Beck Fuel Gauge

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Albert Haefner
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#46 Post by Albert Haefner »

We sell the bell and the ball šŸ„“šŸ‘
Www.classic-parts.fr
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Alex Parmenter
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#47 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Great thread and info!! Just rebuilding my Beck sender now, the bell has completely corroded away so Iā€™ll need to make a new one. A couple of questions from reading this thread:
  • Does anyone have the dimensions of the lower bell/cup piece?
  • Whatā€™s the consensus on the length of the two capillary tubes in the tank end? Sounds like if may be better to have a bigger vertical head between the two?
Thanks
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Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

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Albert Haefner
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#48 Post by Albert Haefner »

Borg inside the Bell
Long = air from Pump in
Short = pressure signal tu instrument.
This only Worts with intact rubber Ball and valve in the Pump.
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Albert Haefner
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#49 Post by Albert Haefner »

ā€¦ long= inside ā€¦.
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Alex Parmenter
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#50 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Thanks Albert!!

Does anyone have dimensions of the lower bell?
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

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Alex Parmenter
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#51 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Also any suggestions/tips for taking the pump apart. Reading through the thread looks like the base threads into the alloy body, but it also looks like the base was staked at one point to stop it backing out. Donā€™t want to get rough with it, so any tips appreciated (Albert Iā€™ll email you for one of your replacement rubber pump pieces):
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F9AB98E8-461B-4401-890D-6A218422BF77.jpeg
939D3097-837B-4606-9766-24AE4CDC72A4.jpeg
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

Ā 

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Martin Langer
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#52 Post by Martin Langer »

Alex,

My sender is mounted to the fuel tank, in the meantime. However, not in operation yet :-(
Therefore, no dimensions from my side. Sorry! Here is a picture of the cup with the long capillary tube.
Maybe that helps.
20220314_180406_red.jpg
The brass base of the pump has definitely a thread with the alloy housing. You must get it off somehow (WD40) to gain access to the valve.

Martin

Rafik Dous
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#53 Post by Rafik Dous »

Alex Parmenter wrote: ā†‘Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:13 pm Also any suggestions/tips for taking the pump apart. Reading through the thread looks like the base threads into the alloy body, but it also looks like the base was staked at one point to stop it backing out. Donā€™t want to get rough with it, so any tips appreciated (Albert Iā€™ll email you for one of your replacement rubber pump pieces):
I would also like to know how to dismantle the pump. Anyone can advise?

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Martin Langer
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#54 Post by Martin Langer »

Hello Rafik,
Please see my comment #28. The round brass cover is just pressed in the bottom brass piece. I was able to get the cover loose with very!! light!! knocks with a hammer and some WD40. Good luck!
Martin

Rafik Dous
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#55 Post by Rafik Dous »

Thank you, will give it a try

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Alex Parmenter
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#56 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Update, and see posts below for full write up and pics

I managed to get my fuel gauge pump body open tonight. I have the benefit of an old Atlas lathe so set the pump brass end in the lathe chuck and used that hold it steady as I used a set of grips on the body. Couple of other tips:
1) the brass end cap on mine was ā€˜stakedā€™ at one point on the edge, no doubt by factory to stop it loosening. I tapped the back edge of this with a very fine flat head screwdriver to lift the staked part very slightly so to just ā€œun-stakeā€ it.
2) fill it and soak it well in penetrating fluid for a few days
3) once I did this i set in lathe chuck, locked headstock and rocked the alloy body with set of grips right & left to get some movement and then it backed off quite easily, with very minimal marring.
Last edited by Alex Parmenter on Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

Ā 

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Alex Parmenter
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#57 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Well got the 54 Beck fuel gauge finished off and tested tonight, and working perfectly. My one was completely kaput after being off the road since 1980s. The end ā€˜bellā€™ had corroded off, the capillary lines plugged with gas varnish, and the pump broken. Thought Iā€™d share some of the things I learned as I see question come up quite often on these, and fun project to rebuild them!

