stock guages

[D69charger]

How reliable are these gauges?  I have a rad cap that has a temp gauge built into and it was reading 180 when the temp gauge in the car was was reading 220+.  Also im thinking the oil pressure gauge isn't reading correctly either

[XH29N0G]

 

The impression I get from my car is that they can work fine, but there are a number of things that can happen to make them read incorrectly.  (I think my T gauge reads 20-30 degrees too hot) and that it may be related to the circuit of voltage regulator in the dash rather than the gauge itself or the sender (which is new).  My impression comes from putting a thermometer in the radiator (like you).  Others have suggested an IR temperature reader - which I have not tried.

[JamieZ]

I put an oil pressure gauge on my engine before I got the dash gauge working.  Both give roughly the same reading (the stock gauge is harder to read due to the lack of marks).

For temperature, it can vary a lot depending on where the sending unit is.  The temp at the Rad and where the sending unit could be quite different.  If you do use an IR temp gun you can see this by pointing it at different spots in the cooling system.

[Ghoste]

I've checked my temp guage with an ir and it was really close.

[jaak]

When I got my 69 together and running my temp gauge was showing around 230*, I didn't think it was running that high, so I hooked up a cheep mechanical gauge, so I could monitor both at the same time, when the factory gauge showed 230, the mechanical was at 170... 60* difference. My Oil pressure was also reading low. Until the day comes I have them rebuilt/recalibrated , I installed Sunpro retro series oil pressure and temp gauge, just to keep tabs on the engine.

Jason

[D69charger]

I am going to be doing the same thing with mechanical gauges.  Where did you mount your gauges at?

[jaak]

I am going to be doing the same thing with mechanical gauges.  Where did you mount your gauges at?

Right now, my car does not have a/c, it is a factory a/c car, but I plan on refurbishing/putting everything on later down the road. So I made a bracket and mounted them where the a/c controls would be. If you can't do this, just look around on this site, you will get ideas from others too.



Jason

[D69charger]

my car has aftermarket a/c and that is where the controls are.  Ill have to keep looking for somewhere good to put them.  I want them in line of sight.... easy to see while driving.