22 May 97 11:12, Hey Rocky! Jack Schwendener pulled engine outta his hat!:
 JS>
 RW> RW> sd>>> silly question, but what's a 2 piece tach? (the tach I have
 JS>
 RW> RW>>> on my 55 Chevy...Basically, there was a solid state unit
 JS>
 RW> JS>> Yup, except it wasn't really solid state, it was an
 RW> JS>> electro-mechanical kinda deal. No transistors in the early ones.
 RW> JS>> When
 JS>
 RW>> The two piece I remember didn't have anything in the way of any
 RW>> mechanical hook ups.  Unless your talking about the tach that was
 RW>> driven off the back of the generator, in which case, it was all
 RW>> mechanical. Anything else was solid state devices.
 JS>
 RW>> Can you espound on the electro-mechanical kinda deal?
 JS>
 JS> I wish I could .....
 JS>
 JS> The one I had didn't have any mechanical connection to the motor, it
 JS> hooked up to the coil wire just like an late model tach, but I don't
 JS> think the sender unit had any transistor stuff inside (this was the
 JS> late '50s/early '60s).
 Well, I had a two-piece unit in my 55 Chevy long about 1961.  It had a box 
under the hood that connected to the coil just like you say.  What was in the 
box was solid state technology for it's day.  I remember a trim pot hole in 
the box, but not much else, other than it was made by Sun.
 JS>  (I think I would have noticed 'cause I was into electronics then
 JS> ... ) All I remember was basic (passive) electrical components,
 JS> coils, resistors, maybe diodes, and a battery you had to replace
 JS> every once in a while.
Yup!  I remember the batteries too.  Nah, it was as solid state as you could 
get in those days.
 JS> ... As I recall, solid state tachs came a little later and were one
 JS> piece, although there may have been two-piece solid state tachs that
 JS> I don't remember.
Yes, I bought a new Sun, Ten Grand tach, for my 65 Chevelle in the spring of 
that year.  Still have it.  Since then, it's been on several cars.
 JS>  You can sometimes still find the old 2-piece models at swap meets
There's an old gent at a local swap meet with a collection of those.  I'll 
pick his brain next time I see him..
... "Captain, isn't it time for a colorful Metaphor?" - Spock
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