My engine spinny roundy indicator has failed

"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44) 04/30/2019 at 09:58 • Filed to: None

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My tachometer in the Corvette has stopped working and that’s a real shame because the tach is my favorite gauge in any performance car. It’s likely that the plastic drive gear stripped and failed because the cable wasn’t lubricated properly. I haven’t gone in and checked. On a Corvette the tach drives off the side of the distributor housing so at least it’s easy to access! Lots of rain and occasional snow have prevented me from driving it very much lately but hopefully it will warm up and get back into daily usage!

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 10:18

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I love the gauge cluster on the C3. The two important ones as big as possible and right in front with all your monitoring ones above the center console

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 04/30/2019 at 10:21

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Me too. It always looked so cool. I find it interesting that the Miura, the C3 Corvette, and the 1971-73 Ford Mustang all have the same dash/gauge layout. Forward-leaning dashboard with two huge gauges in pods ahead of you, and 5 or so smaaller gauges in the console. Oddly similar. 

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 11:31

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Zs only have three in the center but does have the two big ones right in front of you. Is one of those a clock in the Vette ?

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/30/2019 at 12:24

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Oh good point! Yes that’s a similar style as well. Yeah the bottom left gauge on the console of the Corvette is a clock

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 12:36

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Oh I forgot to say that two of the center gauges are dual purpose, they are top and bottom sweep style for each. So that is six gauges plus a clock! I found pictures of my actual car, I think the first one is when I just got the dash cap on, a few years ago, still working on it. Oh and my car came with a 510 SSS wheel on it, so this is when I started working on it, still has that steering wheel. 

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/30/2019 at 12:36

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Volvo P1800 also sort of does it, but far more sexily.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/30/2019 at 12:58

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Nice wheel! I love that car. I also like how Nissan kept the three dash gauges in all (but one) generations of the Z car. It’s a nice touch. 

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 13:03

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I kept the wheel but I do have a correct 240Z wheel on it now. The 510 SSS parts are difficult to get . Yeah the 300ZX is almost not a Z to me, I love the car but it feels like a different model Nissan.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/30/2019 at 13:05

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I love that orange you have. The Z just came in so many cool colors back then. 

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 13:15

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Oh thanks, we did a single stage paint just like it came with. I feel like the Viper Green from Porsche and this Nissan 918 orange are really the best of that period. I posted an RSR I saw yesterday in that green and they equally attract the police haha. You would think people could see it well, and hear it, but it is so low and small these SUVs just drift towards me. I am always ready on the horn to get their attention. I might add a second horn with a different pitch. I saw a rough C3 the other day at Home Depot, looked like they were just starting to work on the exterior, I thought of you guys.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 04/30/2019 at 13:17

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It just looks great. Cool C3 sighting! I hope more ratty ones come out of the woodwork. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 15:04

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Any aftermarket replacements for that plastic gear but made of metal...?

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 04/30/2019 at 15:28

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Maybe but you don’t want them. The plastic gear is designed to sacrifice itself and save the gear on the actual distributor shaft it mates to in case of a malfunction . If you mess up the gear on the shaft things get bad in a hurry. The plastic gear is a little failsafe.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 04/30/2019 at 17:20

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Ah, it’s funny how some of the simplest parts have surprisingly important / clever engineering. Reminds me of a bolt on the FIAT 500/ 126 engine - it’s actually hollow, with a hole down the center. Most people would think, what a weird strange bolt, think nothing of it and replace it with a standard bolt of the same size....not knowing it’s designed this way as a failsafe.

In case the head gasket fails, the bolt lets exhaust gas vent out into the atmosphere rather than into the air cooling tinware, and therefore into the interior of the car through the vent system if the heat vent is open...so that tiny bolt with a hole prevents the interior of the car from quickly becoming carbon-monoxide death hotbox city!

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/01/2019 at 11:27

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Very cool! I love little engineering facts like this

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 05/01/2019 at 15:15

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I do too!