Geeking out over a tachometer

[drooartz]

Proof I suppose that I'm a car nerd for sure. I've been looking for a tach for my Morris Minor as it doesn't have one from the factory. Wanted something to match the oil/water gauge I added -- standard Smiths 52mm size. Settled on something modern that fit, but wasn't happy. Then last weekend I was searching again for options and ran across what I think may be a new product, a 52mm tach from Smiths! So of course I had to get one. Simple enough to swap, and looks just right (and works great).

It's probably slightly pathetic how happy this made me today.

 

[SaxMan]

We completely understand. That's why we're all here.

 

[dklawson]

I have seen one or two small Smiths tachs but I don't remember a 52mm one that looks like yours. It probably is a relatively new offering.

I think your tach looks great. May I ask where you bought it?

 

[drooartz]

I got the tach from Mini Spares in the UK:

https://www.minispares.com/product/...search/classic/tachometer.aspx|Back to search

Minimania lists it as well, but when I called they were out of stock. Got it in about 3 days from Mini Spares.

 

[HealeyRick]

I'd like one of these for my bugeye:

Chronometric tach as used in the Sebring Sprites:

 

[drooartz]

I'd like one of these for my bugeye:

Nisonger lists a couple modern versions of the chronometric tach on their site: https://www.nisonger.com/whats-new.htm

 

[HealeyRick]

Interesting, can't find a price on the Nisonger site for the chronomectric, but I bet it's . Says it's electronic, wonder if that would affect the "ticking" motion that's shown in the video of the original? Doesn't really matter unless some day I buy a hardtop to make my car more Sebring Sprite replica-like.

BTW, excuse my rudeness. Forgot to say how good your new tach looks.

 

[dklawson]

I got the tach from Mini Spares in the UK:

https://www.minispares.com/product/...search/classic/tachometer.aspx|Back to search

Minimania lists it as well, but when I called they were out of stock. Got it in about 3 days from Mini Spares.

Definitely a new product. The Mini Spares images show that the gauge is made by Caerbont who is the current copyright holder for gauges marked "Smiths". They have introduced a number of nice instruments over the past couple of years. They have been very good at keeping the classic look while using modern electronics.

I am surprised MM have a somewhat comparable price to MS for the tach. At today's exchange rate, MS charges $195 while MM charges $230. That's still a big enough price difference to justify shipping charges from the U.K. My experience is that I get parts from MS in about half the time it takes to get them from MM... and I usually save money.

Regardless, I like the look of that tach. Thanks for sharing the pictures and information.

 

[Gundy]

Dang! That is SWEET!

 

[JPSmit]

Looks great Drew! What was there before?

 

[Gundy]

This is the one I had made for my Sprite. It is nice to just see the needle around 12:00 and know it is near time to shift.
I opted for no redline pointer....that point sorta depends on what is going on at the moment.

 

[drooartz]

Interesting, can't find a price on the Nisonger site for the chronomectric, but I bet it's . Says it's electronic, wonder if that would affect the "ticking" motion that's shown in the video of the original? Doesn't really matter unless some day I buy a hardtop to make my car more Sebring Sprite replica-like.

BTW, excuse my rudeness. Forgot to say how good your new tach looks.

I'm sure it's not cheap, but I'm always happy to pay the price for a quality product that is right for the task at hand. I'd guess that tach doesn't have the ticking motion, though with the stepper motor driving the needle it likely could.

 

[drooartz]

Definitely a new product. The Mini Spares images show that the gauge is made by Caerbont who is the current copyright holder for gauges marked "Smiths". They have introduced a number of nice instruments over the past couple of years. They have been very good at keeping the classic look while using modern electronics.

Regardless, I like the look of that tach. Thanks for sharing the pictures and information.

It certainly wasn't around when I was searching for something back in the fall of last year. Did a long drive in the car this morning, and the tach is just right. There is also an electronic (vs mechanical) speedo for a Mini that's offered now. I may consider trying to figure out if it'll work in my car when my resource pool fills up again (my speedo is dead). Would be nice to have reliable gauges for a change.

Dang! That is SWEET!

I'm so excited that I found it. *Almost* looks like it could be a factory option -- that was my goal, to have the Morris look like a hypothetical "S" or "GT" version if such a thing had been offered at the time.

That tach in your Bugeye looks great, matches the later speedo nicely.

Looks great Drew! What was there before?

It was just an open glove box. I found some red vinyl at a fabric store and it was a surprisingly good match for the interior. After the vinyl ages a little it will look like it was always there. I made a little panel to fit in the trim opening and used a hole saw to make the openings for the gauges. Trying to keep things looking as stock as possible.

This is the best pic I have of the "before" dash.

 

[dklawson]

The Mini speedo from Caerbont could be made to fit your Minor. The mounting ears on the back are narrower on the Minor than the Mini but you could surely find a way to make it fit. I have seen pictures of the Mini speedo and it looks really nice but it certainly is not inexpensive. Don't forget that you will still need to invest in a sending unit for the speedometer.

I was at a car show today and a man's Caterham (Lotus) 7 had a chronometric tach installed. He showed me the "ticking" motion it has relative to an magnetic analog tach. The ticking motion is not for me.

The stepper motor gauges shouldn't have any perceptible motion. Most modern cars use steppers for their OEM instruments. They can be quite fast/responsive without being jerky.

 

[drooartz]

The Mini speedo from Caerbont could be made to fit your Minor. The mounting ears on the back are narrower on the Minor than the Mini but you could surely find a way to make it fit. I have seen pictures of the Mini speedo and it looks really nice but it certainly is not inexpensive. Don't forget that you will still need to invest in a sending unit for the speedometer.

The stepper motor gauges shouldn't have any perceptible motion. Most modern cars use steppers for their OEM instruments. They can be quite fast/responsive without being jerky.

I would be curious if those new "chronometric" tachs mimic the ticking motion or not. They certainly could (that was my comment about the motors) but I wonder if customers would really want that.

At this point, I'm probably more likely to have my existing speedo rebuilt. While I like the idea of modern internals, there's probably more fiddling to do to make it all work than I'm really interested in. Still, neat stuff.

 

[dklawson]

The fiddling with a stepper motor speedometer isn't bad at all. It's the price that will kill you.

Once you install a pulse generator on the gearbox in place of the cable you just have to run the wires to the gauge and calibrate. I have not seen the Caerbont unit up close but I assume it is similar to other aftermarket electronic speedometers that typically have three different programming modes. The first mode allows you to manually enter the pulses-per-mile number. A second mode allows you to drive a measured mile and the gauge calculates and stores the pulses-per-mile number. The final method (if offered) requires you to drive a constant speed while an assistant uses the programming button to advance the analog needle to match the known speed. This requires either another car driving on cruise control... a good GPS unit... or some other method of knowing you are driving the "right" controlled speed.

EDIT: I forgot to mention something new I saw recently. While most pulse generators replace the speedometer cable, there is also a GPS based pulse generator. All you have to do is connect it to the programmable speedometer and set the speedometer's pulse-per-mile value and you are done. If you don't drive through a lot of tunnels and such that block GPS signals you have a good, easily programmed system. See eBay for the GPS sender.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/261671313265?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT