I pulled a set of Smiths gauges out of a '50s Jag ealier today. I got the full set cept for the fuel guage(have it, but the face is F'ed) Some of the coolest gauges i've found to date. The tach is about 5" and runs in reverse, and has a clock built into it. The speedo also about 5" goes to 120mph, w/ odo built in. The oil gauge and the temp gauge share the same housing and are about 2". The amp and fuel guage are also about 2". I know this thread is worthless without pics, i'll get them up soon. Im gonna toss these on the classifieds as soon as i get the pics, so heres your heads up. There identical to these http://www.oldride.com/parts/1368111989.html
I'm parting out an 89 Jag and it has Smiths gauges. I was happy to find out it it wasn't a cluster, but individual gauges.
Scootermcrad, We use a lot of them at work, in vintage road race cars. No problems at all, they seem to be made very well. We usually use the 427 Cobra OEM series (as in your pics). I get them from here http://www.nisonger.com/ small shop in NY, good service from them as well. We use all mecanical gauges and Nisonger will make custom length capilary tubes. They also repair and restore old gauges. BTW we use Jones mechanical tachs with them, the look works for these cars. Craig
Here's the stock gauge cluster out of an early 70's Triumph sedan, all Smith's gauges. The later Triumphs went to KPH speedos instead of MPH and had fewer numbers on them, not as nice looking to my mind. I really dig the centre 'gauge', it's a full set of 'idiot' lights, oil, ignition, high beam, left and right indicator, choke, brake warning and fuel level lights, all in a simple round 2" guage the same size as the others. Ok, true funny story about these gauges... In 1983 I bought my wife a 1970 Triumph 2.5 PI sedan, nice car, fast as hell and big enough for 2 baby seats and a safety capsule across the back seat. The first week she owned it, she had to drive down an expressway to her mum's house with our three small children in the back. She made the run in a scarily fast time, so I asked her how fast had she been going.. "I never went over 110" she told me, most aggro that I'd questioned her driving. "Hon," I explained, it's a 1970 model car, the speedo reads in MILES an hour, not kilometres." Yes, she'd done the whole run at 110 MPH, I still wonder how come she didn't get busted! Cheers, Glen.
I have this Smiths Speedo, think it's from a Triumph but not sure... Oh yeah Demon Tweeks. I got some stuff from them in the 90's. Cool to see they're still running.
Scooter - Not to add too much to the above, but they are great gauges and look cool. They will show up in pretty much anything that had some British heritage. Healeys, Sunbeam, Mini, MG, Jag. I have a set in my Sunbeam and had a great set in my old Jag. The Jag and Healey ones had a oversize speedo and tach, especially in the older cars. I think that MG had special ones made that put the gauges into an octagon shape, I know I have seen a set of these in a 57 Magnette. Glad to see that you Demon Tweek guys are still kicking.
Smith gauges are definitely a good way to go. Classic styling, they're reasonably priced on that auction site, and still pretty easy to find in alot of Brit cars in the junkyard. I'm running them in my Model A- speedo, tach and combo 2" oil/water gage with mechanical senders. Maybe I got lucky, but my speedo is MPH and my temperature gauge is degrees F. The electric four cylinder tach was the ticket with the Harman Collins dual coil setup on the flathead. I put a chronographic face on it just because it was cool. Be careful which speedo you get. They come in different calibrations to correct for rear end ratio. Stick with one that has the standard 1000 turns per mile and you won't have any problems (it's marked on the face).
I've always liked Smiths. Had a combo gauge once, got it in a junkyard from an MG or something. Dual needle temp and oil pressure. Both needles pivoted from near center, 180 degrees apart. Worked great, wish I still had it.
Thanks everyone for more info. Still set to run these things. I appreciate your input. Great story Glen! HAHA!
Good and cheap place to pick up Jagers is from the Alfa Romeo crowd. Jagers are certainly cool as well for '60's era builds.
Would love to see more pictures of SMITHS from 50's and early 60's brit cars. Looks like there is a difference with the bezel rings. If you guys have any pics, please post 'em. Thanks!
excuse the rough panel - i was mocking up a new layout (originally only the speedo, oil pressure and fuel)
smiths gauges still make gauges more color choice only in uk england used to live 3 miles away from smith factory still available from www.europaspares.com hope help
hey, old thread here,............ i just got these today, i know some are obvious to identify like the 'smiths' and 'faria', but what about the oil guage (L to H)? the speedo and tach are for a 4 cyl. but can they be used in a 6 cyl. or an 8cyl.? does any one know what car/model/make they came out of? and maybe what year(s)? from what i read above theyre reliable and acurate. i think theyre cool. any input or info is appreciated.
Smits are good, good as any I guess, year? no idea they didnt change much since the '60's. Speedo you can use in anything but will need calibration to suit, tacho would need modifying as it will read wrong in anything but a 4 (Im another satisfied Demon Tweeks customer )
I live in Chester and buy bits and pieces for my 1921 T Model Ford Modified at Demon Tweeks in Wrexham (not too often because you're not cheap!!). I didn't know there were any hotrodders there - thought you guys were all into Saxos and Golfs ;-) Pop over sometime - not too many hot rodders or HAMBers in this neck of the woods.
Smiths are common as mud over here. Almost all the cars sold here in the 60s and 70s had them as thay were mostly British origin. I'm using a set in my model a, mainly cos I had them lying around, and I couldn't seem to sell them. I think they are cool looking gauges, and very well made. My old Norton m/c also uses them
Nash metropolitans use smiths in them....Also use smiths heaters....had an accessory water temp gauge(dealer installed op) that was smiths as well
I've got a 3" face tach and one of the dual oil pressure/water temp gauges from a Lola T-360. Great looking gauges.
The speedo and tach are from an MGB. Here's a discussion on adapting the 4 cyl tach to an 8 cyl motor: http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?2,3205 Here's a pic of the original white faced Smiths gauges in my SBF Austin-Healey swap. If you click on the link in my sig you can see some of the steps I used to convert them for use with the Ford motor and tranny.
but officer my speedometer said i was doing 60, in the fourth dimention? thats cool, is that rpms ? one for each gear?
Yup you got it, its for an early triumph motorcycle, it includes RPM's and shift points per gear....I'm sure its accurate as long as you run the correct rims, tires, sprockets, transmission, airpressure, and you hold the handlebars right. 120 was a bit optimistic.
Cool Info, I have one I picked up thats for an International harvester Tractor. I'll take a pic of it tonite & post it. its a combo gauge with mph & tach, pretty cool but have not yet found alot of info on it.. Steve
The Jalopy Journal
