Speaking of 'Save The Gauges' I have an SW Motor Minder whose reading is way off. Any leads on a repair are met with thanks from this end.
Fantastic thread, thanks to all who've contributed. Perhaps it's time for me to attempt cleaning on a few of my more derelict gauges now that I have found myself with all this free time.
Here’s what I’ve been able to scrounge together from the great auction site. I have a 100-240 Water temp gauge, but it’s more worn than this NOS Oil Temp one. I took the speedometer apart and cleaned it up. I also cleaned up the fuel gauge. The other are like new. All USA made small block logo. Now to find the right sending units since these are all electric except the speedometer of course. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...that-old-gauge-or-clock.966084/#post-10877611 Here’s a link to a short tech I did ages ago about making curved “glass” if you can’t find the size/shape you need.
Can anyone tell me what the thread size is on the back of mechanical SW oil pressure gauges? I’ve been supplied a couple of adapters, but they only screw on maybe one revolution before they’re hand tight, which doesn’t seem right
My four cars all have early flat glass SW gauges. The thread size for the retaining brackets are 10-32.
@neilswheels Not sure if this helps you, but I have used this kit numerous times with my SW gauges. You can get these from ebay, Summit and Jegs cheap, about $11.00 b
Ok I may have gotten into the rye a little tonight and ended up spending a few hours polishing a $2 swapmeet turd that's been collecting dust on the shelf for years... I disassembled the unit and buffed the chrome parts with Autosol metal polish. I then used a heavy paste of water and baking soda on the plastic to knock down most of the worst scratches before hitting it with Mothers and Turtle Wax. The Turtle left it looking "milky" so I buffed that off again. The tell tail is "riveted" on and as such I couldn't remove it in order to buff out the scratches closer to the knob. Kinda drives me nuts. But how much time do you spend on a beater tach? Now to figure out the wiring. Previous dude just shoved all the wires into the back and some of the connections broke free.
Thanks Speed On, I’ve seen those, it’s just a bit expensive to get th here, UK. I have a hydraulic supplier over here,who also happens to be a hot rodder helping me out. He’s supplied what he thought they’d be, but they seem too tight, like the thread pitch is wrong. As Cosmo mentioned, I’ll have to find a thread gauge, which won’t be that easy over here assuming it’s an npt thread
Neil - as far as I know the oil pressure threads are NPT. I don't think I've ever seen thread gauges for pipe threads. I usually look at a size chart in the front of my Godman's catalog if I'm not sure.I could scan that and mail it to you. Message me.
@neilswheels It looks like the tube connection on back of SW oil pressure gauge is a male 1/8 nptf. National pipe thread fine. That is 27 threads per inch. Also known as '1/8 - 27 nptf' in USA. Hope this helps. Phil
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auto-Meter...206196&hash=item4202bb83f1:g:KrkAAOSwZ2Zeaq-F $32 delivered wont break the bank .I went for the autometer nylon line kit to steer clear of a short on the wiring and its more flexible.
Thanks Charlie and pprather, I didn’t my think there were thread gauges for npt, but didn’t want to shoot anyone down. I’ve got 1/8 npt fittings, not sure they’re fine tho, I’ll ask ‘my man’. That would make sense tho if they’re not fine, as that would cause the fittings I have to bind early. Thanks everyone
BSPT (British Standard Pipe Taper) 1/8" pipe is 28 threads per inch, which is so close to NPT that most people don't realize the difference and fit them together with no problems. Of course it isn't right, but with a bit of sealant works fine. We've been screwing in NPT fittings for gauges in Japanese and English engine blocks for decades this wrong way. Adapters are available but expensive, I imagine brass NPT fittings should be available to you on the auction site, cheap via the slow boat.
I've read too many stories of guys melting the nylon pressure line. I use the copper, and put a couple loops at each end to absorb bounce.
swings and roundabouts.keep the nylon off the manifolds.carefull routing is the key. using copper is no guarantee of reliability.i repaired a copper line that had ruptured empting nearly all the oil out of the motor.classic instruments oil sender left out on a limb badly fitted ,easily fixed but could have been costly.fractured the pipe.ultimatly cost the cam because the owner topped up with the incorrect oil.
What sealant do you use? Turns out the parts I have are the correct thread, as above anyway, so i stopped wimping out and put a spanner on them, they did up fine. I should be getting some brass studding this week (wonders of ebay) so ill be able to replace the studs on the back, and put it back together.
I use the Teflon tape usually, and even apply it to the very end of the threads - where it will actually do some good. I sometimes use the liquid Teflon sealer, but if you fumble with the fittings, or drop the fitting, it will get dirt on it and I haven't found a solvent that takes off the paste. There is often concern that shreds of tape could come loose and cause trouble, but with care I haven't had this problem.
Probably the least useful thing I have bought recently. I believe that this is from an Oliver tractor. I don’t own an Oliver, not do I need to know how fast I’m harvesting rice. And I certainly drive faster than 17 miles per hour...even on the John Deere!
I'm missing the bezel on this one. Assume it's probably meant for an industrial machine of some sort due to the low RPM range,reading forward and reverse and having a pulley on the back and the Niedenhoff name as well as S&W markings. One day it may end up as part of an art deco garage project.
If that second gauge in the second picture is in psi, that's a very good gauge to have, for testing fuel pumps. It's hard to get a quality low pressure gauge nowadays.
Was cleaning up a new arrival and thought I'd post a pic of my modest collection (I'm no Moriarty but what the heck)
This is a gauge I bought 35-40 years ago and have watched for matching gauges but never found. National Gauge And Equipment Co. La Crosse. Wis.
The Jalopy Journal
