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02-13-2003, 10:25 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Dayton,ohio,usa,
Posts: 69
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Not Ranked
Smith guages reliability
I have heard bad things about Smith guages and that they are not reliable but I do not know what types of problems people have had with them. Can anyone offer me any info on them? Is this what comes in Superferformance cars and are they a problem?
Thanks
Doc
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02-13-2003, 10:34 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Fairfield, NJ, USA,
NJ
Cobra Make, Engine: A & C, 351W, Tremec 3550. Exiled Member: Club Cranky
Posts: 5,897
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Not Ranked
Don't believe it. They're as reliable as Lucas electrics.
Roscoe
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Roscoe
"Crisis occurs when women and cattle get excited!"....James Thurber
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02-13-2003, 10:34 AM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Seattle, WA,
Posts: 1,389
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Doc.
Their reputation is about that of Lucas electrics. Unreliable ,inaccurate, etc. I have a full set 20+ years old and have never had any problems.
I think i heard somewhere that SPF uses a Smith look-alike.
In any case I think the Smiths bashing is about to start momentarily
__________________
Foolish consistancy is the hobgoblin of tiny minds
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02-13-2003, 10:56 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Hickory,
NC
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA 427SC w/427so, ERA GT #2002
Posts: 1,106
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Not Ranked
Don't cut Luca short. Rember it was Lucas, the "Prince of Darkness", who invented the short circuit and intermitent wipers. 
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Tom
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough HORSEPOWER." Mark Donohue
Last edited by speed220mph; 02-13-2003 at 12:11 PM..
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02-13-2003, 11:34 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: San Francisco CA,
Posts: 525
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Humble Cobra owner:
"Honest officer, my Smiths speedometer told me I was going somewhere between 30 and 65 MPH!"
Highway Patrol Officer, peering inside said Cobra cockpit:
"Oh yeah, Smiths gauges. Well, OK I'll let you go this time, but try to drive next to a car with a working speedo."
Lucky Cobra owner:
"Thanks officer. Now if I could only get my tach to stop reading 6000 RPM when I'm backing out of the driveway!"
--Mike 
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They bend 'em, we mend 'em.
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02-13-2003, 12:10 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: so cal,
Cal
Cobra Make, Engine: I used to fix them for a living
Posts: 2,563
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SPF uses real smith's gauges and actual Lucas switches in the dashboard. They are OK, period correct and all. But their reputation has been earned. The needle movement on their oil pressure gauges is a little sticky sometimes. Their speedos are not all the same, same cable and gear, swap the speedo and your mph reading will change slightly sometimes. Their mech temp gauges are fine, until they accidently contact the starter solenoid and arc weld themselves into uselessness. There are beter gauges available, but there are also better motors than the 427SO available, and I still like those too, for a cobra.
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In a fit of 16 year old genius, I looked down through the carb while cranking it to see if fuel was flowing, and it was. Flowing straight up in a vapor cloud, around my head, on fire.
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02-13-2003, 01:34 PM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Chilliwack,BC,
BC
Cobra Make, Engine: F5 Roadster
Posts: 1,422
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Doc,
one of our club members has the smiths gauges, in 8,000 miles the speedo has being sent back 3 times and the tach 2 times. I use autometer gauges, they work perfectly.
Perry.  |
02-13-2003, 02:09 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Edmonton,
AB
Cobra Make, Engine: #901 Superformance 427cid 540hp!
Posts: 465
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Autometer Look alike gauges!
I'm replacing the following faulty Smiths Gauges. Ammeter, oil pressure, and reverse speedo. With the Autometer 427sc gauges from HDR. Check em out. www.hdrcoupe.com/html/AutometerGauges.html
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"This year Ferrari's Ass Is Mine"
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02-13-2003, 02:21 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Leesburg,,
VA
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA Cobra #273, 427 S/O, ERA GT-40 #2057, Excalibur Cobra.
Posts: 1,011
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Not Ranked
AUTOMETER MAKES A FULL SET OF SMITHS REPLICA GAGES. THEY ARE VERY NICELY DONE AND HAVE AUTOMETER QUALITY ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY. ADDITIONALLY THEY ARE BACK LIT GAGES - VERY VISABLE AT NIGHT.
YOU CAN GET THEM THROUGH RICK ELLIS AT HIGHLAND DAYTONA RACING. RICK HAS ADDS ON CLUB COBRA.
Y'ALL HAVE A REALLY GREAT DAY,
BLACKJACK
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It's impossible to make anything FOOLPROOF - - Because FOOLS are so ingenious.
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02-13-2003, 03:19 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: May 2000
Location: Leicester,
UK
Cobra Make, Engine: Crendon, windsor 408 stroker, tremec. Also GSX008
Posts: 1,406
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Not Ranked
No such thing as "real" or "original" Smiths guages any more - the company just does not exist.
Any new gauge bought called "Smiths" is actually manufactured by Caerbont Industries in Wales - they bought the rights/tooling etc.
I have a suspicion, if not actually any hard factual evidence to back it up, that "Autometer" guages may be made by the same company??? Not sure.
Anyhows - even tho' I am english, I am not about to wave any flags about the "Prince of Darkness", I have sorted out enough electrical faults by the roadside in my time, but here's a couple or three thoughts anyway -
1/ if we insist on using 1950's and 60's technology in our instruments, can we really evince surprise when they behave exactly like a 1950's/60's item?
