Monster Tacho

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Does anyone have any pics of a fitted monster tacho in an FE/FC or any experiences or advice as to a good location.
The best I can come up with so far is mounted just to the right of the dash and up a bit.



and Ed, don't bother telling where your tacho is, if I'd have known sooner I'd be copying you  

[FC-225]

This is the best interior shot I have showing the Tacho next to the dash panel pointing upwards.
Although not really a 'monster tach' u\it is the biggest Auto Meter made at the time !

http://i1.tinypic.com/mt4a4l.jpg

Cheers

AL

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Thanks Al, did you have any trouble with it being there?

PS, looking forward to seeing the legendary FC225 at the nats.

[Ed]

Hey Stinky,

How did you know I would be replying here?  

I've got a good idea, plus ive seen it before but reckon the idea needs improving.

there was a V6 FC from memory the 50K one on ebay and it had a tacho on the A pillar.  whilst pretty cool, the wires hung out like air roots off a fig tree.

i was strolling past a late model rice burner yesterday and noticed they have "pods" on the A pillar for guages.

try for a slightly smaller tacho but fibrelgass the pod onto the A pillar and recess it using PVC pipe or something.  you could also mount some tweeters here for a good audio set up.

this is what I would do, but seeing as mine is mounted.. too late!

Cheers

Ed

[FC-225]

No,no trouble with it being there..
You don't need to look at it that much,with the memory tachs available these days..

AL

[RET]

Ed's exactly right - it was the 50K FC (also appeared at Gold Coast Nats).

Here's a pic I have of it from a NSW All Holden Day, that shows the tacho mounted.

As Ed mentioned, the wiring that hung out the back of it did not improve its looks, nor (IMHO) the 2" screw in the clamp, clearly visible in the photo above.

I've seen the pods that Ed referred to in a Commodore, too.  They appear to suit standard 2" gauges, but don't look too bad if you like that sort of thing.  You could also make a pod or neck for it in the bit of blank panel to the right of the dash?

Faecal (my modified FE) used to have the tacho mounted on the ash-tray, but I reversed the rear housing/mount and it's now fastened with the LH instrument carrier bolt, along with the SSR-style gauge holder.  It's only a 3" face though, you might find a monster tacho a bit inconvenient in this location

(and yes, ignore the red-line mark.  She'll wind out to at least 2,700...)

cheers
RET

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Thanks guys, pods are out for me, too modern  
Now that the dash and speaker grille are back in I might do some pondering tonight.
I might reset the redline and shift light too!

[RET]

Mounting onto the column is/was always popular.  Does your column have a vestigial "spout" (for want of a better term) where the shifter used to be mounted, or is it out of a floor-shift model, with a blank style "cup"?

As you can see in the photo of Faecal above, the spout is still there, and it has occurred to me that this would be a useful location to mount either a tacho or a cruise controller, since it could be easily rotated into the reverse/second gear location (thus slightly obscuring the fuel gauge) when in use, or dropped to the first/third gear location when less important.  Depending on the weight of the device, you might need to find some way of holding it in the higher position.

Then again, with the spoke arrangement of your wheel, perhaps the 1st/3rd gear position would work.  I'm sure a bloke with your skills adapting bakery equipment could make a neat job of housing a tacho mounted in this fashion.

cheers
RET