Gas Gauge Dampener - Again!

@Gordon Nichols my brutha, just sent you PM.

@Gordon Nichols. I’m in.  Just sent you a PM. Cheers

I’ll take one as well

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Someone on here just PM'd me about whether I had any of those gas gauge needle dampeners still for sale, so I tore apart the shop and found......   Bupka.  I don't even have the parts to make one up!

So, since it's just as easy to buy for ten as it is for one, does anyone else want a gizmo to reduce your gas gauge needle swing?  You can read all about them here:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...7#600862217192086517

My device costs under $20 - shipping included and Stoddard's sells the exact same thing for $30 plus shipping - and it reduces the gauge needle swing by 1/3 - 1/2.  It'll never be rock-solid because there are no baffles inside of our gas tanks to reduce the sloshing movement of gas inside - you're stuck with that, but my device can slow the needle movement....  More of an "averaging" technique.

If I can get a few people who are interested I'll spring for the parts and make a few.  Typically, the parts come in packs of ten so let's see if anyone else is interested.  If no one else is I may make a few anyway, just to have them around.  I gave all I had to the West Coast gathering last June(?) for their raffle.

Thanks,  Gordon

Jeez, my Memory Bank really is overdrawn! I don't recall your gizmos in the June Cruise Raffle. That said, add me to your new buyers' list. Let me know when (and how) to send you the moola.

Hey Gordon, just sent you a pm. Please add me to the list for one of your gizmos

Dave aka "butcher boy"

OK, all you bouncy-gauge people......   I have the following people signed up for a gauge dampener:

MSJulie
Lfepardo
Dale347
Napa Paul
Butcher Boy
Maryland Guy

If you're not on the list, please sign up on here.  

I will be getting parts tomorrow for another ten of them and we're holding two in the 5-¢ Racing Secret West Coast Skunk Works so those will be going out to two lucky West Coast customers as soon as I get their shipping info.

I will also send one to Greg Leach at Vintage Whatchamacallit in Hawaiian Gardens to see if he would be interested in making them standard in future builds.

If you wish to see the installation instructions for this module, check out the attached .Doc file.  It is a really simple process.  My little grandson could do it.

@Napa Paul posted:

Jeez, my Memory Bank really is overdrawn! I don't recall your gizmos in the June Cruise Raffle. That said, add me to your new buyers' list. Let me know when (and how) to send you the moola.

That was the June 2020 raffle which never happened. Not sure where they ended up but i have an idea.

.

Uh Gordon, looking down the road a little here.

I figure some day I (or my estate) will be putting my VS on the market and that, by then, provenance will probably be playing heavily into its market value.

It's obvious to me that cars with the first generation gas gauge dampener are going to be worth far more than cars with later equipment and determining which cars are which will ultimately become difficult as time passes. As a result, any such transactions could be tied up in the courts for years.

Look at what happened to poor Jerry Seinfeld.

You could do much to avoid this nightmare of cumbersome and expensive litigation by issuing signed and dated certificates of authenticity on your letterhead with each gas gauge dampener and for first generation customers by request.

Please let me know if you decide to offer this service and what the fee will be.

I'm getting a little anxious here.

.

YES!

And I can use the CMC very-official-looking but mostly useless “Certificate of Origin” for the background.   In see this as an opportunity for me to learn some new and very handy Photoshop skills, for sure.

Hi Gordon - Is there a way to install it behind the dash on the gauge instead of on the gas tank?   My frunk isn't carpeted so it would be nice not to have extra wires showing in there.   Still dealing with some gas seepage from my cap, so not ready to carpet until I get that completely sorted. 

Sure.

I'll just make up one with slightly longer leads for the gauge end and a different set of installation instructions.

And, of course, the later model "Certificate of Authenticity"    

Hey Gordon.  Assuming this is a good addition to builds Greg at VMC is making currently, then I’ll buy one as well.  My guess is that I’m a few months away from delivery.  I can install myself, or if Greg is interested in your offer and wants a volunteer car to play with, I’m game.  I’ll PM you.

Got'cha, Jon!

Thanks Gordon.  I'm looking forward to seeing if this helps.  I just got done calibrating my sender unit on the tank by bending the float and adjusting the tabs via trial and error so at least it shows full and empty at close to the right spots.  Now I need your fix to address all the bouncing in between that drives me nuts.

I'm in Gordon.

Got’cha, Hurricane Bob!

Which reminds me…….   The guy who taught me how to really sail had a 39’ O’Day sailboat that was moored in Marion Harbor, Massachusetts during Hurricane Bob.  The storm surge tore it loose from it’s mooring, lifted it waaaaay up and deposited it on the back lawn of Tabor Academy, where the lapping waves twisted it this way and that and torqued the keel down into the soil.  When he finally found it he said it was sitting upright and looked like a giant lawn ornament.

Good luck with the storms down there, Bob.  Stay safe.

Amazon comes through, again!  Got a box about the size of a shoebox with three little baggies inside, total volume used about that of small bag of M&Ms.  

