Added a Fuel Level Gauge to a 1979 B7100

I decided I wanted a fuel level gauge on my 1979 B7100. The tank had yellowed and I couldn't see the level, so I went for the gauge. I would be looking at the fuel gauge more than the hour meter, so I moved the hour meter to a mount off of the steering tube. After cutting through the top of the tank, I now see why I couldn't clean it up. It is dark yellow all of the way through. Here are some pictures of the modification:

https://picasaweb.google.com/110263893958737890068/B7100FuelLevel#

asbug said:

Supplier? Part #'s?

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I got the gauge from surpluscenter.com (I was ordering some hydraulic hoses and just included it in the order). They had both the grey and black faced gauge for a 240-33 ohm sender: https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=21-1442

The sender is a tube type because I didn't have room for the swing arm type (which would have been cheaper). It is an 8" ISSPRO 240-33 Ohm Tube Type Sender (RA9508-ISS): http://www.egauges.com/vdo_send.asp?Sender=ISS_240_33_Fuel_Level_Tube

The fuel tank top is almost 1/4" thick, so I used wood inserts that accepted 8-32 x 1" screws to secure the fuel gauge flange.

Kytim said:

Does the 8" sender give you a little "reserve" fuel in the tank? you said you moved the Hr meter. have pic of how it came out? anything you would have done different after having time to think about it?

Good project BTW!!

Kytim

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The 8" put me about 1/2" off the bottom. The tank has a little rise in the bottom. So yes, there is some reserve. I noticed when I filled the tank, it took about a 1/2 gal before the needle began to move.

I have the brackets for the hour meter, but I haven't mounted it yet. When I do, I will include a picture. I am in the middle of finishing the restoration of my FEL and wanted to get the fuel gauge on before I mounted the FEL uprights.

"Things I might do different" is a good question I hadn't thought about until you ask. I would get a black faced gauge if I had a do over and one that came with the mounting bracket. I had to make a u-shaped bracket to hold this gauge in, similar to the hour meter. I also had to put rubber grommets in the holes of the bracket to insulate the screws from being grounded. One screw was the connection for the sender wire and the other was 12v. Everything else was good.

The hour meter has two bullet connectors, 12v when the switch is on (red with male connector) and ground (black with female connector). I just piggy backed off of those connectors to power the fuel gauge when the key is on. I put a male and female connector on one end of the wire and a terminal connector on the other for the gauge. So when I hooked it up, I still have a set of bullet connector to reconnect the hour meter into the circuit.

kytim, here are some pictures of the hour meter mount. I used a 1" pipe u-bolt (fits a 1.25 OD pipe), a 1" flat washer and a 2" gauge mount. I cut the u-bolt length so that it would not extend beyond the nyloc nuts. I drilled two sets of holes in the flat washer. One set for the u-bolt and then about 45 degrees from them I drilled the holes for the gauge mount. I did trim the bolts on the back of the meter. They were hitting the fuel tank. I am satisfied with it. I didn't want to put another hole in the dash.

What year is your 300zx? Mine is a 92 twin turbo. I have about 110,000 miles on it, so it is about ready for the 120k service, timing belt, water pump, etc. I also have a bad injector. I was just thinking it might be a good day to tear into the top of the engine to get it fixed. We have been getting rain for two days, so I can't play outside.

I know we are way off topic, but I had a similar experience. I bought my Z in 1997 and 3 months later hit a deer! I took the opportunity to have our best body shop fix the right front and repaint the whole car. It came out of Washington, DC, had sat out and had acid rain spots. It came out great and has been garaged since.

I said in my last post almost a month ago that I had one bad injector. It took me two weeks, on and off, to get the intake plenum and all of the turbo piping off of the engine. It was a bear! When I would get frustrated with it, I quit and went on to something else. All of the injector connectors were covered with green corrosion. When I finally got down to where I could clean the injector side connectors so I could do a good resistance test, one was open (the bad one), three measured 0.25 ohms and the last two measured in spec at 12.7 ohms. So, I just ordered 6 new injectors yesterday. Based on the info on the Z forum I follow, it is a very common problem. I am cutting all of the wiring harness side injector connectors off and replacing them. I am friends with the local Nissan Parts manager. He sold me some butt connectors they use for similar repairs. It is clear heat shrink with a solder ring in the middle. You slide it over one wire, push the two bare wires together intertwining the wires, slide the butt connector back over the bare wires and use a heat gun to melt the solder and shrink the shrink wrap. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like a great way to join wires.

Sorry you had to sell your Z. I have to admit, the last time I got mine inspected, I told the guy at the garage I had only driven the car 1200 miles over the last year and would rather have a Kubota. He laughed, but at 64 it is getting harder to get down in and out of the car and climbing up on the Kubota is more fun! That was when I started look for my B7100.

Here are some pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/110263893958737890068/1992300ZXTwinTurbo?authkey=Gv1sRgCI7e-Y2-7cOm0wE