wanted: info on tachometer/oil pressure gage

[wallbean]

I have a 1940 BC-65 that has been in storage since 1947. It appears that the only thing I am missing to begin my restoration is the tachometer to fit the big hole in the middle of the panel. Since I do not have the original, I am not even sure what I am looking for. I have been told that it was originally a Studebaker gage, but I am certain about that. Any info would be helpful.

[taylorcraftbc65]

tachometer

I also have a 1940 BC 65, but mine has the gauge still in it. I understand that they were all but impossable to obtain. one
guy spent ten years looking. I just bought mine last month, and
It had sat in a hanger for four years without starting. I'm going
to fire it up for the first time this weekend. If the tach does not
work, and it's not something simple like the drive, then I'll probably put modern instruments on the flight deck, I'll make
one out of birdseye maple, and perheps let you have the old one
to have it rebuilt if you can find someone to do it.
Sabrina

[wallbean]

Tach gage

Thanks for the posting. The plane was used by the Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corporation before it was put in storage when the fabric required replacing. I plan to restore it as original condition as possible and place it in the NC Aircraft Museum. The museums focus is WWII pilots and aircraft. My T-craft was used for the civilian pilot training program at Indy.

[M Jones]

When I bought my '39 BL, the seller told me that the big 3 in 1 guage was worth about half of what he sold the Tcraft to me for.

I had mine rebuilt at Keystone Instruments in Lockhaven, PA a couple of years ago. If you have one of those instruments, keep it, or please make sure it goes to someone else with a pre-war Tcraft. Modern instruments are nice, but the old instrument just works in the center of those old, arched instruments panels. It was made by Stewart-Warner, and I've also been told Studebaker used them at some point.

Mike

[mustang]

hi
the tach was used in cris craft boats also. i found one by going through the vintage boat dealers

[Howard Wilson]

Just posted a pic of the Stewart Warner tach in 20442 on the other thread about these 3 in 1 gauges. Keystone Instruments did a good job on the bubble faced Taylorcraft (Airpath) compass I sent them. Howard
[edited by RL to add link to "other thread"]

[Howard Wilson]

Here's the tach in situ. Love that Art Deco look. Howard
{edited by R Lees to reduce image size}

[Howard Wilson]

Sorry about the size of that last one. I'm an analog guy in a digital world. Some quick dimensions on the tach are: outside diameter of the bezel (the part you can see sticking out of the panel) is 5.80 inches. The outside diameter of the bezel behind the panel that appears to contact the back of the panel is 6 inches. The depth of the unit including the 90' drive is approx. 4.5 inches. There is a 1.1 inch thick flat case attached to the back of the 6" bezel in kind of a squashed hexagonal shape that protrudes anywhere from a quarter inch to an inch beyond the sides of the bezel. Will try to get a SMALLER pic of this if you are interested Howard

[Robert Lees]

Done it for you, Howard!
Rob

[M Jones]

Your edit reminded me that I had posted a few pics on the thread: "Need Info on Big Pre-War Tach (3 in 1)" that were pretty large also Robert. Nice job, thanks. I edited mine to make them a bit smaller too.

By the way, if anyone needs a "free" viewer / editor for these pictures. I recently downloaded one from:

http://www.irfanview.com/

You may want to try it if you don't have one you purchased. Get the download and the "pug-ins". You can do more things than you might need with it. I use it to capture screen shots, and paste them into Word documents and spreadsheets occasionally for work too.

[captjon]

Howard:

Is that nice panel picture from N23858? I just checked and she is on my web page at http://taylorcraft.info/tcraft/23858.jpg from 1980. Did you have her then?

How about some more pics. Go to my web site, Captain Jon's Taylorcraft Hangar, at http://taylorcraft.info and read the "Photo Submission" section.

Great posts recently!!!!

Cheers,

[Howard Wilson]

Capt. Jon,

Your site has been on my favorites list for a long time.
I see you just posted the pics I sent of 20442, thank you. 23858 is in pieces in two barns on the farm here. I was thinking of doing a restoration photo site on her, but you and Rob Lees are tough acts to follow!
I didn't own 23858 in 1980, I believe the fellows I bought her from (Dave Reist) and his dad were the owners then.
Now that I'm getting the hang of this web-photo stuff I'll try to send you some pics of both planes. Howard

[Robert Lees]

Howard,
It is important that you post your own stuff too. You will have your own experiences, tips and methods which you aught to share. Your own site is the better place to do it if you can (it is therefore under your own control), but any info you post wherever will be of great use to everyone.

Jon and I do our best, but we are not perfect, so please endeavour to create your own restoration library for everyone to share.

Rob

[Howard Wilson]

Rob,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll try to get something going.
p.s. You are still a tough act to follow.
Howard

[captjon]

Restoration Site

Good points, Rob. My site is getting VERY big and to the point of having management problems (mostly managing my time to finish things like "Alliance 2003", "Oshkosh 2001" etc. )

The more sites the better is the way I look at it! Everyone brings a different perspective to their experiences with their Taylorcraft and it's always good to hear different viewpoints.

Rob's site is great in it's detail about what he has encountered and how he has dealt with it. My restoration site still has a long way to go, just as my project does. There is plenty to work on with my site, but the many demands on my time keep me from spending it all on this silly computer. Computers have been a hobby since 1982, and I like web page making, but they are not my life (unlike my son, "Three-Laptop-Jason", but we won't get into that).

So.......................go for it! Web page making is not rocket science, and there are a lot of good programs out there that will help you put it all down into bits and bytes. If you need our help with something, let us know, and when you have something up and running, give us the address and we'll put links on our pages for you. Right rob?

In the meantime, everyone keep sending me pictures of your T-Crafts to add to my photo page to document our current Taylorcraft scene. There are a lot of projects out there and the site has precious few pictures from all you restorers. Sure would be nice to document the "before and after" of some of these fine machines.

Cheers,