1960 saloon fuel sender

[jimmy167]

Hi could someone help by explaining how to calibrate the petrol tank fuel sender on a 1960 saloon with the silver faced speedo .
At the moment it shows just under half full when there is one gallon left in the tank .
I am assuming that a 1960 car has a 5 gallon tank .

[oliver90owner]

Don’t know, but it may be possible that someone has ‘meddled’ with the sender some time in the intervening sixty years?

Likely the sender has either been electrically altered (repaired) or the float arm has been seriously re-shaped?

[myoldjalopy]

No, a 1960 model will have a 6 gallon tank. This was apparently introduced with the 1000 model in March 1957. I don't know why anyone would 'meddle' with the sender, but some people are, without doubt, prone to meddling......

[myoldjalopy]

No, a 1960 model will have a 6.5 gallon tank. This was apparently introduced with the 1000 model in March 1957. I don't know why anyone would 'meddle' with the sender, but some people are, without doubt, prone to meddling......

[myoldjalopy]

Oh some problem with the editing here Ignore my first post - it will definitely be a 6.5 gallon tank!

[jimmy167]

Thanks for your help , it may be more accurate than I think as I was working on a 5 gallon tank ,and when indicating just under half full took 18 litres .
I will carry a spare 5 litres once I am getting low and then I will know exactly how accurate it is .

[myoldjalopy]

Good idea. I expect someone will be along in a bit with details of how the sender and gauge operate, but you could see if the sender float is free throughout its range of movement (someone on here recently had a problem because the float movement was sticking before it got to the end of its travel). At the same time, assuming it is moving freely, check that it is close to the bottom of the tank when it is at the end of its travel, in case someone has 'meddled' with it. It is better to have it reading 'empty' when there is still a half gallon in the tank than reading 1/4 tank full when it is, in fact empty!