gettin rid of the stock sending units, can i just use a mechanical gauge on one head instead of both sides?
I set one up with two senders and one gauge using a double-on toggle switch under the dash to choose which side I want to monitor. Wires from both senders go to the switch and the center wire goes to the gauge. This is a good way to go if using electric gauges.
Same here. I've been out of the loop for a little bit, but I seem to recall one of the HAMB-friendly gauge makers working on a single gauge setup that monitors both sides similar to the original. Anyone know if anything came of that?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=485046 Thread I was referring to. Maybe follow up with this guy?
I have a friend who instrumented my flathead with two thermocouples. Drove it for several days and found which was my hotest bank. Installed the SW sender in that bank and put a Moon direct read gauge (from a HAMBer recently) in the other side. So now I can feel that I have hotest temp on the dash and when I open the hood, the moon gauge looks cool. We ran the moon gauge on our flathead rail (avatar) so it is like old times for me.
I run a moon gauge on the head. I have a uniflow radiator so if one side gets hot it still will read warmer on the gauge.
I run a gauge on one side and a temp switch from napa on the other that just lights an idiot light above a certain temp
ok guys, didnt really know that each side of the motor is seperated. Im new to flatheads, so this is a learning experience for me. I would like to stick with the mechanical type gauge, so i will probably run 2 gauges.
......I run two senders... with two gauges....about a 8* different from one to the other.......run about 168 and 175....figure it might be the gauges..
yea thats true, it can definately be the guages. That just seems like the best option, 2 senders and 2 gauges.
My grandfather always ran 2 mechanical SW temp gauges on his salt racer flatty back in the late 50's. He liked the mechanical because they would work even if there was a electrical problem. But he also had to have them dialed in every so often. He told me that sometims if one bank got hotter that could be bad detonation on a cylinder from ignition problems or just a chunk of casting core sand that old Henrey J. didn't clean out. Ha Ha.
Definitely a fan of the dual mechanical temps. A mechanical temp gauge either works or it doesn't due that it is a physical relationship between the temperature of the coolant and the pressure in the sealed gauge. If the gauge springs a leak, it stops working entirely. The factory spec thresholds for electric senders are all over the place, leading to inaccuracy out of the box.