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Derek

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Everything posted by Derek

  1. So I finally had the right combination of events to where I ended up with 1/4 tank and the time to drain and measure. I used a 5 gallon gas jug and it was so close to 4 gallons that I'm calling it a winner. The needle does start to swing a bit down around 1/4 tank and I did have one scare. I was about 30 min from the shop and I was hovering around 1/4. I pulled up to a light that was on a bit of an incline and the needle bounced down to E for long enough for me to convince myself I was running out of fuel. I wasn't but without knowing for sure I threw in a few gallons. It is way better than it was before and I'll probably run it down to 1/8th and see where I'm at. As long as I can count on it to between 1/4 and 1/8th then I'm golden since that is usually as low as I run it.
  2. Yes but the owner of Technoversion drives a 240 so there is that to consider:) Went for about a 45 min drive today. Gage went down as expected and was rock steady the whole time. I do want to reiterate that I change my sender wire and installed the MM at the same time. I would do that first since old wire and connections are not a great combo for dependable ohm eadings
  3. Yes. I did the coarse setting with the MM and then refined it with the gauge. Yes. The needle moved slowly which gave me some hope. I then installed the sender and added gas at a known amount and checked the gauge to verify. It was very accurate without any other tweaking but I wanted to get it dialed in at the 3/4 mark since that is probably pretty close to the point where the tank narrows. The drive home went well and the needle was more stable than it has ever been. The real proof will be when it get's down a little past half. that is when I really noticed the massive swings. The needle would literally go from half a tank to empty.
  4. I just posted this in Electrical but here it is as well. Speedhut fuel gauge and MeterMatch Like a lot of others I’ve had issues with the Speedhut fuel gauge playing nicely with the stock fuel tank sender. I would get wild swings and was never really sure how much fuel I had. After some discussions on the Speedhut group buy thread I decided to get a MeterMatch from Technoversions. It basically takes the ohm readings from the sender and converts them to a more stable range for the gauge. So here is how I attacked this. I tried to install it without pulling the sender and it was just not working. And during the course of this I was getting some erroneous readings from the sender. So I drained the tank all the way and pulled the sender. I brought the sender into the car so I could manually move it to see what was going on. I set the fuel gauge back to default of 240 empty and 33 full. I then used the MeterMatch to set full and empty calibration. To calibrate you used up and down buttons to move the gauge needle and then save it when you get it where you want it. I had a really hard time since a single button push moved the needle almost a 1/4 tank. I ended up getting it close with MM and then doing a final calibration with the gauge. This worked really well. I reinstalled the sending unit and rewired it with a new good ground and a dedicated sender wire straight to the MM. I have a 16 gal tank. I put in 2 gallons and the meter read 1/8 and was stable. So far so good. I put in two more and it was a little above 1/4. Still good but I wanted to try the lower mid point calibration. As before the button presses moved the needle a ton. But I noticed the needle wasn’t stopping at the same place. I found I could walk the needle around by different combinations. I went to the gas station and put in four more gallons and the gauge read 1/2. Four more and I was a little above 3/4. Went for a drive and the needle was really steady compared to what I had before. Let’s face it a lever arm sender is going to have a lot of movement and if the gauge isn’t designed for that sender then it’s only going to be so good. So I got back to the shop and contacted Brian at Technoversions with questions about the up down calibration. Here is his reply: With regard to the MeterMatch, what you are seeing with the up/down resolution is on purpose. Most gauges use a fair amount of current, so if we made the buttons work at full resolution, you could be pressing one of the up/down buttons a thousand times to go from end to end. So we make the buttons move the amount in larger increments. But to make the points in-between accessible, we make the increments between up and down slightly different, so that all values can be selected. This is hardly noticeable on most gauges, but on some electronic gauges, such as the one you have, much less current is necessary so you are working within a small range of values, so the resolution appears to be much coarser. But you should be able to get there. So you can hit a specific target with the right combo but I will tell you it is a challenge. You can get the needle where you want it and after you take it out of program mode it changes. I set the upper mid point calibration the best I could considering the heat index in Florida right now and may revisit it in the future. From 3/4 tank and up I don’t care if it is accurate and truth be told as long as I can count on 1/4 tank being stable and accurate I’ll be happy. So to sum up. I would run a separate dedicated ground and signal wire first since in all reality that may have been the bulk of my issues. I already had the MM so I used it. If That doesn’t work for you then: Purchase MM from Technoversions Set the fuel gauge to default ohms since that is where it was designed to work. Use the MM calibration to get the needle to full and empty as best you can. I wouldn’t get too crazy with the button pushes since you are going to set the final calibration with the gauge. Recalibrate the Speedhut fuel gauge. Install the sender and use known amounts of fuel to check calibration. I plan on draining the tank when it reads 1/4 and if I have 4 gallons then I’m golden. I’ll update this thread after I drive it a bit as well.