As I said, mine was in a bad way, and probably about as bad as they come I would think, see pic below of when I first pulled it out the tank:
ACAC8139-52F9-4663-8060-6BB7AC9A4D2D.jpeg
3B125DBF-EC4C-4CDD-AEEE-C3195A43A515.jpeg
Getting the dash pump apart was next, quite tricky to do without damaging, but take your time and itā€™s ok. The brass base screws into the alloy body, so soak it in penetrating oil for a day or two, then try and unscrew, I used my small old Atlas lathe chuck to hold the thin brass base and it unscrewed without too much effort after I ā€˜rocked it back and forthā€™ a bit first:
A8794761-2DA0-4955-AB90-FEF4B1D90FBA.jpeg
78B1E037-C29D-491F-96BB-618765AAB6DD.jpeg
4CA15D4F-8C08-4BE6-94ED-452FDA1C9330.jpeg

Albert and Till Hefner (Classic Parts) supplied a new rubber pump bladder and also the copper bell for the end of the pipe (or you can use a 1ā€ plumbing end cap). Pic below shows pump apart and new black pump insert against old original red one:
87295BF9-895F-44BF-B613-162B19FE6591.jpeg
3AAC4BAE-A22F-4C4B-AA77-C5D214ABD927.jpeg
All cleaned up and ready to reassembly the pump. The rubber gets glued to the brass base piece. There is also a check valve in the brass piece, mine seemed to be working fine so i did not disassemble, but see higher up in this thread for that.
5BA9B949-DA18-462C-83A3-D1DD07773FFE.jpeg
Last edited by Alex Parmenter on Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:57 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

Ā 

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Alex Parmenter
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Location: Houston, TX

Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#58 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Continued*

My capillary tubes were completely plugged with 40 year old gas varnish. To clear this I rigged up a large plastic syringe to each capillary line, then heated the lines from the gas tank mount down with a blow torch (not enough to melt any solder!) and the pressured up the lines with the syringe. The varnish melts easily and this cleared the lines quite quickly and once everything had cooled, I put carb cleaner in the syringe and pumped this through the cap lines, let it soak and pumped it through.
8E960110-F3B5-4B33-BFDA-0FF87B607B66.jpeg
Next I moved onto repairing the missing bell from the lower end. The brass pipe had also corroded and the lower few inches missing, so I ordered some 7mm OD by 0.5mm wall thickness brass pipe from amazon. This is a perfect fit on the original 6mm OD brass outer pipe. I cut off the corroded section, bent up a new piece and then slipped it over and soldered in place (donā€™t forget your flux).
92219F24-A5AE-48BD-829A-FF648CF87B68.jpeg
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25E68EF1-8040-482B-9AF2-42C00FE49B04.jpeg
C49F7ADE-03E0-4765-873A-012DB137FDAB.jpeg

Then I drilled 7mm hole in the bell and soldered in place also. I measured the tank and spaced this all out to put the lower end about 1ā€ from the bottom of the gas tank when installed. In the pic below the cutting mat squares are 1ā€, so you can see approx 8ā€ from upper mount to lower bell.
9DAD1652-B033-409A-B88F-9A21D7E37C52.jpeg

I took the opportunity to clean up and polish all the parts as I went along. When I first tested the system my gauge did not move and was stuck. After a few attempts I very gently (weā€™re talking 0.5psi for this gauge max and very easy to damage, so be careful!!) blew into the gauge and it ā€˜unstuckā€™ and then started reading the fuel level in my test can.
C2CCAEC6-0641-45E1-86A8-BAF3B0DB497E.jpeg
9D4F4831-1CF5-4B82-A049-DED20754A050.jpeg
F50A3F63-5CAE-4ADC-B750-79EFA53CA5B0.jpeg

I had a lot of dust behind the gauge glass, so i also very carefully lifted 3 of the 4 bezel tabs and removed to clean lens and also dusted gauge face with fine brush.

Tested in a can of gas and the gauge reacts perfectly as you raise and lower to test!
23B1C76B-E8F7-4413-B3E8-7DF9E310B1DF.jpeg
Also tested the air pump and all working well. I did read some discussion as to why there is a hole in the end of the pump button as i has no through hole? Well on mine i blew into the hole and there is indeed a very small air path right through to the other end, so this will prevent pump getting stuck down with suction.
.
Last edited by Alex Parmenter on Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

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Greg Bryan
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#59 Post by Greg Bryan »

Awesome work Alex!
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Alex Parmenter
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Re: Beck Fuel Gauge

#60 Post by Alex Parmenter »

Thanks Greg, very rewarding part of the revival of this old car!
Always searching for parts for my Oct 54 Pre A coupe including these:
2 piece engine case to #336XX
Gear knob
Front bumper
Passenger sun visor
Bosch SH/ZS4/1 Ignition switch
Vigot jack (late 54)

Ā 

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