Looking to see what anyone has done as far as a accurate fuel sender for a 57 ford wagon or ranchero. I have tried your basic sender form a fairlane but it does not read correctly. does anyone have pics and measurements of a original sender or even a old sender they want to sell.. Thanks
Not sure if they use the same sender or not but my 57 Custom sender doesn't start to register on the gauge until about 1/4 tank. I've never dealt with it in 15 years of ownership of the car, I just keep it at 1/4 tank on the gauge or above.
Stock gauge or aftermarket? Sender and gauge must match. Or there are some universal adapter things available that allow any sender/gauge combo to work. I think Speedway sells one. Also, sender must be adjusted to the depth of the tank.
Auto city classic makes one. They where the only one who made one for my 59. Its not the best but it works.
Most Fords before 1987 used senders that measures around 70 ohms empty, and 10 ohms full. Ford used a variable sender in 55-56. The sender mounting pattern is different on original tanks vs. reproduction tanks.
Ford used thermal/electric gauges for many years. They are slow to react and at best an approximation. The fuel gauge on my 57 T-Bird goes to full when full and stays above 3/4 most of a trip. It then drops rapidly to 1/4 where is stays for quite a while. I have run it down just to the E mark without running out of fuel, but most of the time I start looking for a filling station when it just drops below 1/4.
Wagon and ranchero tanks were different dimensions than the cars making it difficult for the available senders to work properly. I don’t know if they are reposing them or not. Click on the people in the upper left are of the main page> social forums> brands> 52-59 Fords… and ask there.
Nobody makes one (I have a wagon), from what I have read you can take the Sedan/HT one and modify it to match an original arm and it may work. If you have your original you might be able to have it restored. Also I beleive the angle that the base is "clocked" at might be the issue. to allow the travel needed. Here are pics of one guys project to make them.
I used a generic Summit fuel sender in a 1957 Ranchero I did an engine swap on a number of years ago. I had to add a resistor inline so the resistance of the sender matched what the gauge was expecting (A few cents from Digikey), I don't remember the exact resistor, but it was simple enough to figure out what was required with a good multi-meter and a little math. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-290260
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