  5. Like a lot of others I’ve had issues with the Speedhut fuel gauge playing nicely with the stock fuel tank sender. I would get wild swings and was never really sure how much fuel I had. After some discussions on the Speedhut group buy thread I decided to get a MeterMatch from Technoversions. It basically takes the ohm readings from the sender and converts them to a more stable range for the gauge. So here is how I attacked this. I tried to install it without pulling the sender and it was just not working. And during the course of this I was getting some erroneous readings from the sender. So I drained the tank all the way and pulled the sender. I brought the sender into the car so I could manually move it to see what was going on. I set the fuel gauge back to default of 240 empty and 33 full. I then used the MeterMatch to set full and empty calibration. To calibrate you used up and down buttons to move the gauge needle and then save it when you get it where you want it. I had a really hard time since a single button push moved the needle almost a 1/4 tank. I ended up getting it close with MM and then doing a final calibration with the gauge. This worked really well. I reinstalled the sending unit and rewired it with a new good ground and a dedicated sender wire straight to the MM. I have a 16 gal tank. I put in 2 gallons and the meter read 1/8 and was stable. So far so good. I put in two more and it was a little above 1/4. Still good but I wanted to try the lower mid point calibration. As before the button presses moved the needle a ton. But I noticed the needle wasn’t stopping at the same place. I found I could walk the needle around by different combinations. I went to the gas station and put in four more gallons and the gauge read 1/2. Four more and I was a little above 3/4. Went for a drive and the needle was really steady compared to what I had before. Let’s face it a lever arm sender is going to have a lot of movement and if the gauge isn’t designed for that sender then it’s only going to be so good. So I got back to the shop and contacted Brian at Technoversions with questions about the up down calibration. Here is his reply: With regard to the MeterMatch, what you are seeing with the up/down resolution is on purpose. Most gauges use a fair amount of current, so if we made the buttons work at full resolution, you could be pressing one of the up/down buttons a thousand times to go from end to end. So we make the buttons move the amount in larger increments. But to make the points in-between accessible, we make the increments between up and down slightly different, so that all values can be selected. This is hardly noticeable on most gauges, but on some electronic gauges, such as the one you have, much less current is necessary so you are working within a small range of values, so the resolution appears to be much coarser. But you should be able to get there. So you can hit a specific target with the right combo but I will tell you it is a challenge. You can get the needle where you want it and after you take it out of program mode it changes. I set the upper mid point calibration the best I could considering the heat index in Florida right now and may revisit it in the future. From 3/4 tank and up I don’t care if it is accurate and truth be told as long as I can count on 1/4 tank being stable and accurate I’ll be happy. So to sum up. I would run a separate dedicated ground and signal wire first since in all reality that may have been the bulk of my issues. I already had the MM so I used it. If That doesn’t work for you then: Purchase MM from Technoversions Set the fuel gauge to default ohms since that is where it was designed to work. Use the MM calibration to get the needle to full and empty as best you can. I wouldn’t get too crazy with the button pushes since you are going to set the final calibration with the gauge. Recalibrate the Speedhut fuel gauge. Install the sender and use known amounts of fuel to check calibration. I plan on draining the tank when it reads 1/4 and if I have 4 gallons then I’m golden. I’ll update this thread after I drive it a bit as well.
  6. I just pulled trigger on the Techoversions unit. I will report back as to the results.
  7. This part from the instructions got my attention. That is exactly the issue I'm having. The slightest movement on the sender makes the gauge swing. This is also interesting as well. I have a lot of electrical items and I'm sure the voltage swings quite a bit depending on conditions. Not sure if this bothers Speed Hut gauges.
  8. Just a heads up. Techo versions the company that offers the Ron Tyler mount also offers/makes the meter match. The more I read about it the more I think that is probably what we are looking for.
  9. I did as well so I put in a brand new sender. I think it made it worse:) That would be great. I'm going to check the connections to the sender this morning and make sure nothing is loose.
