It’s the culmination of the refurbishment of a couple of Tilley FL6 floodlights that I featured in THIS post in the Lounge over on CCS. The fuel gauge dial was missing on the silver-coloured example dated January 1959 Of the fuel gauge: Photo accompanying that post £2.99 for five from an ebay source I dismantled one and rubbed off the points of the compass lettering from the glass face. Two aluminium bezels; clear plasic spacer ring; glass (they actually are glass and not plastic) front and back; compass needle I should have looked harder here on CPL for THIS decal source for the Full/Empty gauge dial In the event, I simply printed non-‘curved’ script onto photo paper, several times to allow for any false starts in cutting out and punching the centre hole ‘Compass’ re-assembled with the Full/Empty dial - alongside one of the compasses that remains a compass ... showing how the NSEW was printed on the face glass I made a shim from thin brass strip to take up the looseness of the 20mm diameter gauge in the fuel tank gauge housing Installed, a push fit The needle position was a true representation of the fuel level in the tank, confirmed when the fuel level and gauge cork dropped when I tilted the tank Why ‘bodge’? Well, I’m kicking myself for discovering Matthias’s decal pattern only after I’d completed the job, and the compass/dial is a shade too deep (determined by the length of the needle pivot pin) so it stands a little too proud from the gauge mounting. Still, it’s functional. John
@presscall Hi John This post has been a complete eye opener for me. My silver painted FL6 has the “blank plug” look and that is exactly what I thought it was. My beast was made during the Dunmurry period and I wrongly assumed this was just another Tilley cost cutting exercise. Does that mean you will be advertising them in members services as you have some spare compasses? Regards Jeremy
Pretty labour intensive to offer as a member service Jeremy but I’ll run off one for you, no charge. Compensation for us not getting together for a natter at Newark this year. It’ll be after the lockdown though. I’m assuming the rest of the gauge components in your floodlight are there and functioning? Remove the pump and shine a torch in there. Over to the right of the opening you should see a cork tethered to a brass wire bobbing about. John
Great work there. I have a Tilley R55 that needs the gauge and I have been looking for almost 6 months with no luck. Any link for those gauges? Thanks you!
@Pancholoco1911 Ebay UK: 5 x 20mm Button Compass - Aluminium Glass - Clear Front & Rear Military Survival | eBay
Too bad they don’t ship to the states but at least I know where to start looking for. Thanks for the heads up
@presscall Hi John A very kind offer, sir! I’ll fight my way to the back of the workshop and have a quick shufti with a torch to see what is in the tank, something I haven’t considered prior to this post. Regards Jeremy
Lol...mine are on their way but can I ask...does it work? lol because I'm not really sure what I'm looking at, as in, where is the needle supposed to point, what side... Martin
Blunt, but not inaccurate. I don’t know, you CPL purists! Call it an ‘undercoat’ of Hammerite Smooth silver pending a flatting down and post-lockdown finish with the rattle can version. @paparazi @X246A Needle follows the direction of the magnet in the ‘sender unit’, indicating the fuel level determined by the cork float on the fuel surface. Demonstration with an Optimus Nova stove pricker needle magnet. John
Excellent....strangely or should I say interestingly, I have a similar if not substantially more sophisticated device on my Westfalia Camper. It has a 16 litre under-slung LPG gas tank. This gauge also works on magnetic attraction but instead of a cork it has a small aluminium float. Martin
Interesting what you say about your camper’s LPG tank gauge Martin. Essential for a built-in gas tank, unlike a separate butane or propane bottle where weighing them is the usual way of checking how much gas is left - or just sloshing them about! The dial’s inserted in the housing with ‘Full’ at the top. If the tank’s full that’s where the needle points. Whether as fuel level drops the needle moves clockwise or anti-clockwise doesn’t matter, and rocking the tank can tip the needle back over the ‘full’ point to come down on the other side.
Thanks for posting the link I will try to repair mine now. What great information, very helpfull, as I am just refurbishing an FL6 thats been in the shed for 20 years plus. Regards Bob
When I was teaching Physics, we called them 'plotting compasses' so it might be worth searching for that term... For example only - these will be too small for our purposes:- Plotting Compass 16mm - Pack of 10
