In a message dated 4/2/2001 2:07:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sdtilton@yahoo.com writes:
<Has anyone ever installed any non-stock Speedo or Tach in their Triumph?>
Scott,
I have a set of Autometer gauges in my stock TR6, the same ones as I'm using
in the V8 conversion. Here's my experience with the converison:
Speedo: The cable connection on the back of the mechanical Autometer speedo
is NOT the same as the TR6 connector. It is, however, the same as the cable
connector on the back of the TR6 Tach. Go figure! Because of that, I haven't
gotten the speedo connected yet. I assume I will need some sort of ratio
adapter to make the speedo read correctly, so I will jury-rig some type of
adapter to connect the speedo for now, and then have a custom cable/adapter
made once I determine the correct error ratio. The electronic speedo would
eliminate the ratio adapter, but I don't know what type of connection the
speedo sender has, and what would be required to mate it to the TR6 speedo.
My guess is that it would have the same thread as the speedo, which means it
won't bolt up to the transmission without another adapter. Adapters are not
hard to get, but you will need to check in Street Rod or similar magazine to
find vendors for them.
Tach: A piece of cake, as it is completely electronic. Just connect the power
lead to a convenient green wire, connect the illumination lamps to the
red/white wires, and run a lead to the negative post of the coil (I'm running
a Crane ignition setup, and it triggers the tach with no problem). There are
three loops of wire sticking out the back of the tach - you have to cut one
of them, depending on the number of cylinders your car has. The instructions
that come with the tach tell you which one to cut.
Oil pressure: The Autometer oil pressure sender is an exact replacement for
the mechanical oil pressure connection on the block. Just unscrew the
connection and screw in the sender. Connect one wire to the sender for the
gauge input, and wire the rest as for the tach above.
Water temp: The sender for the stock gauge has a straight thread, but the
Autometer has a pipe taper thread. I drilled the "guts" out the the TR6
sender, tapped it for the pipe taper, and put it back. The new sender then
screwed into the old one. Electrical connections the same as above.
Fuel Gauge: The sender for the Automater has a different ohms value than the
TR6. Temporarily, I wired a 15 ohm (if memory serves me correctly) resister
in series with the stock sender, and then wired a 1000 ohm resister in
parallel with the resistor and the sender. The gauge now reads correctly, but
it is very non-linear. When the gauge reads 1/2, I have about 3 - 4 galons
left. For a permanent fix, I removed the fuel sender from a spare TR6 fuel
tank I have, drilled out the rivet holding the sender to the mounting ring. I
then removed the Autometer sender from its mounting ring, and mounted it to
the stock ring. Now, the new sender bolts in exactly the same as the old one.
The spare tank I have has the bottom rusted out, so I could reach inside to
adjust the float level for the tank with ease, but it's not all that hard to
do even if you don't remove your tank. The instructions that come with the
sending unit are very clear as to how to make the adjustment.
Voltmeter: Very simple connections: plus to a green wire, minus to ground,
and wire the lamps as above. If you are replacing ammeter, just connect all
of the power wires on the ammeter together.
Ammeter: I didn't use an ammeter, but if you do, just connect it the same as
the existing ammeter. Amps are amps, so there are no adjustments to be made
to make it read correctly.
I really like the gauges, and I can now read tham at night! In fact, I'm
going to have to put the dash light dimmer back in, because they are a little
bit too bright.
Dan Masters
Alcoa, Tennessee
Triumph TR 250 - TR6 Electrical Maintenance Handbook:
http://members.aol.com/danmas6/
Stuffing a V8 into a small British sports car:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
British V8 Newsletter:
http://members.aol.com/danmas4/mgv8.htm
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