Anyway, of you people looking for a gauge dampener, here's my big question:

Paul, in Maryland, asked if it could be mounted and wired in behind the gauge, rather than at the gas tank sender.  The answer is yes, but you have to get up behind the gauge to do it and depending on how crowded it is up in there, it will be slightly more difficult.  I would like to know how many people want to do it this way, rather than right on the sender.  I'm debating whether to run two different sets of wire leads or just make one-size-fits-all and go with that (like Stoddard's does for mucho bucks).

The behind-the-gauge  process is:  

1.  Find the gas tank sender wire on the back of the gauge (I can give you a diagram that might help).

2.  Find a suitable grounding screw on the back of the gauge (I'll leave it to others on here to point you towards a likely one).

3.  Remove the sender wire

4.  Attach the sender wire 1/4" tab to the special connector/adapter included in the kit.  (This is different from the sender adapter - It is a 90º connector with a female at the top and two males facing downward).

5.  Attach the dampener 1/4" tab to the special connector/adapter

6.  Attach the now wired special connector/adapter to the fuel sender tab on the back of the gauge

7.  Attach the dampener's brown ground wire to the aforementioned ground screw on the gauge can.

That's it.

So how many want to mess with the back of their gauge and how many want to just mess with the fuel sender?

I'll start making build kits soon so "Tempus Fugit".

Hi Gordon-put me down for one with the gas sender not the gas gauge

Thanks.

I will take mine setup for behind the dash

@Gordon Nichols put me down for one at the fuel sender set up.   (I don’t want to mess behind gauge).  For me, the fuel sender set up is easier.  Thanking you again for doing this for us,  Cheers, Luis

My Engineering collaborator, who shall remain nameless but his initials are Mitch Toll, has suggested that owners of VS cars can easily access the gas tank sender wire from inside the cockpit as it goes through the firewall.  If you were to choose a point on that wire within 12” of a nearby ground wire, I can provide a module with what’s called “Flying Leads” (no connectors on the wire ends) and a pair of Quick-Splice connectors that look like this:

I would provide 6” long leads on the module.  You use this splice to connect the module wires to the sender and ground wires (the windshield wiper ground wire is nearby, I’ve been told) and you’re done.  Doesn’t really matter where on the sender and ground wires you connect.    Sounds easy because it is.  Nothing under the carpet, behind the gauge or with the man behind the curtain.

If you can for certain find which wire is the gas sender (just check the color at the sender and trace it back to the firewall) then this might be a good alternative.

I do not recommend using these 3M Scotchlock connectors in an automotive environment. They work for a while, then crap out.

I'm not a fan, unless you use the jelly-filled type. And they really aren't meant for stranded wire, even if they say that use is OK.

They were originally a telephone company splicing product, and were specifically designed for solid wire. They are available in specific gauge sizes as well.

OK, here's where we stand on Dampener modules:

First, The sign-up list so far:

MSJulie
Lfepardo
Dale 347
NAPA Paul
Butcher Boy
Maryland Guy
JonT
Gotno356
Panhandle Bob
Carlo
Morgie

If you don't show up on this list, PM me and I'll add you to it.

The modules are done and all have 6" terminated leads - One 1/4" fast-on (Red) for the tab on top of the sender, and a ring tab (Black) for the ground on the sender mounting screw.  Included are the 2-into-1 "T" electrical adapter for the sender, plus two sets of instructions - One for a "normal" sender mounted module, and on the flip side, instructions for VS owners to install it behind the dash with recommendations for water/corrode-proof Quick Splice connectors (not supplied, but I show two sources).

Price:  If you have signed up, please snail-mail me a $20 check for the module and shipping.

Sorry - I DO NOT DO PAYPAL

I will send each of you a private message where you can confirm your order, and I'll provide you my snail-mail address to send your check.

I'll ship one out as soon as I receive your check in the mail.  Don't forget to include the return address - That's kind of important.

Thanks,  Gordon

I finally got around to installing Gordon's damper.   Ended up just plugging it into the tank sender for now which was a 20 second install.   Will probably do the behind dash install after the good driving season is over. 

It does reduce the bounce considerably, but as advertised doesn't completely remove it since there are no baffles in our takes to regulate the gas sloshing around. 

Very impressed with Gordon's craftsmanship and thorough instructions!   Doesn't look homemade at all and saved me 30% off the real one.   

Thanks Gordon!

Got mine today. Nice work, Gordon!!

@MarylandGuy posted:

I finally got around to installing Gordon's damper.   Ended up just plugging it into the tank sender for now which was a 20 second install.   Will probably do the behind dash install after the good driving season is over.

It does reduce the bounce considerably, but as advertised doesn't completely remove it since there are no baffles in our takes to regulate the gas sloshing around.

Very impressed with Gordon's craftsmanship and thorough instructions!   Doesn't look homemade at all and saved me 30% off the real one.   

Thanks Gordon!

Ditto what @MarylandGuy just said!

X3.   Great product Gordon!!!  Many thanks.

Well!

I’m glad to hear from satisfied customers!  

Thanks for your purchases!

Hey Gordon, The gas gizmo arrived here safe. Saw it when I got back into town. Can't wait to install it when the speedster is done. Thanks again

Dave