Fuel sending units

[Bamamav]

My car has a 6 bolt sending unit like most old Fords do. The new universal replacement ones are all five bolt. I can't use a original style one since it won't work with my SW gauge, wrong ohms. I know Speedway sells a 6-5 adapter, but you have to specify right or left swing on the float when you order a sending unit, and my float was a rear swing, and I have no idea how the adapter will orient the swing on the 5 bolt pattern, left, right, front or back, or even something between the two. If it's to the right, or to the rear, that will be OK, but even they don't know for sure.

I guess my rambling question is, can I just redrill the tank to fit the new sending unit? They suggested a higher priced sending unit that rotates 360* to use with the adapter, but if I can just redrill my tank, I can save half the money. What have y'all done for a sending unit with a stock tank?

 

[Dirtyrat]

Well I dont think it will matter on the 6-5 adapter.
You should still be able to orient the setup at any of the 6 bolt locations assuming they are equally spaced...

 

[tator]

most of the aftermarket sending units I have dealt with, the stud for the wire holds everything together with a plastic washer on each side of the metal plate with a nut on top. I just change the plate with the old one. hope this helps

 

[sneakysnake]

I just redrilled the new sender to fit the tank and a new gasket

 

[Bamamav]

most of the aftermarket sending units I have dealt with, the stud for the wire holds everything together with a plastic washer on each side of the metal plate with a nut on top. I just change the plate with the old one. hope this helps

I just redrilled the new sender to fit the tank and a new gasket

Both are what I was wanting to hear, sounds as though I can swap plates or redrill the sending unit plate. Thanks, this will save me a few bucks! [cl

 

[Willowbilly3]

NAPA has a universal sending unit in the Balkamp line.

 

[jfg455]

Just weld it in!![cl

No don't do that! Stop! No no no! Bad idea! Wrong!

The one I did I saved one hole on the 5 hole unit, welded up the other 4 then re-drilled it to a 6 hole pattern. If you try to drill the tank then you have all kinds of extra holes to try to seal / plug and it is a PITA.

 

[Bamamav]

I ended up getting the Speedway unit. I had to enlarge the center hole on my 6 bolt plate a bit, then everything bolted together. I was able to orient it to swing to the rear, just like the original sender did. Also had to make a new cork gasket out of some gasket material I had on hand. Will bolt it in once the tank sealer dries......

 

[Bamamav]

Here's a few pics of the sender. It's fully adjustable for height, I took one section off to get it short enough for my tank. They send a chart that tells you what height it needs to be for the depth of your tank, and how long the float arm needs to also. I checked it with my meter and it reads right, so when I get it installed I'll report back on how well it works.

 

[Skip]

Did everything work out?

 

[Bamamav]

Duh, I forgot to update, didn't I? Yes, it works fine![cl No leaks, gauge reads correctly. Only thing I don't care for is the needle swings a lot, makes it hard to tell how much is in it while moving. I think it has more to do with the tank itself, it has side baffles but none in behind the float, so forward motion lets the gas slosh. No big deal, I always look when I get in anyway.

 

[Yankee Transplant]

I just delt with sending unit problems myself ..I bought an after market gauge for my ford and it read backwards and it said for a ford ,,, but a chevy gauge read the right direction just didnt go to empty.... and I could not find a gauge that read O ohms when empty like the original sending unit does .. well after a day of looking and reading ohms ,,,and dealing with parts house people that had no clue ..I just bent the needle on my after market gauge and Im using that right now .. even the uni-fit sending units for fuel cells didnt read O ohms on empty ..I guess they wanted you to buy the sending unit that goes with the gauge .. [S