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Smiths instruments (and stereo)

To: british-cars@hoosier
Subject: Smiths instruments (and stereo)
From: medtron!pwcs.StPaul.GOV!phile@uunet.UU.NET (Philip J Ethier)
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 92 14:36:48 CST
Here is the rundown on the instruments in the Lotus.  Maybe someone can help me 
out a bit.  If you have no knowledge of, or interest in, Smiths gauges (or 
Panasonic Stereo), this will bore you to tears, so delete this message now.

Still with me?  OK, anything you can tell me about this stuff will be 
appreciated!

All the smaller gauges, which are lined up in the middle of the burled-koa-wood 
dash, appear to be the 2" round size.  Right-to-left, they are: Smiths fuel 
level, coolant temperature, and oil pressure.  The left gauge is a 
Stewart-Warner ammeter.  I think the car was originally equipped with a Smiths 
ammeter (not voltmeter).  Not surprisingly, the order is the reverse of the 
right-hand drive cars in the books.  All the Smiths 2" gauges have the needle 
and face on the bottom half of the circle.  The gauges are all black with white 
letters.  They are all strictly electric in hookup (no emulsion tubes or 
pressure tubes) except for the cable-driven speedometer.  I see no evidence of 
a voltage stabilizer.  Maybe this series of Smiths gauges does not need one?

The oil pressure is apparently in PSI.  There is a plain white sticker on the 
back that says only "059".

                Smiths

                 Oil
             ____________
            /     |      \ edge of window in face.  You will have to imagine 
           /0     |    100\           the outside rim.  I am not that good with 
                  50                  ASCII graphics.  The line in the middle 
                                      is the needle, at the easiest place to
                                      draw it.

The temp gauge is calibrated in degrees C.  There is a plain white sticker on 
the back that says only "079".

                Smiths

                 Temp
             ____________
            /     |      \
           /50    |    130\
                  90


The fuel gauge looks the same, but they have shoehorned in calibrations at
E, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and F.  There is a plain white sticker on the back that says 
only "660", or, more likely "099".

There must be either an ammeter or a voltmeter in this series.  I am pretty 
sure ammeter was original, buy maybe a voltmeter can be had.  A matching Smiths 
Voltmeter would be my first choice, but I am open to suggestions.  The 
Stewart-Warner ammeter looks out of place, as it has the needle on the top and 
the chrome ring is double-level and much heavier than the Smiths' fine rims.

The two big instruments sit in a rectangular recess made of the same pitifully 
thin vacuum-formed plastic as the dash top.  I am surprised how deeply they are 
set, like 3" in from the dash panel.  Perhaps that is to shade the warning 
lights strung between the instruments.  Speedometer and Tach appear to be about 
3-1/4" in diameter.

The Smiths rev-counter is labeled on the face in tiny letters 
"4 Cyl Negative Earth  RVI 1432/00"  The back has a plain white sticker which 
says "029".  The calibration goes to 8000, which is where the needle sits.  It 
has not moved from 8000 since I first laid eyes on it.  When I was driving the 
car home, I tapped on it to no effect.  This leads me to believe there is 
something wrong inside.  I am willing to drop in a new non-Smiths tach that 
will fit the hole if it does not look wildly out of place, but having the 
Smiths unit working would be nice.

The Smiths speedometer is a 130-mph model labeled on the face in tiny letters 
"SN-5226/12 780".  The back has a plain white sticker which says "611", or more 
likely, "119".  It has a trip odometer with a remote reset knob.  The knob is 
mounted on the lower edge of the dash and has a quasi-flexible cable leading to 
the speedometer housing.  The knob will not turn, but exhibits a "spring" in 
its small rotation that leads me to believe that the jam is inside the 
speedometer housing and I am torquing the cable when I test it.  I am sure the 
speedometer worked, but I don't know about the odometer and trip odometer.

The stereo radio and tape deck is a Panasonic Hi-Power 25w+25w.  If this means 
it puts out 25 watts per channel, it is a hell of a lot more powerful than I 
will ever need.  The wiring questions on that are not for this list, but if 
anyone knows the color codes for such devices, I would be happy to hear from 
you.

Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans Street, Saint Paul, MN  55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105     lotus@pnet51.orb.mn.org
w (612) 298-5324     phile@pwcs.stpaul.gov  (list goes here)
"The workingman's GT-40" - Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman

-- 
Login name: phile                       In real life: Philip J Ethier
Phone: 298-5324


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