Best cal-look tachometer ?

[Rasser]

What is the best cal-look tach ever made  (all style - not considering function) ?

In my opinion it´s the old 5" mallory with built in rev limiter and shiftlight.

click for larger picture!
 

[Frank LUX]

I really do like the small Autometer Sport-Comp Tachs....

Frank

[Lee.C]

I love the "half sweep" SUN unit that was used in the original Inch pincher - Sorry no pic 

[Zach Gomulka]

Hmmm lots of choices... EMPI tachs are of couse beautiful, even more so when mounted in the hood! Stewart Warner can look great in the right car (Aronsons '63), and Autometer is classic, however Ive never liked the tach mounted up on the dash. Its too "look at me everybody!" Exspecially to a cop. I plan to have Autometer make me a classic monster tach to fit in my dash, in the old speedo hole.

VDO Cockpit... blech!

[Lee.C]

Hmmm lots of choices... EMPI tachs are of couse beautiful, even more so when mounted in the hood! Stewart Warner can look great in the right car (Aronsons '63), and Autometer is classic, however Ive never liked the tach mounted up on the dash. Its too "look at me everybody!" Exspecially to a cop. I plan to have Autometer make me a classic monster tach to fit in my dash, in the old speedo hole.

VDO Cockpit... blech!

you mean just like mine in its colour coded pod  For me it has to be mounted on the hood right in your line of sight plus it looks really cool at night when its all lite up 

[Jon]

There is only one...  THE VDO cockpit... 

[Rune]

VDO cockpit for all the small instruments (oil press, temp, tank etc) and an old sideswept Autometer tach would be my choice

[Ole]

I like this one:

[Mangokid]

I'm running VDO cockpits in a Speedwell bracket underneath the dash, and a Veglia tacho a bit to the left in a shrinklefinished housing. Looks good!

I think any Autometer tach looks too hitech, new, big etc.

[Diederick/DVK]

you have any pics of that mangokid? 

[Rick Meredith]

VDO Cockpit... blech!

Hey... back in the day, all we had were VDO Cockpits... and we liked them!   

[Rick Meredith]

Here's my dash



I thought often about swapping the tach to the "center" position and the speedo to the left but that would mean I'd have to lose one of the other gauges for a fuel level gauge.

Gauges are speedo, fuel level, ammeter, voltmeter, oil temp, oil pressure, and tach

Rick

[Lee.C]

I was just wondering if anyone has seen a street car that runs its tacho outside on the hood?

Also the VDO guages are really cool and I will be trying to find a complete matching set for my 70's Looker project 

[Rick Meredith]

Didn't Empi make a fiberglass hood with a pocket for a tach?

[Olaf A./DFL]

Snoopy's got one of those -but the tach is installed somewhere else…

Small Wonder's got it there-

[herrvee]

mine is an antic RAC.It will be replaced with an old sun, at the same place this winter.

[alfie the monster]

I like the autometer with big ole shift lights...

What better sight on a dark night than shift lights poping on in all the lookers around you? 

[javabug]

I was going to run a Sun blue line from the mid 70s, but alas it was only for 8-cyl.  So I found an AutoMeter line that matches that style pretty closely.  I need to get some pics, but haven't had a chance. 

[Jon]

Here's my dash



I thought often about swapping the tach to the "center" position and the speedo to the left but that would mean I'd have to lose one of the other gauges for a fuel level gauge.

Gauges are speedo, fuel level, ammeter, voltmeter, oil temp, oil pressure, and tach

Rick

In my mind this is exactly how a period cal look dash looks like. I have the same sett up you have here. Except my VDO's have chrome rings, since I'm shaving the chrome on the outside I think I ought to change the rings to black.
I have like you thought about having the tach in the speedo hole, and use a 80mm cockpit speedo I have laying around in the old tach hole. Have been playing with the idea of converting the OG speedo to work like a tach too ;-)
Or just add a monster tach when I go drag racing, thinking about making some kind of snap mount on the inside of the glove compartment door.

Could you shed any light on whether it was "normal" to loose the dash chrome when the outside trims were removed?     

[Rick Meredith]

In my mind this is exactly how a period cal look dash looks like. I have the same sett up you have here. Except my VDO's have chrome rings, since I'm shaving the chrome on the outside I think I ought to change the rings to black.
I have like you thought about having the tach in the speedo hole, and use a 80mm cockpit speedo I have laying around in the old tach hole. Have been playing with the idea of converting the OG speedo to work like a tach too ;-)
Or just add a monster tach when I go drag racing, thinking about making some kind of snap mount on the inside of the glove compartment door.

Could you shed any light on whether it was "normal" to loose the dash chrome when the outside trims were removed?     

Thank you JHU.

It was common to lose the dash chrome to match the outside of the car but not always.

Others would fill in the dash completely either with metal or with some dark plastick screwed on top of the existing dash. With either method holes would be cut in to mount gauges. Often the glovebox would be covered over as well.

I really never cared for either method... finding them plain and uninteresting. I really like the character of the oriiginal VW dash. I personally would not change anything on my dash. I even like the trim on the glove box door. It really breaks up that area nicely and adds visual "width" to the dash.

[Jon]

I agree with you on the glove box trim, it ties the dash into one unit I feel. Im still not sure about loosing the trim om my dash since my car is black... and things can easily look a bit boring if you loose all the contrast. Either way im going to cover the "speaker grills" with padded vinyl, and the same with the glove box door, while retaining the trim in either chrome or black, I’m hoping for a subtle cushion effect out of this. I also have a NOS empi dash "top" Im going to use. I hope to mimic the dashes the muscle cars of that era had ;-) 

[62 Ragtop]

Though one, on the one hand I do like the VDO Cockpit style meters, but then again a huge "overstated", in-ya-face, Autometer Monster Tach is also cool I think! 

For now I run (when car was on its feet! Now they gather dust in my garage...) two VDO gauges in a pod, beneath the ashtray, paired togehter with an "old" Porsche 912 (?) Tachometer, slightly angled. Whenever the car comes back to life (any day know, as I've said for the past 2 years), I was thinking about having the indicator-lights in the tach to function as shiftlights... But I'm no electrician though...



For something OT, but dash oriented. I'm also thinking about adding an repro/retro "Becker Mexico" stereo, gotta have the music for those cruising moments...  (sorry for OT)

[alex d]

I have a VDO which is marked 1971, and it came out from a racing 356 too boot! 

haven't installed it yet though

[javabug]

Here's the AutoMeter tach:




Compared to the 70s Sun tach I wanted to use:

[Mangokid]

you have any pics of that mangokid? 

Shure thing. Not the best shot though, but it gives you an idea: