Tachometer Repair

Tommy,

Since you asked for an "either way" answer:
Bob's Speedometer out of Michigan had come highly recommended to me. It's a second generation repair shop. I was trying to revive my 66's tach. They were not able to rescusitate the original (Faria, I believe) workings and substituted a new mechanism (2 wire). The work was done well and priced fairly

While I am happy to have a working tach, I too would be interested in finding a way to get back to "original".

Since this question has hung out for a couple of days, I'm guessing that it may be a tough one.

j

 

have you checked out:

http://clocksandgauges.com/

http://www.nhspeedometer.com/

http://www.autoinstruments.com/



Z. Ray

 

Jim Cowles at Shelby Parts and Restoration had my brother's 66 tach redone. I think he sends it out to someone else. It took a VERY long time, but they were able to fix it.
Jon

 

tommyleea

Hope you have found a tach repair place by now. If not, may I suggest:
Mo Ma Manufacturing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They have repaired
lots of Shelby tachs over the years. Including mine.

Give Margaret ( the owner ) a call at 505-766- 6661

Be forewarned: the early Faria tachs were made up of surplus military
pieces and sometimes they just die and cannot be repaired. Margaret
will give you a fair and honest appraisel of your tachs conditioned.

Anotherthing: they early Faria tachs are more accurate in operation when driven by points. Its the "opening/closing" of the points that excite the Faria
tachs internals. The tach will respond to an electronic ignition ( read Pertronix ) but will not be as accurate in operation. Will function fine for a street driven car. If any questions, PM me.
shlby66

 

I will bet that Ron can repair it. Check him out.
Frank

Tach repair

 

when it comes to mustang tachometer repair, i am the best, authorized ford service and trained by george miser at faria . checkout www.tachman.com/ford.htm and call me 1 800 327 8716 m-f 9-6 est and checkout www.tachman.com.
you are dumb if you send it someone else, less you want you tach destroyed by these idiots who want to convert it to the minus side of the coil

 

Tachman did the Rally-Pack on my 66 KGT coupe. If I ever need my Shelby tach done thats where it's going.

Larry

 

Pretty sure, my buddy used the guy in Michigan mentioned. They gutted his original tach and used non standard wiring on his tach. Now he is screwed unless he wants to run special wires. Ask questions first

 

I checked around before I sent my '68 GT500 tach out for repairs. Gary (the Tachman) was recommended by a Mustang restoration shop near by. My car is still apart, so I haven't tried the tach yet, but I respect the recommendation and fully expect the tach to work like new when the car is fired up for the first time. His turn around was pretty quick and price seemed fair. He also provided a calibration test sheet. He was also helpful with questions I had about the Pertronix ignition upgrade I'm considering. Make sure you purchase insurance when you ship it.

 

66 cobra tachs that is a sore spot with ford and myself. these units were made with 2 types of meters. taut-band or d'arsenval. the bad side is 90 percent had the cheap taut band meter. there is a peg at zero,correct, and if the meter sticks there are no replacements. then faria, who ford vendered out to make there tachs, used the same taut band meters in a small amount off 66 rally pac tachs and 1970 mach1 and boss 302 tachs. they also used them in the 1972-74 torino tachs, etc. i have even seen them in the 69 shelbys. for the life of me i can not figure out why ford used them in such high dollar, classic muscle cars. i guess faria has something to do with this as they also (faria) used them in their marine tachometers. i am not saying i cannot repair a 66 cobra tach and install a d'arsenval meter in it, but it is very expensive a time consuming. everyone says i take a long time in turning items over, that is because i am swamped and when i repair an instrument, i do so in a manner as if it is going in my own car.
i love this forum, dont get to visit much, but if any of you have a question you know the number to call, 800 327 8716 9-6 m-f. i do workout on tuesday and friday since i am diabetic, but just leave a message. i am going to ford carlisle as a spectator in june would love to meet some of you there.
have a great day and remember memorial day, honor those who served this great nation. i am a vietnam vet and my best regards to those in this forum who have served our great nation
tachman

 

Mr Tachman, you have confused me now. I thought 66 Shelbys
used the Faria type of tach, i.e. the same as a Rally Pac connected
from the positive side of the coil to the ignition. Wasn't D'Arsenval
used in the 65 Shelby tach (AC Spark tach) and was connected
from the negative side of the coil? At least mine is in 5S275.
Texas Swede

 

Faria made most of the ford tachs, except the 65 you are referring too. when i am talking about taut band and d'arsenval movements i am not talking about a tach type, but meter type. the meter is the unit that moves to indicate rpms. i am pretty sure stewart warner made the 65 tach and it does hook to the minus side of the coil, all other mustang tachs to 1973 hook to the positive side of the coil. if you hook any other mustang tach to the minus side of the coil it will burn it up. the mustang 2 tach starting in 1974 hooked to the minus side of the coil. just rememeber this, mustang tachs from 64 1/2 to 73 used the plus side of the coil except for the 65 shelby tach. hope this helps
tachman

 

Hi Tachman,
I know you are talking about the movement and I am pretty
sure the 65 tach had a D'Arsenval movement. I fact, more than
20 years ago there was a guy here in the Dallas/Ft Worth area
that had all these parts and repaired 65 Shelby GT350 tachs.
There was an article about him in The Shelby American.
My 65 Shelby catalog listing all parts says the vendor is AC/ Sparks
but that doesn't mean that S&W didn't manufacture them, I guess.
As regards the quality of work you do on repairs, I have only heard
good things about you. My 65 tach has fried three times from spikes
generated from the coil. Now I have inserted a 2A inline fuse behind
the pod.
Finally, a question for you:
The last repair done on my 65 tach performed by a reputable shop meant
the +12V connection became obsolete and he removed the red plastic
insulator and cut the post. It is now just driven from the coil.
Does that mean the movement was replaced?
Tach works like a charm. Pictures show a NOS tach.
/Texas Swede

 

Hi, I hope this answer does not come too late to be of any use. I can repair and restore 66 Shelby Cobra 6 and 9 grand tachometer. I do a lot of listing on Ebay under my Ebay user name phsev. Please check out my listings and feedback. I have the parts to repair these tachs back to Ford Faria specs, after someone has tried to convert it to a 3 wire tachometer. I can work on any type of tach but prefer to work on Faria, Rotunda or Ford tachometers, which for all intents and purposes are the same tach with different logo's and packaging. Please look at my website www.PhidonRestorations.com or email me at psev@cableone.net
Regards,
Phil Severance

 

Tachman here:

finally got a vacation after 2 years and its back to work on mustang,ford instruments. 29 years of authorized service. checkout some of my ebay listings this week, ebay seller id thetachman for service www.tachman.com/ford.htm . need tachs, speedos, gauges or clocks for mustang 1965-70, I have them. 800 327 8716 is the number to call.
hope you have a great day



Phil seems to think he is good, but, listen, I have been authorized ford service since 1979. look at my comments page at www.tachman.com/comments.htm. you want it right, then the tachman is the one to send it to.
tachman

 

I bet both of you are good;


Z. Ray