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Gauge calibration and Electronic Tach conversion

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Brosky

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
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These are some quick pictures that I wanted to share of the great work done by Morris Mintz at West Valley Instrument Specialists. As you know from my previous thread, BobbyD highly recommended Morris and I found him to be a great asset to our hobby. Morris takes the time to talk to you (not at you) about your options BEFORE you send the gauges to him, then follows up with a call to confirm what needs to be done BEFORE doing any work. Great communications, very fair prices and very quick turn around, all with a positive attitude that is totally customer oriented.

Everyone knows that I'm a picky pain in the ass, so if I'm happy, you probably will be too. Please note, that my gauges were cosmetically restored before Morris received them, but he can do that work too. Naturally, all prices are based on the work needed, but you can see how I restored mine here if you want to do your own housings. https://www.74tr6.com/gauges.htm

Morris Mintz
West Valley Instrument Specialists, Inc.
19314 Vanowen Street
Reseda, CA 91335
818-758-9500

Sorry, currently no website for Morris. I have no financial interest and received no discount for any work done in lieu of posting favorable comments. If any of this experience was bad, you all know that I would say that just as clearly as what I've said here.

I will be doing a full page on my website for this work over the weekend with more pictures, so stay tuned.

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Paul - can I ship one of the cars out to you. I just know the condition will drive you batty and you'll start doing excellent work like what you/Morris are documenting here...
 
Paul can you tell us more about the tachometer conversion?
 
I covet that plywood box and contents... :smirk:
 
Doug,

This all started after my cleanup of the gauges last year. I didn't have time to wait the 8-10 weeks that two other companies had quoted to do the work and it's probably better that I didn't send them to those places. I decided that I wanted the tach converted to electronic, but did NOT want the face drilled or for it to look any different. I got prices from $300-$400, even after I had refurbished the gauges and no quotes until seen, even after I gave them my web page to show what I had done. Totally disgusted, I was talking to BobbyD in CT and he had his speedometer done by Morris and suggested that I call him. It was spring and I was in the middle of the remodeling, so I did and found him to be friendly, personable and customer focused. He quoted prices for everything on the spot and we agreed that I would send them in the fall/winter.

So I called him back, send the gauges and here we are. His modification includes drilling the back of the gauge and making a spacer plate (hence the picture of the micrometer measuring the depth) and the tach looks just like stock, but with three wires out of the back instead of a cable connector. While he was doing that, I had all of the other gauges calibrated and the speedometer overhauled to stop the 30 mph shakes. Morris did cut my new cable to insure that it would not jam the newly rebuilt speedo and ruin his work. There was a tech bulletin from Triumph (which Morris gave me) back in the day about the proper length of the cable which I will post on my site this weekend.

Hopefully, I'll get them in by next week and test everything out.
 
Tom,

Do you want to see me get divorced??? One more car around here and I'm sleeping in the garage permanently.
 
Thanks Paul. I thought that's what had been done with the tach. I have modified a GT6 tach using a similar technique. The problem is getting a donor movement calibrated to match the Smiths face/scale across a broad RPM range. You sort of have to target where you want the gauge to be most accurate. When and if you talk to Morris again be sure to tell him how impressive his work is!
 
Freezing cold in the garage, but the basement workshop is warm and toasty at 68 degrees. I've procrastinated all week and there may just be one more warm day left in the garage to get the dash and gauges back in, so I decided to make up the harness this morning. I have to get a ring connector to fit the static suppressor ground and then it will be ready to go and time to pull the old tachometer cable out for good.

Red wire comes from tachometer to "B" terminal on voltage stabilizer on speedometer.

Green wire goes to negative (-) terminal on coil.

Black wire will go to ground.

Quick and easy to solder like this.

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Heat shrink on BEFORE you solder the terminal on the wire, but keep away from heat while soldering.

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Apply heat and shrink it down.

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I added the quick disconnect terminals to allow for easy in and out of the tach or speedo, not that I'm ever looking to do this again. But who knows, maybe someone will come up with an electronic speedometer someday?

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One ground lug to go on here and it's ready to go.

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I left the harness long enough to run down the left inner fender, rather than along the engine. This way it can follow the main wiring along it's path rather than be against a hot engine all of the time.

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A portable, vacuum lock down vise comes in handy for soldering and holding parts for heat shrink tube heating.


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Re: Gauge calibration and Electronic Tach conversi

Just last week my TRF tach cable broke, (inside the cable), so I guess I'll be making a trip over to Morris for the repair. He's refurbished my TR6 tach, and TR3 speedo, and I second Paul's endorsement. I'm lucky, it's a 10 minute drive from work for me.

West Valley Instrument is a large, old school stereo store/installation shop mostly, with a wizard behind the counter.......
 
Re: Gauge calibration and Electronic Tach conversi

Maybe a good time to convert and get rid of that cable, Kevin?
 
Re: Gauge calibration and Electronic Tach conversi

Probably early next week, Tom. Freezing cold again tomorrow and a full schedule of "honey-do's" have been passed on to me. Plus a family dinner mid afternoon, so I have to be on good behavior.
 
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