2/ Mr Fixit - you really cannot blame your guages for the fact that poor routing lead to an electrical short onto the capilliary tube.
That one, at least, is not down to the instrument.
3/ if you guys think that english cars had poor electrics, then you have obviously never dealt with an Italian motorbike or scooter. Now there is a challenge - even for a Brit used to his own cars!
have fun now.
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Wilf
Last edited by wilf leek; 02-13-2003 at 03:21 PM..
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02-13-2003, 03:21 PM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Folsom,
CA
Cobra Make, Engine: ERA 623, 427 S/C Cobra. Ford FE 428 Cobra Jet, Ford Nascar TL 4speed - with a touch of raw; "less is more" theme
Posts: 3,884
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Re: Smith Fuel guage
My Smith fuel guage can give some weird readings sometimes. One time I ran out of fuel at 1/4 tank, and then last week I was able to run it down below to 1/8th with fuel left in the tank. No conclusions there yet... I keep checking the sender too. I was previously aware of the 1/4 tank chronic fuel guage issue though...
Also, I noticed the needle on my fuel guage will flutter 1/8" back and forth sometimes on bumpy roads, and other times it will stay in place. This month it seems to be in a good mood and behaving normally. Who knows?
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Duane
Western States Cobra Group 1998-2016.
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02-13-2003, 03:42 PM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Bloomfield Hills, (Detroit area),
Mi
Cobra Make, Engine: Superformance 156, ex Paxton 351, now a 392 Ford Racing Stroker
Posts: 1,666
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Not Ranked
I have Smiths gauges and lucas switches and no failures or innacuracies ( to my knowledge) in 8,000 miles. I have heard of others encountering problems , usually oil pressure gauge or speedo most often mentioned.
i have friends with a variety of different brands' gauges in their cars, all seem to report a problem now and then, so not sure any specific brand is fool proof...some are good, some are not is my take...kinda like light bulbs, some go right away and others last for years, eh ? bill
Last edited by Bill Wells; 02-13-2003 at 03:44 PM..
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02-13-2003, 04:37 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Provo,
Ut
Cobra Make, Engine: Kirkham, 427
Posts: 6,990
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Not Ranked
Smiths reliability??? Isn't that an oxymoron?
We were loosing 1 out of every 7 gauges...Terrible record for a customer who has a 25K engine. Autometer is 15 minutes up the road from us. We spent many, many hours going over the car, the design, and the looks to get them right. They make them all right here in Utah.
I have even heard of original cars running autometer gauges now...
I wouldn't trust my engine to Smiths.
David  |
02-13-2003, 04:44 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Texas,
Tx
Cobra Make, Engine: CSX 4039 427 FE 1966- SOLD
Posts: 749
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Can you use an Autometer gauge with a Smiths clock face? (New guts in old dash board)?
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My carbon footprint is bigger than your carbon footprint.
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02-13-2003, 08:01 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Rock Hill,
SC
Cobra Make, Engine: Superformance, 396 CI
Posts: 1,268
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Not Ranked
i had a water temp mechanical gage slowly die, put in another one, then had my oil temp fail, so got an Autometer, which is very similar but not identical to the Smiths, the Bezel is slightly different. Of course, says Autometer. But the first one was likewise bad, but i got it replaced and have been fine ever since. About 49K miles on the rest of them.
I think mechanical gages are probably more accurate, but more tender, too. I consider them a wear out item on a frequently driven car.
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Hal Copple
Stroked SPF
"Daily Driver"
IV Corps 71-72, Gulf War
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02-13-2003, 08:09 PM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Canada's beautiful West Coast,
Posts: 723
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Not Ranked
I have installed the Autometer Smith style lookalikes
They will look period correct, look awesome and work reliably!!
Tim
Dash |
02-13-2003, 09:21 PM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Novato, CA, USA,
Posts: 827
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Darndest thing...I expected to have all sorts of problems with the Smithies...so far, knock on wood (my head), they keep on a'tickin'.
TT
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02-13-2003, 10:24 PM
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Subsistance du serpent
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Join Date: May 1999
Location: DFW, Texas,
TX
Cobra Make, Engine:
Posts: 1,120
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Not Ranked
Mine...after 1100 miles
Speedo bounced until 60mph
volt jumps until 2000 rpm
fuel needle stuck on full
One trip to Nisonger and $165 later, now they work fine.
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James
A few ERAs, SPFs, Shelbys, Kirkhams...
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02-13-2003, 10:33 PM
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Senior Club Cobra Member
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Seattle, WA,
Posts: 1,389
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Not Ranked
James,
How was the detail on the faces of your Nisonger faux Smiths. I ordered a replacment fuel gauge and never installed it beacause the lable graphics were so rough,(also because it turned out to be the sender)  |
02-14-2003, 08:20 AM
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Subsistance du serpent
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Join Date: May 1999
Location: DFW, Texas,
TX
Cobra Make, Engine:
Posts: 1,120
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Not Ranked
Actually, I should have clarified my post. I sent my existing Smiths to Nisonger to be repaired and now they work better than ever.
Sorry for the confusion.
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James
A few ERAs, SPFs, Shelbys, Kirkhams...
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