  10. Just got back from a drive and the gauge was swinging form 3/4 to empty at what seemed to be random intervals. I got nervous and fueled up and it only took 4 gallons. I read somewhere that the the voltage to the gauge can effect the reading but not sure if that is valid. Any thoughts on this unit? https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=473/category_id=167/mode=prod/prd473.htm Pricy but if it will solve my problems then I'm willing to go that direction. They also have this: https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=748/category_id=167/mode=prod/prd748.htm That is probably a very accurate assessment
  11. I think when it comes to safety and when using a mis mash of parts documentation is important. If they are two ways for an item to be mounted but only one works then that requires documentation.
  12. After the hassle I had with the kit from Zcar depot's Ebrake function I wouldn't buy it without detailed instructions and pictures of it installed. So much of this stuff is not much more than a collection of parts that require a lot more work on the users end than they let on to. To sell a brake kit without detailed downloadable instructions is almost criminal in my mind.
  13. The gauges themselves are great as far as I'm concerned and I would search specifically for this ohm problem with any other set you look at.
  14. +1 for this. I'm currently in therapy because of range anxiety. Looks like I have half a tank, great, looks down again, Empty???
  15. Great job. You are right it looks like it was originally that way.
  16. Mine is the one in the speedo. There is an old post by KTM where he had the same issues and I'm almost positive that is the stand alone gauge.
  17. Mine is the same. It wings wildly when it gets to about half tank. I'm not an electrical guru but I imagine the ohm range on the Nissan sender is too narrow so a little movement on the arm results in a lot of action on the gauge. I have a brand new sender and it's no better than the original one.
  18. Has anyone figured out how to get their fuel gauge to read properly?
  19. Looks great. Right before I did my twin cam head I was looking into getting another Z and making it electric. Unfortunately the double whammy of the price of Z cars going through the roof and the cost of developing a cylinder head blew that dream out of the water. I'll live vicariously through your build:) I think we need to think of ourselves as "propulsion heads" rather than "petrol heads" at some point since electric propulsion isn't going away. And that instant torque is pretty appealing. Thanks for posting. Derek
  20. I have the 3.9 in mine with Datsunrestomods axles. I have driven it with both the stock 4 speed and the FS5W71C from Godzilla Raceworks. My build is not kicking a ton of HP since it is 2.818L and the CR is only around 9.5:1. There is a noticeable difference between first and second gear between the two. The 4 speed has a much better snap to it and is a lot more fun to drive. The FS5W71C is way better on the highway. I have a 3.2L that I'm slowly getting together and feel that the extra HP and torque will more than makeup for the lack of gearing. Ultimately after doing a ton of calculating with ratio calculators the CD009 with the 3.9 would be the best choice for my style of driving. That is a hill that is too high a climb for me at the moment. My gut feeling is if most of your driving is around town I would go with the 3.9. Beware that used Subaru r180's can be a crap shoot. I bought mine from a reputable seller on ebay that supposedly had 36K miles on it and it howls at 50mph. And unfortunately 50 is my in town cruise speed so it's pretty crappy. They are getting really popular and the prices are no longer what I would consider cheap. If I had to do it again I'm not sure that would be the direction I would go. I paid someone who has done quite a few Datsun R180 diffs to try and get the wipe pattern dialed in and the Suretrac carrier gave him a ton of trouble trying to get it out of the diff housing. The long and the short of it is I'm at $1200.00 for a diff that is noisy so make sure you choose wisely. When they were $350.00 it was worth taking a chance. At $700-900 not so much.
  21. Possibly. I'm going to try shortening the cable first since I have the equipment. I may end up designing and fabbing new cable holder brackets at some point. I have 15" wheels so that limited my kit choices a little bit.
  22. So I ended up re cabling my old set. I think some of the problem is with the brackets they sell you end up using a lot of the effective travel of the mechanism by the time you get all the slack out. I ended up making the cables a little too long and I'm still using up too much adjustment. It's better but there is no way the brake would slow and stop the car in any kind of emergency. Maybe with every bit of the throw available it would but I'm still not sure. I think the travel on the caliper lever is longer than the available travel on the lever.
  23. I could hear the relief and excitement in your voice. My prototype head fired right off and it is quite the shock. I almost didn't know what to do next because I wasn't expecting it. Great work. And it sounds really good. You must be one happy camper.
  24. So that valve has an adjustable bleed? Is that what I'm looking at?
  25. Yikes. Is the Ford a PWM controlled like the Bosch?
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