Tach no worky-worky |
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GranTorinoSport
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Posted: 01-August-2014 at 8:29AM |
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So, I am assuming many have crossed this path before, so the answer is probably obvious. I did some searching and found some comments from Andy (Eliteman76) from some time ago.
my 75 Sport is now running and driving. The ignition is new - removed the brain box, distributor and coil and replaced with a Mallory Unilite distributor and MSD Blaster coil. It works obviously but the tach no longer works. I believe (but need to verify) I tapped the coil + and ignition module + correctly off factory wiring to the new coil + and distributor + respectively. However the tach no longer works. I thought for sure I tapped the correct wires because I was trying to ensure I was using the resistance wire for the coil as we should always try and do unless we intend to wire up an external ballast resistor. I replaced the tach with another from another cluster. The original and replacement tachs were known good units. Is it something about the coil and/or distributor causing this? They are pretty vanilla parts. Do I just have it wired up wrong somehow? That is a real possibility. I am leaving for a week, hence no ability to troubleshoot for a while (I am driving the car to Spokane for a week), but can get on it when I get back. Other thought - Should I just run a new coil power wire from my ignition switched relay source I created and go through an external ballast resistor and include the coil in the run? It almost makes more sense to just bypass as much of the factory wiring as possible, as old and crappy as it is. |
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Scott Eklund
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californiajohnny
Moderator Group Joined: 05-October-2013 Location: winlock, wa Status: Offline Points: 14609 |
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scott, you have a two wire tach? (i think the later ones were three wire tachs) the two wire tachs are basically from the ignition into the tach and out of the tach to the + side of the coil ( basically it's running inline through the power wire to the coil) there was some discussion a few months back about the tach and using a msd box here somewhere
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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smhj
Senior Member Joined: 01-November-2011 Location: erie pa Status: Offline Points: 266 |
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I think with the 2 wire tac you have to get the adopter from MSD.
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73MONTEGO
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bata747-8
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I do have the two wire tach, but I am not using an MSD box, the Mallory Unilite has control internal to the distributor.
However, if that is the case, no wonder it doesn't work. Darn, that sucks! |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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All of the information that you need should be in the thread below. In this next thread some of the members had talked about how to wire an MSD ignition into a factory original type of Tachometer. I know that you have a mallory unilite ignition, but there are some good answers and wire routing explanations in this thread. This next thread has some good information about how to install a ballast resistor. Edited by dave302 - 02-August-2014 at 2:49AM |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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These next two threads are about installing and wiring a Crane electronic ignition, with an MSD Distributor, that is connected to a factory original (and an aftermarket) tachometer. I know that you have a Mallory Unilite Electronic Ignition, but it may give you some good ideas and answers that you might need.
Edited by dave302 - 02-August-2014 at 3:22AM |
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GranTorinoSport
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Dave thank you very much for the links. You are five thousand times better than the search engine here!
It almost seems like sending my tach ( and other gauges) into Rocketman for modification may be best. |
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Scott Eklund
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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Your Welcome.
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carguy47
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Dave, I thought I remember seeing someone sending their tach out to be updated?
I am running into the same issues with the tach not working with a 1-wire HEI. I thought about having the original reworked and updated. |
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You have to build em to drive em!
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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Unfortunately I was very busy today, so I was not able to read most of the other threads about this subject fully in depth. So i do not know if that is your only option to get the tach to work. But i can tell you that there is some more information about the wiring of a mallory unilite ignition into the factory type of tachometer, in the following thread. I am not sure if the following information was talked about already. This member had also installed a Ballast Resistor. Click Here to see it.
Unfortunately, I do not have the extra time right now to find that particular thread (Sorry). But i will try to find it for you tomorrow, (if i am able to). But i cannot guarantee you that i will be able to find it.
Edited by dave302 - 04-August-2014 at 4:26AM |
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californiajohnny
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JOHN
74 GRAN TORINO S&H CLONE 74 VETTE CUSTOM 90 S10 BLAZER 4X4 LIFTED 77 CELICA CUSTOM 75 V8 MONZA SUPERCHARGED 79 COURIER VERT. SLAMMED 75 VEGA V6 5 SPD 70 CHEV C10 P/U 68 MUSTANG FB CONVERSION |
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bata747-8
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There is another (supposedly) reputable place called The Tachman. Looks like he does great work also, including tach updates to three wire. Other than the techs though he is more about restoration where as rocketman is more about putting moder guts into factory gauges (which I am personally looking for).
For my 66 Chrysler 300, I would prob choose Tachman however. |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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The following thread is about a member who had his sport instrument cluster and gauges restored and repaired. This company had also repaired and recalibrated his tachometer. This company also advertises that they can convert a factory original type of tachometer into an electronic tachometer conversion. I am not sure if this is the same exact member that you are referring to (that had his tach upgraded). The following link will take you to page five of his build thread. You can scroll down to the sixth post (down from the top of the page) on page five, to see where he wrote about this company that did the work for him. I have never had any work done by this particular company to be able to tell you about the quality of their services and/or their prices. But you can probably ask the member who had the work done by them. Click Here to see his build thread. Click Here to see the company who did the work for him. Click Here to send a private message to the member who had his tachometer repaired and recalibrated by the company in the Link above.
