Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

ianm · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:02 am Post subject: Tuning by Vacuum Gauge

G'day all
I was going through a old workshop manual and found this chart a old mech gave me when I was a apprentice its a copy out of a Popular Mechanics book. I have tried it and it does work but you need a well calibrated gauge. Ian Smile

47p2 · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow

That brings back memories.
I had a vacuum gauge fitted to a car on the 70s and used the gauge to tune the carbs, set the timimg and watch the state of play. Also great fun as a spotty youth watching the needle plip from 21 to 0 and back as you blipped the throttle. Also watching how high past the 21 it would go when travelling downhill and dropping down a gear or two Very Happy

These gauges were sometimes called econometers and had 3 coloured areas, red, amber and green. Obviously you tried to drive with the gauge in the green area and therefore preserve fuel.

This is one which I still have lying around of the half gauge variety (not as nice as the full gauge as per your pictures). This gauge was fitted to my Rover when I bought it, but far too modern so it had to be taken off

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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22438 Location: UK

47p2 · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow

Not sure Rick, there were a few companies who marketed them. I remember my fathers friend who drove a 1966 Cambridge and he had an econometer fitted.
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

ianm · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:19 am Post subject:

Gee Rick, Redex gauges I can remember them but not sure how they worked, but I can remember the Redex Trials around Australia and "Gelignite Jack Murray"one of the charaters.
The Redex Gauge I'm refering was a flat cream painted red scaled board with a glass tube simular to a thermometer , I don't know whether it was a vacuum gauge or it metered the quantity of the additive as you drove along. From memory it was attached to the dash board and was on a Ä"Model Ford which the Ford Dealer I worked for owned

Ian

Uncle Joe · Guest

Or do you mean an econometer like this one?

47p2 · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow

That's the sort of thong UJ. Is that an OE on your car?

My Mercedes S-Class W140 had a built in econometer. It never helped the fuel consumption which seldom went above 20mpg
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

Uncle Joe · Guest

It was a factory option for floor change automatic 300's. If the car had been a manual, then the econometer would have been a rev counter.

RogerB · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 4:13 pm Post subject: RedeX Oil Additive

Ianm.
Going back to your 2008 'post' ;would you have the date of the Practical Mechanics' magazine you referred to please?
Rogerb