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Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:17 pm

so, the PO had put some goofy tach in my bus, and seeing that one was never offered for the bus (well, not that i have ever been able to find) i decided to make one of my own. it took a ton of work (still not done, but have made enough progress to post this) all i had was a picture of a T3 tach to go from and this is what i have. i have hooked it up to a car, and using a snap-on digital tach, it is dead on. please remember, this is a 'rough draft' of what it will look like when done. on to the photo.....

Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:37 pm

Very, Very Cool. I like the way it will fit in with everything else and looks stock. I do have one question...Is the 60 backwards in comparison to the other numbers?

Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:44 pm

barefootwestie wrote: Very, Very Cool. I like the way it will fit in with everything else and looks stock. I do have one question...Is the 60 backwards in comparison to the other numbers?

yup #-o it was like 2:30 in the morning when i got this together, so my eyes were like :shock: after staring at a computer screen for hours. a quick crop and flip flop will have it right. i noticed it after i got it all put in the mock up bezel

Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:03 pm

Looks awesome. I too was wondering about the backwards 6. Good work.

Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:08 pm

my vote is to leave it transposed ... very similar to the backwards "90" on the speedo ... I thought it was intentional :)

Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:19 pm

Are you going to make these available to the rest of us? I kinda want one. :lol: :)

Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:55 pm

I must say thats very very cool!!! Good job, almost looks like it could be stock!

Iv been needing to get a tach... you could make some money making those!!!

Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:45 pm

I need a tach too!

Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:53 pm

TrollFromDownBelow wrote: my vote is to leave it transposed ... very similar to the backwards "90" on the speedo ... I thought it was intentional :)

i will make it the other way, and we can have a vote :wink:

as far as making them, uggh, it really take a ton of time, what you see here is all of 12 hours, and i am still not quite done. i will post better pix of the whole deal once i get it sorted, and try to do a video of it in action

Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:57 am

That looks real nice. If you could efficiently make those you might sell a bunch. Just because VW did the number flip flop on the other one doesn't mean that yours matches better. I'd do the invert back to 60 also. Your good feature is the range and that you will be running the gauge mostly at straight up mid point. Which brings up the real question. What kind of tach is it and what is the range? Most of our tach's are 8,000 rpm which is rediculous for our busses. That's the common easy to get tach but we're not running small block Chevys. A 0-6,000 wouldn't be bad but I think a 0-5,000 would be best to get the most accuracy and readability from the workings. Seems like someone a while back had a 3-3/8" 0-5,000 tach that was an industrial tach. Never have seen an automobile tach with a range that low.
Anyway, that really looks great. Good going.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:19 am

skills@eurocarsplus wrote: TrollFromDownBelow wrote: my vote is to leave it transposed ... very similar to the backwards "90" on the speedo ... I thought it was intentional :)

i will make it the other way, and we can have a vote :wink:

as far as making them, uggh, it really take a ton of time, what you see here is all of 12 hours, and i am still not quite done. i will post better pix of the whole deal once i get it sorted, and try to do a video of it in action

I hear ya but maybe a guide would be a good idea for the VW comunity to go from to make their own. I really like your tach!!! :D

Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:32 pm

Desertbusman wrote: That looks real nice. If you could efficiently make those you might sell a bunch. Just because VW did the number flip flop on the other one doesn't mean that yours matches better. I'd do the invert back to 60 also. Your good feature is the range and that you will be running the gauge mostly at straight up mid point. Which brings up the real question. What kind of tach is it and what is the range? Most of our tach's are 8,000 rpm which is rediculous for our busses. That's the common easy to get tach but we're not running small block Chevys. A 0-6,000 wouldn't be bad but I think a 0-5,000 would be best to get the most accuracy and readability from the workings. Seems like someone a while back had a 3-3/8" 0-5,000 tach that was an industrial tach. Never have seen an automobile tach with a range that low.
Anyway, that really looks great. Good going.

the tach is from a 16V GLi, which is a 8K tach. i have a lot of time tied up in what tach had the same 'needle sweep' (so the rpm's would jive)needed for the inside diameter of the factory dummy plate.

i will try to have a video up tonight :D

click here it should bring you to the vid, just give it a few seconds

Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:42 pm

I don't want you to make me one, but I do want your artwork. Did you do it in Photoshop or CorelDraw? I had intended to make a tach for my bus, but was going to use a Porsche tach which is already 12v 4-cyl and the correct size. My problem was getting a clean picture (or better, a scan) of the Karmann Ghia tach, which is pretty rare.

Uncle Dannie

Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:25 pm

UncleDannie wrote: was going to use a Porsche tach
Uncle Dannie

Why would you think that the "sweep" would match Skills calibration?

Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:32 pm

UncleDannie wrote: I don't want you to make me one, but I do want your artwork. Did you do it in Photoshop or CorelDraw? I had intended to make a tach for my bus, but was going to use a Porsche tach which is already 12v 4-cyl and the correct size. My problem was getting a clean picture (or better, a scan) of the Karmann Ghia tach, which is pretty rare.

Uncle Dannie

photoshop. i will have to get some pix of how i did it. i made a sample, scanned it, and spent hours on PS trying to get it right. give me a few days, i will lay out my 'how to'

Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:56 pm

Very nice

If I am reading this right, you got the tach from a 16V GLI, then you made your own face plates so it would look stock?

I think it looks great.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:14 pm

davis911s wrote: Very nice

If I am reading this right, you got the tach from a 16V GLI, then you made your own face plates so it would look stock?

I think it looks great.

correct

Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:53 pm

Thanks. I have been trying to get owners of those $300 - $500 tachs from the '60 up to '70 to scan the face of their tachs. If I had a clean scan, I could duplicate the face for my own. I could 'see' the sweep for my bus, then arrange the faceplate numbers to match the needle, so it would work out correctly.

I believe that the tach from a Porsche 914 would be a good match for the opening and sweep of my '71 bus.

Here is a pic of a tach I want to use, but the angle is off.

Here is link to a photo of a 914 tach - notice the sweep area.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/pix/1935748.jpg

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:06 pm

That's a cool mod. It really looks like it belongs there.

Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:26 pm

bus boys has VDO tach and mounting ring that fits in there. will match the rest of your VDO gauges