I 've only built one car without a gas gauge and only ran out of gas in it once. I knew how much gas was in the tank but misjudged how far it was to the next gas station. as luck would have it I was close enough to push it to the pump! that car had a very easy access to the cap, similar to an oval T tank and in an open pickup bed so a dip stick was a natural. the rest of my cars have been a bit more civilized with accurate working gauges. I like gauges, cool vintage working gauges. on yours though, aside from the minor inconvenience I see no reason you really need one. spartan, street/strip hot rods should be bare bones, made to go fast and stop and steer safely. all the rest is just fluff.
I agree, but it does depend on how far you're driving to get to the strip. On a 2000 mile trip, there are lots of opportunities to run low on fuel! so I keep a working gauge.
When I was going through the 55 Mainline I recently purchased and then sold to my father-in-law, it had a fuel gauge in it that was not accurate, and also leaked like the top of the tank was made out of the screen door. This was ultimately due to improper installation by a prior owner. I bought a universal sender off of Amazon, which was a Bosch product and was approximately $25. It was an easy install and when all was done, the sender was sealed tight and read on the gauge accurately. There have really only been 3 flavors of fuel sender ohm ranges throughout HAMB relevant times, and probably well beyond. It's not that difficult to find a cool old gauge, or even a new but vintage styled gauge, that will work with a commonly available and inexpensive senders. I can appreciate the idea of checking your odometer and just keeping an eye on your miles, but even that is a very imprecise system. When I drive Route 80, I could average 20 mpg when the terrain is mostly downhill, or 11 mpg if more sections of road are uphill grades where I'm constantly footing it to keep up the pace. Sometimes you sit in more traffic, sometimes it's more free flowing.... if all you're looking at is the miles you've covered, you really need to leave yourself a big cushion to allow for some margins of error. And then you're stopping for fuel every 125 miles, which is a real pain in the ass if you're making a long trip. Or, you could just have a working fuel gauge and remove the doubt. I've run out of gas enough times to know it's something that is well worth the $100 to avoid.
I replaced all my gauges with older SW stuff when I first put it together. Used a new SW sending unit in the tank, had it adjusted so it read full scale E to F. This year, it has started only going to 3/4 or less when full, and it takes it a long time to rise after you fill up. I’m thinking the float must be leaking. I need to take it out and take a look. I never let it get below 1/4 anyway, but I like to know about how much is left so I can decide where to stop and fill up.
On my coupe I have a gauge that is pretty accurate but we still use the odometer also on long trips. On my 53 PU I have a gauge thats fairly accurate so made a real accurate guage out of 3/4 in dowl stick. Has 3/4 1/2 1/4 markings and a rubber handle bar grip even!
Put down my drink’n cup and sober up! (no wonder it never seemed full) That there GRRRR Tony Tiger is a Turboglide.
I would not have a car without a gas guage.......... Running out of gas even 1 time is no fun...especially in bad weather. Having to constantly wonder if you will run out of gas isn't worth the hassle. Not when you have a gas guage...........
stick for the model t. off topic truck I keep track by watching how many miles driven. I also write the mileage down when I fill it so I don't have to remember. easy when you know how many miles it gets per gallon. Other vehicles I just top it off every morning when they get driven that day. Only time I ran out of gas was in the model t after checking it with the stick. this was just a couple of days after buying it. Found out the tank had quite a bit of water in it so it didn't measure right. Dad gave me crap for it about running out but I did check it with the stick before heading out. Had to tell all his buddies that week but I got my revenge over the next weekend. He ran out of gas in his boat and the coast guard had to save him. at least I was only 2 miles down the road from home not floating around in a body of water with no land in sight.
Wouldn’t be without one. Stays full for 50 miles and at a 1/4 it will take 10 gallons with a 16-17 gallon tank.
I'm not trying to be a dick (just comes naturally ), but wouldn't running a Y from the low points into a single fuel line make a sender work semi accurately on a horseshoe shape tank? (put in on either long leg of the tank). Also my previous post was meant for street driven cars as in daily drivers or long haulers....if it's a race only or race with around town use then you don't really have a use for a gauge. But I'm lazy and stations around here always have lines during the day (some at night too).
