Author Topic: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses  (Read 3620 times)

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Offline RS Crawford

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Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« on: Wednesday,November 29, 2023, 11:00:14 AM »
Same as topic line. I have a full set of OEM Smiths gauges for a type 54 that I had rebufurbished from Palo Alto Speedo. Still in bubble wrap never installed. I bought these as spares for my car and have since sold the car. I also have both sided NOS tail light lenses. If I recall they were hard to come by so I bought them when I came across them, perfect condition never installed. I am located in Owensboro Kentucy and can ship in the US if needed.

Thanks,
Scott

Offline s2europa

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday,November 29, 2023, 02:40:40 PM »
Please post pictures and prices. Thanks.

Offline RS Crawford

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #2 on: Thursday,November 30, 2023, 09:51:17 AM »
500 for gauges, 200 for tail light lenses. I will take some pics this weekend.

Offline RS Crawford

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #3 on: Monday,December 04, 2023, 12:56:56 PM »
Pics

Offline RS Crawford

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday,March 12, 2024, 02:22:37 PM »
$400 for gauges, $150 for lenses, going on ebay next

Offline My S1

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #5 on: Thursday,March 21, 2024, 09:20:36 AM »
RS Crawford, I am having my guages rebuilt by Smithwerks and he is having some difficulty with the tach.  He wants to install a modern board which would require running a ground through the tunnel to the coil.  Do you know if your rebuilt tach has a modern board that requires modified wiring?  If it is the original style, would you be interested in selling just the tach?

Offline FourLoti

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #6 on: Thursday,March 21, 2024, 01:32:09 PM »
IIRC, the earlier inductance measuring model numbers started with RVI. Those that need to connect to the negative coil terminal should be RVC.

Ron
1974 TVR 2500M
1996 Porsche 993 Carrera Coupe
2005 Mitsubishi Montero Limited
1974 Europa Twin Cam Special 5-Speed (gone)
1987 Esprit Turbo (gone)
1980 Eclat (gone)
1963 Elan S1 (gone)
1970 Europa S2 (gone)

Offline Bryan Boyle

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #7 on: Thursday,April 11, 2024, 11:51:51 AM »
IIRC, the earlier inductance measuring model numbers started with RVI. Those that need to connect to the negative coil terminal should be RVC.

Ron

Just installed a converted RVI > RVC tach and it works a treat.  Used the spydia (sp?) board.  Calibrated as they instructed.  Works just fine.  (of course, I had a spare lead from removing the DB10 relay from the brake light switch when I installed the european tail lights, so it was a 15 minute job to install.)
Bryan Boyle
Morrisville PA
Commercial Pilot/CFII/FAA Safety Team
Amateur Extra Class Operator & FCC Volunteer Examiner
Currently working on 3291R, ex 444R, 693R, 65/2163, 004R, 65/2678
http://www.lotuseuropa.us for mirror of lotus-europa.com manual site.

Offline BDA

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #8 on: Thursday,April 11, 2024, 01:04:46 PM »
Since Bryan mentioned the Spyida RVI > RVC conversion kit, I thought I'd mention my experiences with it.

I tried the Spiyda kit on my tach. Installing the kit was simple but I was not able to calibrate it, At first, there was some response to the sound files but not consistent enough to adjust the tach. After that, it was completely unresponsive. I emailed the tech guy at Spiyda and he was very attentive. After VERY extended back and forth, in frustration I checked continuity of all the connections. It was a silly thing to do since everything was clearly attached and competently soldered but I didn't know what else to do. I mentioned that to the Spiyda tech and he said that I had inadvertently ruined the Spiyda kit by doing that. He said he would send me another for free. That one never made it to me so he sent me a third kit, this time with tracking. I received that kit and installed it according to the directions and was still not able to calibrate the tach. This time was it completely unresponsive. I eventually I sent my tach to West Valley Instruments (https://www.westvalleyinstruments.com/) and they converted my tach successfully. It is supposed to work with pretty much any type of ignition. I am happy with their service but it was much more expensive than the Spiyda kit.

I also have a friend who sent his tach to Spiyda and his tach worked for a short time before acting up.

I'm not bad-mouthing the Spiyda kit and I have absolutely no problem with their customer service. Their tech guy could not have been more helpful. I feel certain they can work because some people have had positive experiences with them.  My advice would be to try the Spiyda kit first (without testing continuity!!) since it is very inexpensive and if it works, your conversion is very reasonably priced. Should you fail to get their Spiyda kit to work and you want to keep the stock Smiths tach, I'd recommend West Valley Instruments. Otherwise, you should purchase an RVC tach..

That's my 2ยข, YMMV, and I admit that I am no expert - especially with electronics so keep all of that in mind when reading this!
« Last Edit: Thursday,April 11, 2024, 10:07:39 PM by BDA »

Offline kram350kram

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #9 on: Friday,April 12, 2024, 05:19:35 AM »
Had the same issue with Spiyda kit, would not work no matter what. Wrapped it up and sent the tack to them to get working, no dice. Returned again, now works fine, steady needle. Spiyda was very helpful, paid for all the shipping. I did find their instructions were not very clear on the conversion, but I am electronically challenged. In hindsight I would have just found a Stateside shop to convert.

Offline RS Crawford

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #10 on: Friday,May 03, 2024, 06:30:39 AM »
Sorry I did not see any of the questions on this thread, I rarely check this site. Gauges sold.

Offline Bullnose

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #11 on: Sunday,September 29, 2024, 12:52:31 AM »
are the tailights still available?
Grant
Grant

Offline jbcollier

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #12 on: Sunday,September 29, 2024, 05:18:56 AM »
Used this kit:

https://www.clocks4classics.com/tachometer-repair-kits-overview.html

No issues.  Easy to install and calibrate.  Works just fine.

Offline RS Crawford

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Re: Type 54 refurbished gauges and NOS tail light lenses
« Reply #13 on: Monday,September 30, 2024, 06:02:43 AM »
are the tailights still available?
Grant

Yes