Tach circuit board replacement

Paint, body preparation and modification, interior work and electrical
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anguso
Posts: 28
Joined: 23 Feb 2015 07:26
Location: NYC

Tach circuit board replacement

Post by anguso »

Last year I installed a 123ignition distributor in my 510, and soon discovered that the tach didn't work with it.
A bunch of reading followed, and I was faced with either replacing the internals with those of a more recent tach, or getting a third party adaptor.
Since the car is tucked away for winter, and I had time on my hands, I decided to go down the DIY route. (Also, being in NYC, junkyards aren't an easy option in the winter).
I found a design by a guy in the Ferrari Dino community which looked cheap and would fit inside the tach housing, http://www.dinoplex.org/tachoconversion/index.html

I had the PCBs fabbed at https://oshpark.com and got a few spares just in case.

Including the rest of the components I got from https://www.mouser.com, the parts bill came to around $15.

I built the PCB, and rigged up a little test bench using a cheap amazon signal generator:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075V41DJM

Everything worked well - almost. I discovered that there was a short circuit on the PCB (which led to a good email exchange with the designer). I fixed that, then I was able to adjust the tach needle with the little trim potentiometer on the PCB.

Once I had it working, I noticed that once the tach was set correctly at 1000rpm, if I changed the signal output to higher rams, it would read 3200rpm instead of 3000, and 6500rpm instead of 6000.
I puzzled over that for a while, and had a feeling that the problem might be mechanical rather than electronic. Sure enough, on the back of the tach dial, there is a tiny little counterweight that rides in a little slotted arm hanging off the needle shaft. I measured the position of the weight so I could return it to its original position if needed, and then slid the weight inboard a millimeter or so. It worked, and now the tach reads accurately at all speeds.

I bolted the PCB onto one of the original boards from the back of the tach, reversed the order of the brass standoff screws so there was room for the PCB to fit, and screwed the case back together, only to have a mishap and smash the clear plastic cover for the front of the tach. Where the heck am I going to find another one of those..?


Now I wait for warmer weather so I can get to the car and reinstall the tach!
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anguso
Posts: 28
Joined: 23 Feb 2015 07:26
Location: NYC

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by anguso »

Adding images is killing me - I click preview so I can make sure they make sense in the order I insert them, and then they become unavailable!
Here's the images that fill in the story:
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yenpit
Posts: 1700
Joined: 07 Jul 2006 20:14
Location: Denver Colorado

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by yenpit »

Wow, GREAT write up! Might you build more & sell? I would never even attempt to do this kind of electrical work, but would buy if it would work on a CA18DET in a 510!

I wonder if the speedo "lens" is the same? If it is, I will have a spare speedo lens!

TJ
Denver CO
1973 510 2dr
1972 521 flat bed
1972 510 Wagon parts car
2009 Toyota Matrix S AWD

LOTS of 510 parts!
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Byron510
Moderator
Posts: 12658
Joined: 01 Jul 2003 23:06
Location: Maple Ridge, BC

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by Byron510 »

I’m thinking the same, would you make these available after tried and true testing?

Great work.

Keep us posted.

Byron
Love people and use things,
because the opposite never works.
greenthumb
Posts: 261
Joined: 19 May 2013 20:57
Location: Langley, BC

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by greenthumb »

very cool work. Not familiar with the 123 distributor. What was the reason the tach wouldn't read the 123 signal? Is it coil pack based, as opposed to a single coil?
anguso
Posts: 28
Joined: 23 Feb 2015 07:26
Location: NYC

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by anguso »

Before I go making promises I won’t be able to keep, let’s see how this one works once it’s reinstalled!

Regarding Yenpit’s suggestion (thank you!)- does anyone know if the speedo lens will work in the tach housing??
anguso
Posts: 28
Joined: 23 Feb 2015 07:26
Location: NYC

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by anguso »

Thinking back, it would’ve been massively easier to swap the guts out of a modern tach; Bosch makes some inexpensive stepper driven 250° sweep 8K rpm tachs.
I think the only reason I got so far down this rabbit hole is because I had a few too many nights to myself with my wife away on work trips...
However, the proof will be in the pudding! Fingers crossed!
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SteveEdmonton
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Joined: 27 Aug 2010 13:20
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by SteveEdmonton »

anguso wrote: 13 Mar 2019 16:15 Regarding Yenpit’s suggestion (thank you!)- does anyone know if the speedo lens will work in the tach housing??
Yes, a speedo "lens" will work just fine on a factory tach. I overhauled my speedo and tach at the same time a couple of years ago and confirmed that the lenses are identical.
'71 4-door
'74 MGB-GT
'04 Miata
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cartel
Posts: 486
Joined: 24 Sep 2015 23:32
Location: Langley

Re: Tach circuit board replacement

Post by cartel »

i see this is a year old- ive got a factory tach thats not working here- i saw a test to see if its mechanical so will try that today- is there any more current info on getting one upgraded other than shipping it somewhere?
Mike Gibson
Datsun: 71 dime; 73 Z ; GT3 240
Other: 65 + 67 Mustang ; 03 murcie
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