Hello all-

I've got a 60 valiant V200 wagon. It needs its' amp gauge replaced. For some reason, the original gauge has three prongs, but all replacements I've come across only have 2.

Does anyone know why this would be? My mechanic seems to think my original gauge has a built-in voltage regulator for the instrument panel, but it doesn't make sense to me that some NOS gauges have 2 prong when they're both for '60. Or is my mechanic wacky, and the gauge should really only have two prongs, and he's just looking at it wrong?

Could someone enlighten me?

Thanks.

The temp gauge has 3 prongs because it contains the voltage regulator for itself and the fuel gauge. The ammeter and the fuel gauge each have two (and only two) prongs.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks Dan, but not according to my mechanic. Of course...he could be wack.

Is there any chance he's right and I actually have a 3-prong amp gauge? and the temp and fuel are both two? Have you heard of this? I don't know how or why he'd mix up temp vs. amp. And if he's actually right, then is my car and gauge just an anomaly?

Show us a photograph of the front and back of the alleged 3-prong ammeter, then I'll believe your mechanic. Until then, well...no, Chrysler did not build a special one-off 3-prong ammeter into your car and a 2-prong ammeter into every other Valiant just to confuse you. I believe your mechanic is incorrect.
(Why paying someone to do fairly easy dash work on a '60, btw...? No time to DIY?)

There may be something about '60 Valiants in particular that causes light to bend around them in a peculiar way that makes mechanics think they see stuff that isn't really there. I knew a part time mechanic in Eugene, OR, who worked on the red '60 Valiant of the chef of the U of O faculty dining club. He swore up and down that the best slant-6 carburetors were the '60 Valiant Holley 1920s with cast-iron throttle bases. No such carbs existed, in '60 or any other year, and 1962 was the first year for the 1920. :shrug:

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan
Im with you on the 2 prog ammeter. What would the 3rd wire be for Ilumination????? Even aftermarket stuff is usually 2 prong.
Cast iron base hum I guess that would be interesting. What carb did they use on the 59-62?
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Naw, dash illumination was built into the die-cast housing for the instrument cluster, not into the gauges themselves.
Carter BBS (always with aluminum throttle base, not cast iron) was the only carburetor used on '60-'61 slant-6s. There were no '59 model slant-6s. From '62 to '71 on passenger cars, both Holley 1920 and Carter BBS were used. Carter BBS continued through '74 on trucks, Holley 1920 through '73 on cars and trucks, Holley 1945 (and later feedback version 6145) was the only 1bbl used from '74 on in cars and '75 on in trucks. There was a '63-only Stromberg 1bbl.

There were pre-slant-6 1bbl carburetors with cast iron throttle bodies, and in Australia from '67-'68 there was a locally-made Bendix-Technico 1bbl with cast iron throttle body, but I'm reasonably sure that's not what this guy had in mind... :shrug:

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan, I suspect your "mechanic" was thinking of the Ford-used Holley 1904. Very similar to the 1920, and they did have an iron throttle body, while the upper portions were zinc/aluminum castings. Many of them also had the "Vis-a-bowl" on them as well. (I happen to have a half dozen of them for cores for a hot rod project.)

Roger

I do too. I posted a few of these in the "Carburetor Curiosities" section of my big-whackload-of-carbs-mostly-for-sale collection. I wouldn't want to use a 1904 on a slant...way too small.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Something caught my eye, didn't these slant six 2 barrel carbs also have "weber" base layout bolt holes? Like that for 2.2L carbs (5220/6520).

Cheers, Wizard

Not that I know of, no.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

all 1960's valiants that I've seen down here were import (no argentinian made cars untill 1962) and they all had cast iron base holleys. not kidding, and they weren't ford 1904's.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

Must've been something locally sourced, then (which was common, to have bolt-on ancillaries sourced locally) because no such carburetors were used up here.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Sounds like I was wondering about did slants ever had weber, Oh no, I was wondering if these mounting pattern is same, that's all.

Especially 2 barrel carbs for slant six.

Cheers, Wizard

most likely outsourced since they had dynamo instead of alternator (they did stole the alternator back then because it was new and rare and expensive)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

Yep...I have a 1965 or '66 Chrysler SAE paper on developing products for export, and it specifically mentions pilferage of bolt-on engine accessories as a big problem when shipping CKDs for assembly in countries outside North America. It does specifically mention alternators and carburetors, and says that after they put false bottoms in the engine shipping pallets and put the alternator and carburetor in the hidden compartment, the rate at which pallets got "accidentally" broken on the docks increased substantially...so they tried to move towards local sourcing of bolt-ons.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.