oil pressure

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RRoller123
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Posts: 8179
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:04 pm
Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: oil pressure

Post by RRoller123 »

Really good idea, protecting the tubing with hose! Is the tubing filled with pressurized oil up to the gauge?
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
bberry

Re: oil pressure

Post by bberry »

Rroller,
Not sure if it is filled with oil all the way to the guage but if the tubing ever did break it would spill oil for sure. Replacing it every few years would not be expensive. I have seen them on old cars and they never bothered. Some of the older ones used a small diameter copper tube. Not sure where Foxboro is but I am down to Beverly/Gloucester area a few times a year. Friend of mine in Gloucester said a bunch of Spiders went through there in a procession yesterday.
TX82FIAT
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 11:04 am
Your car is a: 82 Fiat Spider 2000 CSO
Location: San Antonio

Re: oil pressure

Post by TX82FIAT »

BBerry, I like the idea of a mechanical gauge that will react quicker than an electric gauge as well as be more accurate. you mentioned the use of a lot of teflon tape on the plug. Did you find and adapter for metric and use a lot of teflon tape? The pic looks like a good clean fitting. This looks like a pretty straighforward install with the exception maybe of the adapter/engine fitting so you have a good leak free connection between the hex nut/tubing and the mounting position above the oil filter. Did you do anything special there or did the extra teflon tape do the job. Seriously considering this install. Thanks, Ray
Buon giro a tutti! - enjoy the ride!

82 Fiat Spider 2000
03 BMW M3
07 Chevy Suburban
bberry

Re: oil pressure

Post by bberry »

Tx82fiat,
There was no adapter needed. Everything was in the parts bag. I noticed the fitting had the right threads but did not seat like a pipe thread so just to be on the safe side I triple wrapped it with teflon tape and screwed it in all the way. No leaks. I did a 3 hour cruze today and when hot it holds a steady 45lbs at about 3k and just checked it at idle and holding a nice 20 psi, Not bad for a 78 with 106k. Once in a while good luck will befall all of us.
If I was going to do it again I would have purchased some more soft rubber tubing to cover all of the hard plastic tubing just to protect it from rubbing etc. Be especially careful to not bend the hard plastic tubing too much.
I just finished the side marker tie in with the blinkers and am very pleased with that as well.
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RRoller123
Patron 2020
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Posts: 8179
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:04 pm
Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: oil pressure

Post by RRoller123 »

I saw this at Autozone today and one of the nice things about it is the good match to the existing gauges. Doesn't stick out as different at all.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
velozi

Re: oil pressure

Post by velozi »

Just did this today and very happy with the results.

I wrapped the plastic line inside a rubber hose to protect it from heat, the gauge fits in the dash hole with no modifications, dials looks similar to old ones but you can tell its different, kit comes with adapter that fits in sender hole (its not metric but equivalent) and background light is easy to figure out with a wirring diagram (one hot and ground).

First time I ever got an accurate reading on my oil. Steady 16psi idle and 40 on road.

Only issue is that I have chrome rings on my dials and now trying to figure out how to make the new gauge accept the plastic ring. Gauge has a thicker house ring around face.
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