Subject: Re: Aux. Gages on a police Eldo
Author: Ron Komoroski
Date: Mar 9, 2004, 9:42 AM
Post ID: 1716254230
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Chris,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Re/the gage mounts on my Eldo, those inwardly rounded corners on the Police dash casting always just seem to beg for auxiliary gages to me so...I dug through the scrap barrels, and the stock metal storage racks at work until I finally found a scrap piece of aluminum pipe with an OD of 2.36" and a wall thickness of 1/8". The standard 2" gage measures just slightly larger than 2" and is a loose fit in the pipe, supported on the end of the pipe by the gage face bezel flange. Making the mounts was a matter of cutting pipe sections to match the height of the Police dash, & polishing them. A few turns of shim stock around the gage body made a snug fit in the pipe, but I also modified the mounting bracket that came with the gage so that it fit across the bottom of the pipe section & over the threaded studs that protrude from the back of the gage. I like the insurance of loc-tited nuts holding the gage in the pipe, considering the vibration it sees from the bike. I wanted to avoid drilling holes in the police dash casting, so I mounted the polished pipe sections on the front of the police dash with automotive trim adhesive tape available at any auto parts store. In the end, though I was overly anal about it & drilled a small hole at the bottom of the casting for each gage mount & put in a machine screw w/nyloc nut for each. I figure I can always weld the hole & polish the area if I ever want to go back to stock.
I've had the (mechanical) oil pressure gage & the volt meter on the bike for over 6 years now. I recently had the plastic tube connecting the motor & the gage fail (shot hot oil everywhere-quite a mess!) And the volt meter is acting up & needs replaced. I'd like the use the gages that are filled with glycerin to damp the needle movement, but I haven't been able to find that feature in the 2" size. I made up a tube fitting with the plastic tube melted shut for my Eldo tool kit, so that if the gage tube fails on the road, I can just "cap" the gage feed outlet & keep on gettin' it.
To make the connection to the motor, I made a fitting to screw into the block on one end, and into cross-bar of a brass 1/8 NP block style "T" fitting on the other. I tapped the other end of the crossbar so I could screw a new oil pressure sender in and used adapters to connect the gage feed tube to the 3rd arm of the "T", pointed toward the front of the bike. That gives me an operating idiot light in addition to the gage. It's close quarters on the block where the oil pressure idiot light tap is, so you have to keep it compact & fit everything carefully. The "T" fitting assembly cannot be screwed into place without removing the Generator AND it's mount, so you want to do it right the first time. Also, you're dealing with oil under high pressure, I've seen my gage spike to 100psi when first starting up, & it reads around 60 psi when hot & under load. You have to get the threaded fittings tight & use a proper thread sealant or it WILL leak (been there-done that!)
Ron Komoroski
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sorry for the delay in responding. Re/the gage
mounts on my Eldo, those inwardly rounded corners on the Police dash casting
always just seem to beg for auxiliary gages to me so...I dug through the
scrap barrels, and the stock metal storage racks at work until I
finally found a scrap piece of aluminum pipe with an OD of 2.36" and a wall
thickness of 1/8". The standard 2" gage measures just slightly larger than 2"
and is a loose fit in the pipe, supported on the end of the pipe by
the gage face bezel flange. Making the mounts was a matter of cutting
pipe sections to match the height of the Police dash, & polishing them. A
few turns of shim stock around the gage body made a snug fit in the pipe,
but I also modified the mounting bracket that came with the gage so that it
fit across the bottom of the pipe section & over the threaded studs that
protrude from the back of the gage. I like the insurance of
loc-tited nuts holding the gage in the pipe, considering the vibration it
sees from the bike. I wanted to avoid drilling holes in the police dash casting,
so I mounted the polished pipe sections on the front of the police dash with
automotive trim adhesive tape available at any auto parts store. In the end,
though I was overly anal about it & drilled a small hole at the bottom
of the casting for each gage mount & put in a machine screw w/nyloc nut for
each. I figure I can always weld the hole & polish the area if I ever
want to go back to stock.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I've had the (mechanical) oil pressure
gage & the volt meter on the bike for over 6 years now. I recently
had the plastic tube connecting the motor & the gage fail (shot hot oil
everywhere-quite a mess!) And the volt meter is acting up & needs replaced.
I'd like the use the gages that are filled with glycerin to damp the needle
movement, but I haven't been able to find that feature in the 2" size. I made up
a tube fitting with the plastic tube melted shut for my Eldo tool kit, so that
if the gage tube fails on the road, I can just "cap" the gage feed outlet
& keep on gettin' it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To make the connection to the motor, I made a
fitting to screw into the block on one end, and into cross-bar of
a brass 1/8 NP block style "T" fitting on the other. I tapped
the other end of the crossbar so I could screw a new oil pressure sender in and
used adapters to connect the gage feed tube to the 3rd arm of the "T", pointed
toward the front of the bike. That gives me an operating idiot light in addition
to the gage. It's close quarters on the block where the oil pressure idiot light
tap is, so you have to keep it compact & fit everything carefully. The "T"
fitting assembly cannot be screwed into place without removing the Generator AND
it's mount, so you want to do it right the first time. Also, you're dealing
with oil under high pressure, I've seen my gage spike to 100psi when first
starting up, & it reads around 60 psi when hot & under load. You have to
get the threaded fittings tight & use a proper thread sealant or it WILL
leak (been there-done that!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ron Komoroski</FONT> </DIV>
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