[berg1954]

My original kneeknocker tack works intermittently and the appearance shows the wear and tear over the years. The cost to repair and re-plate far exceeds the cost of the reproduction tacks.
I am wondering how the reproduction tacks compare to the originals, particular in appearance and quality?
If you've had good luck with an aftermarket, please share where you bought it and when.
Thanks for your thoughts

 

[vortec710]

Are there any aftermarket tachs that might fit into your original tach housing ? Just asking, not ever having owned this style tach.

 

[busterwivell]

I have an aftermarket KneeKnocker tach. It's OK, appearance is OK. When I fist start up my car, the needle seems to be stuck. I tap it and it works.

 

[Stickman]

Mark, Not sure what the cost of a repop is but I had my 66' KKT rebuilt and refaced for $200. That was back in 2012 and still works like new. Site and email address has changed since then but I think this is the same guy...

Home - Redline Gauge Works

Gauge cluster repair, restoration and customization of automotive instruments for classics, muscle cars and hotrods!

redlinegaugeworks.com

 

[vortec710]

FWIW...Musclecar Factory has them advertised on ebay for $159

 

[RAIDER SS]

I'm interested in this question as well as I'm in the same position. There's a blow-up picture of the repo tach on OPGI website and it ~looks~ good.

I just sent a request to Redline so we'll see how that turns out.

 

[Turp Mcspray]

IIRC, repop has a peg at 0 for the needle to rest on, and original does not. They do look really nice.

 

[suntreemcanic]

Each of the different horse power rating 396s requires it's own face.

 

[RAIDER SS]

As I said - my factory tach works intermittently and could use a freshing-up of the yellow/red lines.

Sent Redline a quote request and here's what I got back; "Thanks for the inquiry; the average cost for a tach conversion is $320 and if you want the face redone that would be an additional $150."

I'm assuming by tach conversion they must mean removing the guts and replacing it with a updated version of the same. So I've got nothing to lose by opening up my tach and seeing if there is anything that I can correct. Loose wire hopefully

 

[nashville beth]

I know it's not original but most Chevelle owners back in the day had a Sun tach on the column.
It looks original to me because it's what most people did. The factory knee-knocker was worthless IMHO.

 

[Stickman]

As I said - my factory tach works intermittently and could use a freshing-up of the yellow/red lines.

Sent Redline a quote request and here's what I got back; "Thanks for the inquiry; the average cost for a tach conversion is $320 and if you want the face redone that would be an additional $150."

I'm assuming by tach conversion they must mean removing the guts and replacing it with a updated version of the same. So I've got nothing to lose by opening up my tach and seeing if there is anything that I can correct. Loose wire hopefully

Yowzers !!! Guess tach refurb has gone up in the last decade. That's pretty steep, and if I was quoted that back then I may have entertained a repop as well. And yes, they replace the old guts with electronics that behave better with converted ignition systems

 

[berg1954]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I'm still not sure which direction I'll take but I'm leaning towards sticking with to original tack and having it converted. Its nice to keep the original.

Raider SS - be careful if when you bend up the tiny tabs that hold the chrome ring to the face. I've be told that you can only bend them once or maybe twice and then they will breakoff. Then you have to figure out another way to attach the ring which could be a challange.

 

[RAIDER SS]

Thanx Mark!
I carefully opened up my tach today. There was nothing that I could do to the inner workings of the tach - it all looked great.
I did not like how the ground stud was resting on the painted inside housing, so I scraped off the paint there (cannot see when assembled) and used dielectric grease on this connection and all the others. I also ran my own ground wire from this same ground terminal out of the tach (alongside the 3 wire harness) and screwed it onto the metal dash for a more positive ground. (no pun)
The car is temporarily disabled right now so I couldn't start it up, but I'll keep ya posted when I do!

 

[RAIDER SS]

Well - I was wrong. My tach did not work today. And I sure don't want to spend $470 plus on it either.

So now I'm looking at the aftermarket choices online.

Is it true that Ausley's is the business that had these repo's made and resells them to all the resellers (besides selling them themselves)?

 

[berg1954]

Raider SS, isn't that the way it goes sometimes.
I understand that Ausley's is the distributor for at least NPD and the tacks are made overseas somewhere.
If you go aftermarket let me know how it compares.