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Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:19 am

NASkeet wrote: Lind wrote: NASkeet wrote: NASkeet wrote: Here is a VDO combination accessory gauge unit of a type I have never previously seen, which incorporates a fuel gauge and oil-temperature gauge. Although I cannot see any measurement units specified, I deduce from the number scale that the oil temperature is being measured in degrees Fahrenheit; much favoured in the USA, but declining in use even here in Great Britain where the metric system is now the norm for most things.

VDO combination fuel & oil-temperature gauge unit

I found it recently listed on British Ebay, for a prohibitively high asking price of £265 + shipping, but I thought you might be interested to see this example, which the vendor says he originally bought for his 1954 VW Beetle.

VW Camper Van / Beetle fuel & oil temp gauge made by VDO

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Camper-Van-Beetle-Fu...Sw4CFYodKl

The asking price has now been reduced to £195 + shipping, which is still extremely expensive

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Camper-Van-Beetle-Fu...Sw4CFYodKl

That gauge was made by VDO for '58-'61 beetles. It fits at the top middle of the dash. It is also bulky, ugly and not desired by many people if anyone. It is a neat item, but not nearly as precious as the ebay seller thinks it is.

If I had had a vehicle for which it was appropriate, I might have stretched my budget to maybe the equivalent of US$50 for one of those, but by my standards, even a reduction to £195 + shipping, would be a silly price. :roll: When these were new they were a quick and minimally invasive way to retrofit a vw with gauges. The combo gauge required only three small holes drilled in the dash. The fuel tank sending unit required only one 8mm hole drilled in the filler neck of the fuel tank. The oil temp sending unit replaced the oil dipstick. The system is a good invention. Nothing wrong with regular gauges mounted in gauge holders under the dash though, and I think that's why the tandem gauges are less common.

Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:18 am

tstracy39 wrote: Check my classifieds for kewl gauges:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=tstracy39

I fear T. S. Tracey, that all of your "kewl gauges" would be MUCH TOO expensive for my budget! :shock:

Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:37 pm

tstracy39 wrote:
Check my classifieds for kewl gauges:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=tstracy39

I fear T. S. Tracey, that all of your "kewl gauges" would be MUCH TOO expensive for my budget! Shocked
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

You must not have much of a budget because tstracy39 does an awesome job for a reasonable cost.

Fri Jan 31, 2020 8:26 am

rcraigbug wrote: tstracy39 wrote:
Check my classifieds for kewl gauges:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=tstracy39

I fear T. S. Tracey, that all of your "kewl gauges" would be MUCH TOO expensive for my budget! Shocked
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

You must not have much of a budget because tstracy39 does an awesome job for a reasonable cost.

You're right, I don't have much of a budget!

I rely upon obtaining the VDO Cockpit gauges I seek at low cost, which typically has been in the range £5~£15 although I did once splash out about £25 for a NOS VDO Cockpit 0~6000 rpm tachometer dating from the mid-1980s.

The NOS VDO Cockpit -25~0~40 deg.C ambient-air temperature gauge kit, was a bargain at only £15.

Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:41 am

If you want to find out more about VDO instruments that were available in Great Britain, here is the 1992, 64-page catalogue, which is now posted in The Samba Literature Archive:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1992_vdo_catalog.php

Here are the VDO Cockpit tachometers, including the 52 mm, alternator-sensed, 0~6000 rpm one that I have.

and here is the VDO Cockpit -25~0~40 deg.C ambient-air-temperature gauge kit together with spare parts

Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:26 am

My monthly rent is a bit more than 25 pounds, unfortunately. Sorry to disappoint

Tue Apr 13, 2021 6:15 am

I randomly found this rev counter locally

I'm planning to use it on my 67, not sure if I'll install it on the dash like the original Speedwell cars or if I'll put it in a pod

Sun May 16, 2021 4:02 am

Found this one mark vw and the other, dont seen them before. Any info and pictures would be great

Sun Apr 03, 2022 8:56 am

Got this in a 58 beetle tested it and it works the original wire is in good shape and is the correct length to the engine compartment … it is dated 2/56

As always I have the same questions…..

How uncommon is this style moto meter gauge?

Is it vw specific or for another German made car ?

And are there other matching styles gauge such as amp and oil pressure ?

Mon May 02, 2022 11:44 am

recent purchase, very good condition 4/57' proper original tachometer.

Will fit my 54' nicely once I find or build a generator for it.
I know a guy who has one..at some point have to determine what the signal / voltage scale it puts out. I'll find a substitute one way or another.
I was thinking an old bicycle headlight generator run through some miniature solid-state regulator.
Anyone have any progress on what the sender sends to the 'G' connection tachs?

Mon May 23, 2022 8:31 pm

Bub wrote: recent purchase, very good condition 4/57' proper original tachometer.

Will fit my 54' nicely once I find or build a generator for it.
I know a guy who has one..at some point have to determine what the signal / voltage scale it puts out. I'll find a substitute one way or another.
I was thinking an old bicycle headlight generator run through some miniature solid-state regulator.
Anyone have any progress on what the sender sends to the 'G' connection tachs?

