fuel gauge problems

[Dean]

Hello

i have a little problem with my fuel gauge, and i am wondering if there is away around it.

i have 62 morris which i close to being finished, i have a NOS silver faced speedo with a used silver face fuel gauge which is what my car should have. and the fuel gauge has been tested and working

for some stupid reason years ago i dumped my original tank, it was a accident , but i did have a tank from a 71 mk3
i have had powder coated, por15 inside and a new tank sender. and now fitted to the car

when i tested the fuel gauge in the car with the tank nothing happened. with or without and voltage stabiliser, done an bit of head scratching checked the wiring diagrams, checked everything still no luck

did a google search , and it came up with an old post on here saying that pre 64 fuel gauges needs to be used with an old sender. after 64 you need a voltage stabiliser and a different sender.

my question is?????

there any way round using a silver face fuel gauge and 64 onwards tank sender.

i don't want to replace the tank for an early bolt type sender, as mine is fitted and refurbished.
but i have a funny feeling i have to use a black faced fuel gauge in a silver face speedo which may look crap.

[smithyrc30]

Is it possible to swap the faces of the gauges over?

Maybe take the silver face off the 'old' gauge and fit it to the 'new' gauge?

Might be the simplest way around the issue without re-doing the tank or sender....

Cheers

[Dean]

i did think of repainting a black faced silver but then there is the font type and positions,

smithyrc30 thats a good idea

i will look into replacing the faces, as i have both black and silver fuel gauges.

[NZmember]

Yes Dean, there is. I had the same problem but obtained a pre-64 tank instead.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9515&start=10

Chris, Spiyda on this forum sells these little electronic boxes to do the conversion. Only issue is that he has configured it for -ve earth. It might work +ve earth but no one has tried it yet.

Derek

[Dean]

NZmember that is one way of doing it, then i get to keep the tank and sender i have, and that little box converts its to work with my early gauge so best of both works,

the other way is to change the face from the fuel gauges, but that means butchering up 2 gauges to make one. far cheaper but i not sure its the best route.

i have just fitted chris rev counter conversion kit and everything tested fine.

[mister bridger]

I have successfully swopped the gauge faces over in the past for a similar scenario. It was pretty easy to prise the rivets off from the back and re-use them.

[Dean]

yes i did look into it again yesterday. and i can see its easy to remove the face plates.
but a few things i noticed,

silver face have pins that the needle swings to where the later black faces does not.
the full and empty marks/lines are further apart. on the black face plate.
and also the needles are different colour and size

i have ended up buying spyida fuel gauge box of tricks, then i don't have to butcher 2 gauges, and i get what i needed

i will let you know how it all goes, it will come partly set and will just need fine adjustment with my gauge and sender.
it also has anti slosh so the gauge will not flicker all over the place as the early gauge used to do.

[Dean]

well my fuel gauge thingy turned up from spyida yesterday and today i set it all up on the bench.

i was amazed after a bit of tweaking it works perfect.
i never thought i be able to use a later sender with an early gauge but it works.

a good thing is it moves slowly like a later gauges and does not bounce around like early ones do. and it also has a tiny red led that can be set up to light up when the tank is getting low. you can decide to wire it in or not.

it also does not use the voltage stabiliser ( which mine should not have ) but that not reason not to keep the voltage stabiliser to power the temp gauge , also the heater and wiper are powered from the 12v side of the stabiliser

when the sender is moved to half tank the needle does not line up with the half mark on the gauge, but that only because the marks are not centred ,when the needle is, it reads slightly lower than the marks which is totally fine

the half line on the gauge are offset to the full mark a little bit more, due to the tank being larger-wider at the top. not a mark centred between the E and F marks

over all i am happy with what i have now

dean