Edited by dave302 - 03-August-2014 at 4:13AM |
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Torinogts73c
Senior Member Joined: 14-February-2004 Location: Tucson Arizona Status: Offline Points: 1034 |
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I find that interesting as I have had 3 different dizzys in my car. One was a single wire Mallory HEI with the GM style cap, 2nd one was a Unilite that I used with an MSD blaster coil, 3rd is Ford Duraspark with a MSD duraspark style blaster coil. Every single one I never had a tach problem at all! My car as you know is a 73 with factory Rallye gauge cluster. Now I have nere used the MSD 6AL box but I don't think that would make any difference as they have a plug and play adapter harness.
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Gary 73 Gran Torino Sport 351CJ,17 Mustang Ecoboost,15 Jeep Grand Cherokee LTD, Ford Ranger parts hauler
"Never complain Never explain" Henry Ford |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Are newer tach typically voltage driven now?
Are these new tachometer repairs/conversions voltage driven as well? http://www.tachman.com/index.htm Who is the other guy Paul recommended for Cougar, Mustang, Ford tachometer conversions? I can't seem to find it now... Reason I ask; I was about to buy the MSD tach adapter but realized that I probably wont need it if I get my tachometer converted/fixed by tachman.com My tach is bouncing and jumping around. Needs to be fixed/replaced. I've been looking for 7k/8k options without any luck so I'm now looking at simply getting it upgraded by tachman. Edited by BackInBlack - 13-June-2017 at 10:41AM |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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GranTorinoSport
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http://rccinnovations.com/
Rocketman's Classic Cougar Conversions Seemed like a great option. I still need to get my tach done. Some text from his website, and why I am so interested to use him: " Although best known for my patent pending 'Rocketman Tachs', I also convert Ammeters to Voltmeters, produce overlays for the first generation XR7s and plug and play headlight relay kits that fit most 60's and 70's Ford products as well as Cougars. I can also recalibrate your Temp, Oil and Fuel gauges. Many of my products are sold by West Coast Classic Cougar, Mustangs Unlimited and National Parts Depot. Before we go any further, let me say that I do not do tachometer or ammeter repair, nor do I calibrate speedometers. I am not a rebuilder. There are shops that specialize in concourse restoration, rebuilding and repairing OEM gauges. I am not one of them. I upgrade existing devices or create new ones to meet modern needs. What I do is convert your factory tachometer from a 'two-wire' to an aftermarket '3-wire' tachometer. This is no conversion of the 40 year old movement - I replace the old movement and circuitry with brand new state of the art movements - the same ones used by many aftermarket gauges. My movements are custom made in the USA by an OEM supplier and have been engineered to dampen much of the needle bounce seen on tachometers installed in older vehicles or vehicles with 'lopey' cams . The biggest reason people ask me to convert their tach is so that they can get rid of the MSD adapter box. That's right, my tachs plug directly into the tach port of your MSD box or to the distributor side of the coil for points and Pertronix type ignitions." Edited by GranTorinoSport - 13-June-2017 at 10:48AM |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Thanks...that answers my question!
Fix the source of the problem...the tach. I spent many hours searching for 7k/8k alternatives for our tach without any luck. Oh well...guess I'll have to bump off the rev limiter...lol
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-John
1973 GTS |
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GranTorinoSport
Admin Group Admin of "The Org" Joined: 20-May-2003 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 2287 |
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He offers exactly what I'm looking for which is a stock look but modern guts and functionality. I'm not necessarily going for a complete original look but I haven't seen an alternate gauge install that has really reeled me in to date. I love Autometer stuff and have one in my 75 (trans temp) but I wouldn't want them for my main cluster.
Just personal preference of course. |
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Scott Eklund
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72FordGTS
Admin Group GTS.org Admin Joined: 06-September-2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5846 |
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John,
I just had my tach done by Rocketman this spring. He did an awesome job. The tach is smoother than ever and seems to be more accurate (based on what RPM should be by calculations). I was in the same dilemma, trying to figure out how to get a current sensing tach to work with something other than a stock ignition. Like you said, it's easier to fix the tach, than make an old tach work with a new ignition. Plus, now if the tach fails, at least your car will still run. He probably can do an 8000 RPM conversion, but you'd probably have to supply the face plate. He doesn't seem to stock any parts for anything that's not a Mustang or Cougar. Keep your original tach pigtail and use that to make a jumper for your original harness. |
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Vince
1972 Ford GTS Sportsroof - Survivor, One Family car GTS.org Admin |
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BackInBlack
Senior Member Joined: 11-January-2011 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 1013 |
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Tach is my next problem to solve...
Has anyone tried these guys? http://redlinegaugeworks.com They did a 7k tach for the pure vision torino. Good to get feedback on rocket man tach...definitely will call him tomorrow Edit: He said he can do 7k/8k but you have to provide the face or tach with the face. So basically no dice. None out there that look like OEM thats is 7k+. Edited by BackInBlack - 14-June-2017 at 2:11AM |
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-John
1973 GTS |
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