just to get a cheap sale for something HE knew wouldn't work . OK fine so I spent an extra $15 for it with the new tank I bought 5 years ago . Still was under $200 so i didn't care .
So I looked around and found a nice new gauge with sending unit that would work with my car . Well I get the cheap POS kit and the gauge was fine but the sending was real cheap chinese **** ! OK so they send me another sending unit for the gauge and now I THINK I am good to go . Well the sending unit they sent me was for modern gas tanks and my gas tank was old style . For some that don't understand the difference , it all comes down to the hole in the tank you set the sending unit in . The modern hole is way smaller . So I make an adapter plate and that part is fixed . So I install the sending unit like the instructions tell me to do and all I get is sometimes the gauge works and sometime it doesn't work . Yes by this time I am really getting enough of this whole thing . So I sit down and grab a good cold beer and re read the instruction . So I figure the original wiring is bad someplace . So I run my own wire and lay them on the seat to make sure thins work out before I go through all the trouble of hiding the wires . I still have NO working gas gauge ! So I just keep putting gas in the tank when I need to drive farther than a few miles ! When I replace the 55 dash with a 56 dash I will get new gauges to make sure they work .

Anyway the best way to replace the sending unit is get a replacement that match's the ohms that your stock gauge is . There is no such thing as a universal sending unit like the ads always tell you . If you are keeping your stock gauge get if from Macs , Carpenter or any of the good Ford replacement dealers that have the correct sending unit or gauge for either 6v or 12v systems .
BUY from the good Ford replacement catalogs and they will treat you the right way so you get the right parts for your Ford ! I would much rather pay a little more just to keep the headaches away !

Jim