Re: 48-50 fuel sender idea

Posted by HH56 On 2022/3/8 10:17:25

An interesting idea and if it works maybe a possibility for temp and oil gauges also. Would need either a stock 51-4 instrument voltage regulator or something along the lines of the Amazon item that would accept a 6v input to be added to the 48-50 but that is doable. The lack of "flite glo" paint on the later needles might be an issue so a solution would need to be found for that. Before committing to something like a conversion it would also be a good idea to get in touch with KM Lifestyles and verify for sure whether or not they have or can make a sender for the 48-50 gauges. I don't recall anyone ever having mentioned them making one but I don't know if anyone has tried or they definitely do not. Even if there is a fuel sender available it still might be a possibility for oil and temp gauges because those senders seem to be getting just as scarce.

If you have an ohmmeter it would be interesting to know the resistance range of the heater in the older gauge vs the newer and just for curiosity what the later sender has the gauge read when used on the older gauge. An issue might be the older senders use screws to mount the sender to the tank vs the small thin flange and twist ring on the 51-6 senders so that would need to be addressed. Possibly that could be with use of one of the modern universal senders that can be modified to fit various depth tanks and usually have the screw mount flanges.

As I recall, Packard uses a different size or number of screws in their mount and one fellow who tried a modern sender with an old gauge (didn't work) had to buy a conversion flange along with the sender so sender would fit the Packard tank. When his first attempt did not work he converted to a set of Classic Instrument modern gauges which are different but still somewhat similar enough in looks to the old they are not too visually jarring in the dash.

If the substitution of gauges does work then it would be a matter of convincing the purists the modification to something non stock is a viable option and then finding someone wanting a sideline to do the work. Changing the entire gauge might be something those who have limited mechanical skills or those who are not able to work with precision around small and delicate items might attempt but I think It would be a hard sell for them to want to do the delicate work in changing the faces themselves.