1935 truck fuel gauge

J

jarretts70

Junior Member
As noted, 1935 truck. Still 6V positive ground. What started out as repairing a few electrical gremlins has basically turned into a full re-wire of the entire rig..

Issue of the day is the fuel gauge. It's electric; I'm not sure if its original to the truck. I thought 1935 the gauge was hydrostatic? It always reads empty. Before I pull the tank & get into the sending unit, I want to confirm the gauge is wired correctly (almost everything else was wrong so I'm checking everything...). Can anyone confirm which terminal on the gauge is power & which is tank sender? Thanks!
 
Your 35 should have a hydrostatic gauge. That said, these images of a 36 electric gauge should help.
 

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Before I pull the tank & get into the sending unit, I want to confirm the gauge is wired correctly

You should not need to pull the tank. There should be a removable lid in the box directly above the sending unit. I am assuming the 35 box is the same as the 36.
 
Sounds like someone replaced the original hydrostatic level sending unit and dash gauge with an electric level sensor and electric gauge. If you want originality, you will need both the sending unit and a hydrostatic gas gauge. If you want your pickup to have the electrical set-up, you will have to wire up the electric dash gauge like Don explains. Ford converted the passenger car and pickup gas level system to electric in 1936, so those parts can be period correct, but off by one year for your pickup.
Hope you get it working again the way you want.
 
Here is a picture of the gauges from the front. Single fuel gauge on the left, combination amps/oil pressure on the right (neither work, but that's a different problem...). They look correct & all match each other. That said, I'm no expert on 1930's Ford gauges. Based on the way the rest of the electricals were cobbled up its highly possible the gauge has been swapped for a later one. From the backside the gauge looks like the
attached images (minus the oil pressure gauge). I know for a fact the wiring for the gauge is not OEM Ford stuff. If my gauge is the same as shown they have it wired backwards, with switched power to the bottom terminal not the top.

When the truck was rebuilt they laid a plywood box floor, then new box wood over that. The access hole to the fuel tank is long gone....
 

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Gauge on the right is a Temp/amp.You could pull the fuel gauge out and do a quick test with a 9V (smoke detector)batt to see if the needle moves.
 
I went ahead & dropped the tank. What the heck, might as well make sure everything is hooked up! I removed the sending unit; it's like nothing I've ever seen (but I'm a GM guy...sorry...).

A little searching here and I determine it to be a King Seeley sender, which leads me to believe that someone swapped in the later gauge & sending unit. Either that or the truck is really a 36 with 35 front sheet metal!

Either way, my new question is how can I bench test this sender? I've only ever tested senders that were measured in Ohms, not frequency.
 
In case you want to figure out if your truck is a 1935 or 1936 model, there are a few clues which can help to figure it out. Look at where the windshield pillars join the cowl. A 1935 cab has a crease line while the 1936 is smooth. In 1935 the standard pickup gas gauge is hydrostatic, which yours appears to be but in 1936 it switched to electric. Also the serial number can tell you when your engine-transmission was made and from that you can guess about which month it rolled off the assembly line. You are also correct that the 1935 and 1936 hoods are interchangeable.

Hope you get your gas gauge working.
 

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OK, so it's a 1935. Thanks Model51 for the clues.

I was able to get the sending unit working, thanks to some old posts I found on the forum. Wiring is all new. Unfortunately, still no fuel gauge. So now I'm on the hunt for a replacement gauge. I'll try find any 6V Ford gauge to use as a test, while searching for the correct one to fit the dash.
 
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