I just ordered a '60 instrument panel from an f600 that was in vintage truck classifieds. Has all gauges and I really hope i can McGuyver the electric tack to pick up a signal from my mechanically injected diesel. What I,m looking for today is a photo of what I just bought. I did a search but nuttin, nowhere. I know I have seen a photo of one here. I will most likely need to buy a tach that hooks up to the alternator, but maybe one of you electrically minded guys might have an idea like a hose clamp and a magnet on the crank pulley with part of an old transistor radio to pick up the signal. Can you tell Im already bored with Hawaii? Not much of a guy for beaches, hot humid weather and hotels. We,re here because her grandkids live here,and some of you know how tat goes...She said we could drive the 92 up the Alaska highway next trip. Maybe even the 59 if I ditched the short little straight pipe that turns out just behind the door.

 

Just trying to edit the title of my last post...

 

Like that?

 

FJones, that was fast.

Gary, I feel sorry for the new Mrs. Sisson, I believe she's getting a taste of what being married to an old truck/FTE junkie is like. LOL! I guess she knew it when she signed up. But on your honeymoon, though?

Seriously, hope you kids are having a nice time.

And, if you ever want to sell that guage cluster, I would be interested, FJones.

Steve

 

I WISH that was mine!

Just a picture I had, and he said he was looking for one!

 

The one I just ordered was from Vintage Truck magazine classifieds. Funny, one guy had one advertised,but his phone was always busy, so I called a guy parting fridge trucks and he had one,also fifty bucks. He may have even had two. Maybe I should have bought all three! If you want the number,let me know. The magazine is in the car. OH, and Hawaii is getting better. Just got back from snorkeling and saw amazing fish and a huge sea turtle,and I swear I saw Nemo! I am now cooled off and just had a giant vodka tonic placed in front of me. Next Monday I fly by myself to Pearl Harbor for an all day tour, and I got a PM from fter oldebrush who lives near there. Maybe I was just having aftershocks from gettin hitched....

 

A 1960 gauge cluster will be grey/silver not black/silver like the ones in the picture ('57-'59). Other than that it will look just like the one in the previous post, some have the hash marks on the gauges(1/4, 1/2, 3/4, Full, etc) and some don't. Personally I think the '60 gauges look amazingly better than the other years.

Also I believe your tach will be mechanical not electric.

While that is pretty cool, I'd give almost anything in the world to come across one of these gauge clusters out out of an even larger truck (from 1960 so they would be grey.)

 

Colin, my 59's gauges have the copper color in the center of the gauge. That set you mentioned always commands big money on the rare occasions that they show up on the Bay.

 

The hookup should be easy. Ammeter just has a loop that the main feed wire must pass through. Oil pressure uses a standard Ford oil pressure gauge sending unit. If it is a genuine OEM tach, it is mechanical. If it is an "added later" unit, Ford did offer an electric, but I have never seen one installed.

That F600 must have been a rare bird - you could only get the tach, oil, and amp gauges with the 292 HD - the governed engine.

 

He said it was electric and a Sun brand. I had an old boat with a Sun tach and it required a black box that went with it. The box had a special battery of some sort in it. I may have to resort to a type I have read about where some device is clamped to the alternator and you rotate it cw or ccw to get it to read the actual rpms. He said it was 3 1/2" dia. Also, with a gm one wire alternator the guys at napa convinced me to go with a voltmeter which is currently (no pun intended) mounted under the dash alongside my op gauge. Can I use the original ammeter with the one wire alt, or keep the voltmeter which looks very similar and should fit in the panel? Too late to worry about staying original with this frankentruck!

 

What are the chances of getting that last gauge cluster without any gauges, I am making mine a custom, I just like the fact that there are three holes in that bad boy, Oh I need two, lol



Ryan

 

The original style ammeter does not care what kind of generator or alternator is making the electricity. Just find the wire that goes to the battery from the point where the alternator output wire connects to all of the loads. Extend that wire, or install an new one long enough to go from the load connection, through the loop on the back of the ammeter, then back to the battery. I like that wire to be at least 10 gauge. All the ammeter measures is the current flowing to the battery (charge) or the current flowing from the battery (discharge). If the ammeter reads opposite of what it should, just reverse the direction of the wire through the loop.

I like an ammeter better than a voltmeter, as it gives me a better idea of what is going on - generator output too low, using too many lights/accessories, and so on, as it tells me what is going into or coming out of the battery. A voltmeter gives you the system voltage, so you can usually assume that you are charging whenever that is above about 14.2 volts and discharging when you are below about 12.5 volts. With key on, engine off the voltmeter can give you an idea of the state of charge of the battery.