[T3] Gauges, temps, theories…

[William Jahn]

Mr Meek :

How can one PM you? Also where will the pictures be posted.

William

On Fri, Sep 10, 2021 at 8:35 AM FE Meek <ftalker at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have enclosed a couple of posts I made in 2013 about this recurring
> issue…I hope they help..
>
> Hi there
> I use several VDO gauges for my 2110cc square, oil pressure, oil
> temperature, cylinder head temperature, voltmeter, ammeter and tachometer.
> I do not use the stock oil dip stick so I drilled and tapped the cover
> plate
> on the case and installed one of the two senders I use here.  The other is
> a
> dipstick sender, in a T-1/2 placement.  Both senders run to a double throw,
> single pole 15A switch at the dash for a final run to the gauge.  The
> cylinder head sender is on the number three upper case stud, (exhaust), not
> on the standard spark plug thread.  This is perhaps off by some degrees,
> (cooler), but it is a reference only as the range of acceptable
> temperatures
> is great.
> While I don't advocate for the universal use of all of these instruments
> for
> everyone, I find my travels more informed, my tunes more accurate, my
> drives
> more fun.
>
> > Gene Berg has a bit of a rant about how poorly calibrated the temp
> > sensors were. Since he couldn't find any brand that was reliably
> > accurate, he refused to sell any.
>
> I think Gene was a very innovative cat, but like all innovators he had his
> quirks.  This was one.  He knew very well that gauges are never
> scientifically accurate, but that a dependable reference could be
> invaluable.  He recommended and sold a dipstick idiot light for oil temps.
> More accurate? Really?  Does it tell you that it's getting hot?  Or, that
> it's already there?  Perfect.
> I disagree with him on his recalcitrance here, (I suspect there were other
> reasons for his dislike of the gauges...like competitive pricing).
> And, a few other of his opinions were equally bizarre and
> under-informed...about T-3's, for instance, such as his warning about
> running any jugs bigger than 88's in them...ridiculous.  As soon as I get
> home, I will be able to send pictures of my gauges installation and the
> senders for same for those interested.  Send me a PM for these.
> Hope this helps.
> Best regards,
> FE Meek
> Hi there
> When I was surfing in North Africa in the late sixties, (did I just admit
> this?), there were many air-cooleds on the roads.  Today, even in these
> maintenance-intense third world areas, (Cuba comes to mind in keeping old
> iron moving), Morocco and Algeria have few, if any VW air-cooleds still
> running there and it is not, to be sure, because of a dearth of pieces and
> parts.  But, I am not implying that a lack of gauges was the culprit
> either.  It is simply a harsh, hot environment where even WW2 German
> transports, (some Ur-VW's), lie in sand-swept graves on the outskirts of
> towns and cities, stripped of usable panels for home improvements.
> But, Dave P is quite correct that VW, the "people's car" was modestly
> appointed for reasons both of cost and simplicity.  My experience outside
> the insular worlds of car collection is that most folks don't look at much
> on the dashboards in any case...one of the reasons, no doubt, that modern
> cars have to put an audio reminder on the gas gauge when the tank is
> low...really?
> This experience was reinforced in my college days when I made fair bucks,
> (for the times), doing simple, routine maintenance on Bugs and Busses for
> those unwilling or unwitting to do so themselves.  "What are those red and
> green lights for anyway(s)?"  was not an uncommon question in the day.  So
> gauges?
> Remember, too, that even Porsche after 1956 took the numbers off of the
> oil temperature gauge scales, (even on the Carreras whose 4-cam race design
> redlined at 7+K), and today on the eponymous web sites there is continuing
> controversy as to the interpretation of this now seemingly amorphous
> green-into-red scale.  And, these cars were built for the discriminating
> driver who presumably actually looked at the gauges.
>
> >> You never really know where the danger zone is....
>
>
> I have to take issue with this in theory.  Whether we do so by "sense,"
> intuition or comparative readings on gauges, (or better, all of these), it
> is clear that "we" can know the zones, variable and broad reaching as they
> often appear.  Our cars are better maintained, more assiduously researched
> by those with an abiding interest in their longevity.  But, as some posters
> over the years have noted, no matter how careful and observant we are, bad
> machining happens, bad judgment happens and the entropic arrow of time
> always happens.  And, this last element of human existence is what we end
> up fighting endlessly...and losing.
> But, I know that when I climb a pass that my oil might do well at plus
> 250*F, or my cylinder heads might survive in excess of 400*F, but I'm going
> to be increasingly observant of my senses, my intuition and my gauges and
> to try, in the short term, to avoid the arrow...
> Best regards,
> FE Meek
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
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