Adding S type guages to a 69T

Andy Ring · 11-01-2003, 07:39 AM

Just joined this forum, so be nice...

I recently bought a 69T in rough shape and have been slowing fixing her up. One thing I want to upgrade are the gauges. It came with the "standard" gauges rather than the S gauges.

Here's where I've gotten:
I found proper period S-type gauges on eBay that show fuel and oil level in one and oil temp and oil pressure in the other. In installed these and have hooked up the wires so that fuel level and oil temp work. However, since I never had oil pressure or oil level, I'm not sure what I need to do to get these to work. My questions:

1) Do I need to replace sending units in my engine?

2) What about wiring from engine to dashboard? Are the wires already in place, but not used in my car? There are some extra wires that I have not yet hooked up anywhere.

3) Has this already been addressed on this board and I'm just too much of a newbie to find it?

Thanks

Rot 911 · 11-01-2003, 08:35 AM

Andy I have no more knowledge about this then you, but at least I can bump it back up to the top. If it was me the first one I would look for is the oil level wiring. This requires an oil level sending unit in the oil tank. This sending unit goes in from the side of the tank and has a connector on the outside of the tank. Look and see if you have it. If not you have some work ahead of you.

Rot 911 · 11-01-2003, 08:38 AM

The oil level sending unit is number 35 in the attached diagram:

Andy Ring · 11-01-2003, 09:06 AM

Kurt,

Thanks for the info. So, if I'm reading the diagram right, the sender is kind of like a float that fits inside the oil tank. What I can't tell from the diagram is how you gain access to it. Is it behind the filter? Its kind of hard to tell from the diagram.

Also, where'd you get the diagram from. Its great!

Thanks again

Rot 911 · 11-01-2003, 09:11 AM

Andy the sending unit goes in from the other side of the tank. As for the diagram, go to the main Pelican Parts page. You will see all kinds of great stuff like these diagrams, tech articles, cars for sale, etc.

CamB · CamB's Garage

I am pretty sure the wire is there for oil pressure, but can't remember if you need to add or change a sender. Someone else might know. My recollection is tat you need to add the sender (mechanic did mine, as part of a later engine swap)

There is no good news about the oil level - the tank doesn't have the provision to add the sender - it is different to the models with the sender

. You should check though - you never know if the tank has been changed already in the last 30 years.

Try this search:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=463744&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

Easy when you know what to look for

304065 · 11-01-2003, 11:37 AM

Andy,

Don't worry about being a newbie as long as you use the search function.

The place to check is on the 14-pin connector at the rear of the electrical console, at the port-side rear of the engine compartment. It's that connector that contains all the wires for pressure senders and temp senders (for that matter everything going to the motor except ground and ignition). Dont' pop the connector apart! Pull off the tape and look at the wires. These correspond to the wires going through that connector on the factory diagram, which is posted on the Pelican main page. There's the answer.

My guess is that you have all the wiring present, just not the gauge up front. Only way to tell, however, is by looking at that connector.

Good luck! Tell us what you have and we can go from there.

chuckw951 · 11-01-2003, 02:10 PM

Hi,

With all due respect to Mr. Cramer, the '69 911s don't have the 14-pin connector...those started in 1970. I wish they did as it would make motor swaps easier

The '69 models have a series of 4 6pin plugs behind the motor. Plug 1 (left to right) has oil temp and oil pressure. Look for green/red and green black (though I can't remember which is which...try searching the archives or look at the wiring diagram)

Oil tank levels is on a different plug...look for a green wire with a white stripe.

One other note...the early 911 gauges are held in place by brackets that are (somewhat) accessible from the front trunk. I replaced my tach...and had a tough time getting the old one out until I realized this. So FWIW...

Chuck

Andy Ring · 11-01-2003, 04:29 PM

Thanks for all the advice. From what I'm reading, the wiring is probably there (at least back to engine compartment). My biggest problem seems to be that I have an oil tank that does not accept on oil level sender. I guess I'll either not hook up the oil level gauge, or keep an eye out for a used oil tank.

By the way, Chuck is indeed correct about the 4 plugs vs 14 pin connector. He's also right about the way the gauges are mounted with brackets from behind the dash. Besides these brackets being incredibly hard to remove because they are connected with a textured round nut that doesn't provide much traction, the holes for the guages are slightly larger than in later cars so the newer gauges are ever so slightly too small to fit snugly. I wound a couple wraps of black electrical tape around my replacement gauges and then put on the gaskets and stuffed the guage into the hole--seems to work fine, but may offend purists.

H.G.P. · 11-01-2003, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Andy Ring

He's also right about the way the gauges are mounted with brackets from behind the dash. Besides these brackets being incredibly hard to remove because they are connected with a textured round nut that doesn't provide much traction, the holes for the guages are slightly larger than in later cars so the newer gauges are ever so slightly too small to fit snugly. I wound a couple wraps of black electrical tape around my replacement gauges and then put on the gaskets and stuffed the guage into the hole--seems to work fine, but may offend purists.

I have delayed the R&R of my clock for worry that I might jar another adjacent connection. How much room is there to work in there, and does the blower need to be removed first?

Andy Ring · 11-01-2003, 06:13 PM

I definately had to remove the blower. The nuts that hold the brackets on required a visegrip and all my strength to loosen up. I removed all my gauges and snapped the bolts on two. I guess it depends on how long they've been sitting there. I don't think mine had budged since 69. The good news is that I remember the clock as being the easiest since its on the end and in the middle where there's the most room. However, definately not a fun job. Wouldn't be bad if the nuts came off easy--maybe yours will???