G stands for "Geber", which translates into "Giver". After VDO stopped making gauges in Germany (In 1999 or so), terminal G is no longer a thing. There is instead now a terminal "S" on all their gauges. S stands for Signal or Sender. Unfortunately a bike light generator isn't going to stay in one piece at 5000RPMs, or anywhere near that. Even with an OG VDO generator, you're going to end up breaking the cable every once in a while. Your best bet would be to run the cable to a .5000 reducer drive joint for a Detroit diesel tach etc., and recalibrate the tach to read double.

Tue May 24, 2022 12:20 pm

tstracy39 wrote: Bub wrote:

G stands for "Geber", which translates into "Giver". After VDO stopped making gauges in Germany (In 1999 or so), terminal G is no longer a thing. There is instead now a terminal "S" on all their gauges. S stands for Signal or Sender. Unfortunately a bike light generator isn't going to stay in one piece at 5000RPMs, or anywhere near that. Even with an OG VDO generator, you're going to end up breaking the cable every once in a while. Your best bet would be to run the cable to a .5000 reducer drive joint for a Detroit diesel tach etc., and recalibrate the tach to read double.

The bike headlight generator was just a hairbrained idea I thought would be fun to try. I was mostly wondering if there was any documentation on what the V+ scale this thing needs, just as a place to start. Only clue I have is some experimenting someone did a while ago on the Ghia version of the tach, and I think it ran all the way up to like 32volts or something.
So, I guess I'd have to run3-4 of those bike generators on reducers and wire them in series.
I'll get right on it!

But the bottom line is I knew it's super unlikely that I'd get it work work right and reliably without mods or rebuilding it. Just the cost of the proper setup is murder.
So I just skipped it all and put a 5k modern tach driver inside.
Works fantastic now.

Tue Jun 14, 2022 6:46 pm

Bub wrote: tstracy39 wrote: Bub wrote:

G stands for "Geber", which translates into "Giver". After VDO stopped making gauges in Germany (In 1999 or so), terminal G is no longer a thing. There is instead now a terminal "S" on all their gauges. S stands for Signal or Sender. Unfortunately a bike light generator isn't going to stay in one piece at 5000RPMs, or anywhere near that. Even with an OG VDO generator, you're going to end up breaking the cable every once in a while. Your best bet would be to run the cable to a .5000 reducer drive joint for a Detroit diesel tach etc., and recalibrate the tach to read double.

The bike headlight generator was just a hairbrained idea I thought would be fun to try. I was mostly wondering if there was any documentation on what the V+ scale this thing needs, just as a place to start. Only clue I have is some experimenting someone did a while ago on the Ghia version of the tach, and I think it ran all the way up to like 32volts or something.
So, I guess I'd have to run3-4 of those bike generators on reducers and wire them in series.
I'll get right on it!

But the bottom line is I knew it's super unlikely that I'd get it work work right and reliably without mods or rebuilding it. Just the cost of the proper setup is murder.
So I just skipped it all and put a 5k modern tach driver inside.
Works fantastic now.
VDO still makes a version of the generator. But they're limited to 3000 RPMs, they sell for about $400.00 currently, and as far as I know almost everything VDO sells currently is made in India and there's a lot of defective parts getting past quality check and being shipped out of the factory. A Detroit Diesel .5000 reducer is fairly common. I've found WW2 US Army surplus ones for about 75 dollars each.

Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:46 pm

Hi,

Can this VDO Temperature Gauge 310-503, be used for Oil Temperature?
Thanks.

Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:54 pm

Do you have the correct sender unit?

Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:49 pm

Hi KTPhil,

I am planning to get the 300degF oil temperature sender M18x1.5, VDO 323-064, for this gauge, sounds about right?

Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:56 pm

Hard to say. Nothing guarantees gauges and senders are compatible, at least as far as calibration go. And they will probably not accept returns if you guess wrong.
Without documentation of which sender goes with that gauge, you are guessing.
Maybe someone familiar with that gauge (or others of the same era) will chime in?

Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:25 am

erictioe wrote: Hi,

Can this VDO Temperature Gauge 310-503, be used for Oil Temperature?

Thanks.

It certainly looks like an oil-temperature gauge to me.

I suggest you contact VDO and ask them which VDO gauge-senders are compatible with this gauge, or at the very least, the temperature versus resistance characteristics of a generic sender that would be compatible.

Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:39 am

erictioe wrote: Hi,

Can this VDO Temperature Gauge 310-503, be used for Oil Temperature?
Thanks.

If you're going to be doing any gauge setup and it doesn't come as a kit I'd get one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CZLPAOM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this you can determine the resistance values almost any gauge requires to work and shop for senders that will install where you want them installed.

Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:14 am

Rare complete set of pre-66 empi gauges
1) dash pod tachometer
2) oil pressure
3) oil temperature
4) amp meter
5) vacuum gauge
6) cylinder head temp gauge