Mystery Hole
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2021
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Mystery Hole
So I just got this 1957 big job, and obviously it was a fire truck at some point in its life. I am curious about the hole in the dash. Does anyone have a clue what may have went there?
Cross-Country
Joined: Nov 2021
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I see now, its hard to tell from the poor resolution of the picture. The left one is indeed a tach. Someone found a tach and put it in the left hole, originally occupied by the vacuum gauge. I've never seen a tach from the factory on the left of the speedometer on these medium/heavy duty trucks.
Your air tank is actually a vacuum reservoir. Its there so that if the engine dies while you're driving, your power brakes don't die right away. You have 5-6 pedal applications left using the reserve vacuum in that tank.
Trace your vacuum lines. You should have one from the intake manifold going to that reservoir. There should also be a check valve preventing vacuum from escaping back into the intake manifold side if you shut off the engine.
Your air tank is actually a vacuum reservoir. Its there so that if the engine dies while you're driving, your power brakes don't die right away. You have 5-6 pedal applications left using the reserve vacuum in that tank.
Trace your vacuum lines. You should have one from the intake manifold going to that reservoir. There should also be a check valve preventing vacuum from escaping back into the intake manifold side if you shut off the engine.
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Mountain Pass
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2018
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From: Kentucky
The vacuum gauge would be the same size and style as the tach. Here is what I believe to be a later one for a 76 on ebay. They seem to be very proud of it judging by the asking price. It gives you an idea of how it mounts etc.
Here is a complete instrument cluster but with the air pressure gauge instead of vacuum.
If the hole bothers you I'm fairly certain that the dash bezel in my 1960 Ford pickup is the same thing minus the hole for the tach and vacuum gauge. I was fortunate enough to get a working tach and cable out of a parts truck but most of the ones I've seen are broken. Here's another ebay link with one.
For the record I'm not familiar with any of these sellers. These listings were just a handy way to link to pictures.
Here is a complete instrument cluster but with the air pressure gauge instead of vacuum.
If the hole bothers you I'm fairly certain that the dash bezel in my 1960 Ford pickup is the same thing minus the hole for the tach and vacuum gauge. I was fortunate enough to get a working tach and cable out of a parts truck but most of the ones I've seen are broken. Here's another ebay link with one.
For the record I'm not familiar with any of these sellers. These listings were just a handy way to link to pictures.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Nov 2021
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That’s it!!! So I’ve decided to bag the truck and put a set of air horns on it. I found a 60’s model dash with the air gauge. Made the whole bigger and put it in that spot. It was a fire truck in a former life, so the hour gauge makes sense!! Thanks for the replies!!!!!
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