I didn't have a fuel gauge or any other working dash gauge for the longest time. Just always guessed or topped off to be sure. Then I spoiled myself and put a Dakota digital dash in. WOW what a difference. I have fuel oil pressure amps and I actually know how fast I am going down the road.Everything works and I am not yelling at all of the slow pokes in front of me anymore. lol
Hey Brent, on my last model A I had an 11 gallon tank. Made it out of an air tank lol. You could buy them for $40 at harbor freight. Used the port for the fuel line, just turned the tank upside down and cut everything off of the outside. I went to the parts store and bought a $30 sending unit, cut a hole in the tank and shaped the mounting flange on the sending unit to fit the roundness. I used self tapping screws to fasten it to the tank. It work great, and I never had to worry how much gas i had. This picture is before the sending unit, but you get the picture. I put the pipe in it and had a fill on the quarter panel.
I use this old ruler that has different increments for the style of tank. It was a give-away item from some old car dealership in Canada. The telephone number on the back is "129."
Currently have a gauge but have gone the stick route in the past. Non gauge option: Sight glass.....two 90's and tubing - ala some vintage Moon tanks. Would still involve opening the trunk lid..... Cool concept from a 2012 build thread....again, opening the trunk lid. Gas and glass critiques 3-2-1.
Yeah, I tried that stop for gas every 100 miles trick. 600 mile trip to Austin for the Roundup. Filled up when I pulled into town. I drove out to the fairgrounds, found the party at the speed shop, then found my hotel on the other side of town. The next morning, I fired-up and took off down the freeway. About a mile later I thought “man, you got to find a gas station right away”. A few hundred feet later, cough, cough all goes quiet. I was able to coast to an off ramp. That was a rough mile or two walk. A song comes to mind “Sunday morning coming down”.
The 38 Chevy has a SW gas gauage, worked fine until I put a new tank in....maybe I bent something on the sender but it isn't accurate.....The Studebaker has a gauge, yep SW and it worked when I first built the car and now it doesn't...maybe a ground issue?? The T I am building will have a gas gauge, I even wired it up on the bench and it works. We will see
I've done the stick deal in the past but now use a gauge. The only times a gas gauge is correct is when it's full and when it's empty. I also know about how far I can go before I need gas.
had a Hot Rod pickup with no gauge, but had a 5 gallon gas can mounted in the back. ran out once or twice in that one, but it was my daily. if you go to events with buddies you need one because you don't want to be the guy who runs out of gas on the way to the show and hold up all your pals if you are not smart enough to fill up before you go.
I'm changing the fuel tank on my '29AA from the stock tank above my lap to a 20-gallon tank moved to between the rear frame rails. I picked up three Datcon gauges for $25 at a swap meet last year. None were fuel gauges, so I went online and found a matching Datcon fuel gauge with the correct Ford ohm range and sending unit, then also found a Datcon 3-3/8" tachometer that matches up with the others. For less than $150 I have all the gauges and sending units needed for my truck. Don't know Datcon's durability or reputation, but if they all work, I've saved hundreds of dollars and gotten a matching set that should look just fine for my purposes.
none of my motorcycles had gas gauges and i've only run out once. when riding with others (or driving cars with others) one simply has to inform the others "hey, gotta stop for gas". no big deal. i can see it being a bit less convenient if you're driving a sedan, coupe, etc.
I have one in/on every vehicle, except for one vintage motorcycle, that does not often leave the city. Four of my vehicles have flowmeters in the feed and return lines, and are attached to the ECM, and report the actual mileage, live, trip, and tank, but then again, all four are also EFI.
I'm not here to tell you not having a fuel gauge is dumb or anything. I acrually think yhat fits your style of car. but I will give my 2 cents on what I would do if I was building a car similar to yours.... Definitely would not run a gas gauge in a strip style car like yours. I would install a fuel petcock with reserve like a motorcycle. So "if" you run out of gas, you can swap the petcock over and you magically have gas again and know you need to get to a station asap. Otherwise I'd just dip a stick and fill up when I drive it. I did have a gto with no gas gauge and just filled it every time I drove it. never ran out.
I've added a fuel level gauge to ever hotrod I ever built. I can't stand having to constantly wonder how much gas I have left, or have to stick the tank to determine if it's got enough. The cost of a fuel gauge, and tank with matching sending unit isn't expensive enough for me to not have one. Even if it's not reading perfectly accurate, it's better than none. My current gauge reads empty when I still have about 7 gallons of fuel left. So once I see empty I check the odometer and know how many more miles I've got left to find the next gas station.
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