Integral Brazilian Tachometer - First Mockup Phase Successful

Good question....and Thank you.

Others on here have the original ones and know more....and they are extremely difficult to get from Brazil.

....The Brazilian column mounted Tachometers were offered ONLY in Brazil, for the Brazilian Ford Mavericks, (either dealer or aftermarket) and were designed with the same original Ford Speedometer FONT on the Numbers/Letters, and had the same style center escutcheon/beauty ring, but only smaller, that is in the center of both sides of ALL the Maverick/Comet Instrument Clusters. I believe the original Brazilian Tachs were ranged for 6000 RPM. They also came with a special mount for the steering columns. I love the design, because it stays true to the original look of the Ford Mavericks.







I went about figuring out how to do an Integral mounted inspired version, for a couple of reasons:

1. I wanted my Maverick's restoration to have a Package Tray, center Dash, and Steering Column area, that was free of the aftermarket, externally mounted gauges. I personally think the design of the Maverick/Comet interiors are beautiful, and unique, and I like how the Ford engineers designed it. My Grabber's restoration will not be a total stock restoration obviously, it will have some modifications, and I still wanted to have a Tachometer, and Oil, Temp, and Voltage gauges for properly monitoring the engine, etc.

2. I knew that others on here have been interested in this type of modification for years, and so was I. There's just something about that empty spot on the left side that was missing something. I asked myself if Mustangs can have integral Tachs, then why can't Mavericks and Comets? I thought I would try to contribute to the many nice modifications that are offered here on this forum. This is also why I posted this thread in the General Forum, instead of my Project Thread, and why I posted a detailed writeup on how to do the modification.

And yes...I mentioned on the previous page that I would be willing to do some of these modifications for others soon.

 

Oh I missed that! Cool, let us know when you're ready.
The Brazillian tach is nice, I like how it matches. I never saw one before. But pretty useless with only 6K.

 

I might like an overlay just to use on a tach. Ill get the same tach you used and put the overlay on the tach and mount it on the column like the brazilian one. And I have a couple extra gauge clusters I can get the center button piece off of. Id make a replica brazilian tach because I dont have the patience to make the integral one. Id end up shorting a wire and buring my car to the ground.

 

Well, here's mine!

I'm thrilled with the results. Thanks very much for doing this and for sharing the procedure with so much detail. I was going to wait until overlays became available, but I figured the black-faced version of this tach wouldn't look too out of place... And to me at least, it really doesn't. Unless you scrutinize the font and you happen to know "Super Tach II" isn't something Ford would have written on their gauge panels, you might not even know it's not factory. (Isn't it interesting how when we modify our cars, the mods we're most pleased with are the ones that look original at first glance and will be overlooked by almost everyone?) I really love this...

 

Nice job Drew. I may have to give this mod a shot one day, If Drew can do it I can do it . I would snip your tach needle a little shorter though so it dosnt leave the perimeter of the tach gauge face.

 

Just like the cars we love , the members here are unique. We follow our own drummer or cow in this case. Even the definition hits it right on
.mav·er·ick   [mav-er-ik, mav-rik] Show IPA
noun
1.
Southwestern U.S. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, especially an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.
2.
a.
a lone dissenter, as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates: a modern-dance maverick. Synonyms: nonconformist, individualist; free thinker; loner, lone wolf.
b.
a person pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas: You can't muzzle a maverick. Synonyms: rebel, cowboy; loose cannon.
3.
Maverick, an electro-optically guided U.S. air-to-ground tactical missile for destroying mustangs and other hardened targets at ranges up to 15 miles (24 km).

 

Thanks!

...I think. :16suspect


Glad to know I'm such an inspiration to people.

Yep, I intend to. Tonight I'll do the final install. Need to make sure the tach needle is zeroing properly and reposition it if necessary, do a couple more little wiring projects I've been meaning to do while I've got the dash open. Replace the cigarette lighter socket, figure out why the hell my headlights stopped working somewhere during all this... You know the usual stuff...

 

Excellent! Now when asked we can all say our cars are named after missiles instead of lost, nut-less cattle!

 

Hmm I just happen to have a real nice black cluster sitting on my garage wall from my first Mav. Been there 20 years plus. Guess I should make use of it and try this.

 

I like how you snuck "mustangs" in there... nice

 

Very nice job Drew!

...and thanks for a great writeup Roger!

I have aftermarket(VDO) gauges that I mounted in the stock cluster and a 4 gauge pod that I made fit in the package tray just so I could have a integral tach. I really like this mod much better. Now we just need someone to fit electronic programmable speedo guts in the factory speedo face...

Jason

 

WOW is all I can say, well I have to say more CAUSE WOW was too short a message....That looks great!!!

 

MORE PICTURES!!!!!! Show us how it all went together!!!

 

Here's what I've got. I haven't put it in the car yet so there's still time to ask for a pic of anything specific. Hopefully not after tonight though...



The tach:




Here you can see the condition of my original cluster. Notice some traces have been replaced with wire, the PCB is coming apart everywhere. The one on the right is one I've held onto for a little while. Removed it from the same car at Pull-A-Part that I got my perfect dash pad from. This cluster is very well preserved and the 20k miles it shows might actually be legit. Why have I sat on it for so long and not installed yet? The wiring is different, the harness plugs are incompatible.




Original cluster. Notice my old mounting solution for the tach. (Fail to notice my horrendous paint job on the bezel. This is what you get when you paint in 30 degree weather and don't let it dry before you install...)




New cluster! (Dusty but perfect!) The only major difference here is the warning lights. I'll be wanting to keep the look of the older cluster, so this will have to transfer over...




Now what to do about that wiring... Ah yeah! This! Anybody who needs to adapt an earlier or later cluster in their car will appreciate this pic. I traced everything. I'm a little bit color blind so I might not have all of the colors written down exactly the way you might see them, but I'm certain about the functions and yes, both plugs are clearly numbered as shown:




Now let's tear into it...




Assembled...




Light test! It's actually a lot brighter than this. Camera's fault. Also, I put LEDs in. Don't waste your time, I went straight back to the W5W bulbs., which are brighter than stock but don't look like a freakshow..




I didn't take any other pics, but I can. I pretty much have nothing to add to cactusgrabber's excellent instructions. Basically I did what he did and got the same results. I do have the tach powered off the cluster to simplify things, not sure if that was mentioned... I may have mounted my tach guts to the back a little differently as my Super Tach II seems to have had a slightly different bracket inside than the one he described. Another thing I did was shim it a little to get the angle right. You'll see what you need to do... It's really not complciated once you get into it. Except for getting that needle perfectly straight. That right there'll piss ya off...


Once again, ALL GLORY TO GACTUSGRABBER!

 

Either way, both Rogers and yours are impressive. Very nice!!