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For the others, what I'm saying is the since E0TZ-A began life in 1980 and was used through 1986 then there wasn't another part number for the tach in our truck.
But, Bill, isn't it possible that the vendor made a change and supplied a slightly different tach with the same part number? We know they did since, as shown here, there were what we call "open" and "closed" versions of the tachs but only one part number. So, if they changed the circuitry they may have changed other things, like the face itself.
Ford didn't make the tach and their suppliers would change things as long as Ford OK'd it.
Would the parts catalog reflect that, probably not, because...
ID numbers for EOTZ-17360-A = E0TF-17360-AA & E6TF-17360-AA .. What did E6TF look like?
Two different tach only printed circuit boards (I know, don't say it!), 1980 & 1981/86.
So, maybe the new integrated-circuit tachs came out in '86?
I seem to remember reading mid-year 1985, but that's internet hearsay. Diesels did not have a tach option in 83/84, and the early units in 1985 trucks are the closed type if that says anything. On the needle paint topic, the closed style tachs had plastic needles on a metal base. The open style used all plastic. I don't know if the paint changed or the plastic changed, but I can usually tell which kind of tach it is in the junkyard (without pulling it) by the different way the paint fades on the two different kinds of needles. And the plastic tach needle usually looks different than the metal speedometer and gauge needles.
As far as the paint for refurbishing the needles, I have to say +1 for the HiPo orange. Even that dries just a tiny shade too dark, but it's darn close. I have never seen a truly red needle in any of these trucks. I ordered both colors from HiPo not knowing which one (or a mixture) might be right... but the straight orange was what I went with:
Notice how much the lighting affects the color in the photographs. Without 100% studio controlled conditions the comparison shots using flash lighting are as close as we're going to get... and Gary's very practical approach regarding "what paint should I buy?"
Yes, it is amazing how much difference lighting makes. Hard to believe the penultimate shot is the same stuff as the rest of them. That's why, as we've discussed, I need to include the paint swaths in the shot.
And, so far no one has suggested any paints other than the two you show from HiPo.
Mine I used Hi-po red for mine. Photos make it look more redder than it is but below are a couple photos of mine one inside and one with the blue led light conversion I did.
I also didn't paint my gear indicator that is a NOS ford indicator I got from Tommie Vaughn Ford.
I used Testors Fluorescent Orange. I'm not sure how close it is to the OEM color, but they look good and I can see them extremely well at night which is pretty important to me.
I used Hi-po orange on mine too. It is a little darker than the original color; it has more of a reddish tint to it whereas the factory color has a more yellow tint to the orange.
I used HiPoParts Fluorescent Red for the needles and red on the tach, and Testors Fluorescent Yellow for the yellow area on the tach. Not exact matches but very close. The needles I believe were slightly more orange when new, but I prefer red.
I also used HiPoParts 5 SMD LED warm white LEDs for the dash lights. I cleaned the factoryblue covers/diffusers and kept them in. The brightness is great, but I think I will change them to green at some point to match the gauges I have on the column as well as for better night vision and aesthetics. I have the green LEDs in my bikes gauges and really like them.
Also, you'll never get an accurate or consistent color/lighting with a typical point and shoot camera. If using the same model with settings manually set you can get a consistent comparison so far as color or lighting but it may or may not be close to waht the eye sees.
On the camera, I'll be using my Nikon D7000, which is a 24 Mp DSLR. And I'll use its integrated flash as well as the extra Nikon flash I have. That way pretty well all of the lighting will be via Nikon flashes, meaning the white balance will be correct, and with two flashes and one of them diffused the shadows shouldn't be bad. I always shoot in both Raw and JPG, so I'll check to see which gives the best color rendition, but I'll bet on the JPG.
And, I guess I should document that on my web site.
Not to get too far off topic but I am curious has anyone attempted the task at repainting the hash marks, numerals, and letters on their gauges?
I used the hi-po paint on my needles and they glow fairly good under LED lighting but the white doesn't have a glow to them and I from day one wanted to redo them with hi-po white but how small some of the stuff is not sure how well that would work out for me using a brush.
When I did mine the softest brush I had, I had to dab the paint on thick cause brushing would not spread it just wipe off the previous coat that had dried.
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