First posting this forum but a very experienced forum user. I think is #5 or 6 that I use to keep up with my various vehicles.
We need some help to determine which fuel gauge we need for a '49 3100.
Both of the new gauges from Chev of the 40's appear to be about 5/32" to 3/16" too thick. Everything works fine electrically when we test with the sending unit, When we install the chrome face it traps the needle so it cannot move.
We also noticed that the new fuel gauges push the overlapping edges of the adjacent 2 gauges up and away from the back of the housing.
The 1929-1954 parts book lists different fuel, oil, and ammeter gauges for 1947-48 compared to 1949-53. However, there is no information to help describe that difference.
I wonder if we have an early '49 truck that has a leftover '48 instrument panel installed.
The only difference between the 1947-48 gauge and the 1949-53 gauge is the 47-48 gauge had a red needle, and the 49-53 had white. It looks again like the aftermarket gauge is just made wrong. What else is new.
You confirmed 2 things. - We do have a '49 instrument cluster in a '49. We have white needles. - Once again the aftermarket strikes! Chev of the 40's also confirmed that yesterday afternoon.
My experiences are that about half the time aftermarket or "reproduction" part will have issues. You can get things to work, but not without some effort.
And this is a non-denominational problem. I work on all brands of cars and it is the same across the board.
Found this in Bill's Truck Shop's (a Canadian vendor) on-line catalog:
"CONFIRM BACKGROUND & NEEDLE COLOUR There have been some issues w/ the repro gauges as they have the pin style sweep needle instead of the inner sweep needle and making contact w/ the upper gauge inner bezel-this requires removing some of this bezel for the needle to clear"
It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.
WOW! That sounds like exactly the problem we are having.
That extra clearance will let the needle work. It will not fix the problem that the outer edges of the repo fuel gauge will push the edges of the 2 adjacent gauges up. We might be able to bend them down a little to fix that problem.
Why not just find a NOS factory gauge? There's one on eBay right now for $35 or best offer, item number 173761630198. Could save a lot of trouble if it's the right one.
