Oil Pressure Line

Ya know, James, I thought the picture was going to be the oil line.

Paul

Why not ditch the mechanical and get an electric?

What you have is a standard mechanical aftermarket pressure gauge. Most of them use that nylon line which does become very brittle over time. The line slips through the brass fitting, and then a compression nut fits over the nylon line. When you screw it all together, the conmpression fitting bites down in to the line and forms a tight seal. It works real well - for a while. You can replace the mechaical with an electric. But the electric sender unit is large, and you need an extension to move it out away from the block so it will fit. Ford starting doing that in the mid sixties. You can buy the alum extension or just make one from brass fittings. You can also buy new compression fittings and nylon line and go back to the way it was. This is very cheap, but will only last a couple of years. My suggestion is to find a find a place in town that custom makes hydraulic lines. Figure out how long the line should be, and what fittings you need on each. A shop will custom make you a line to fit exactly, and it will last forever. Make sure one end has a swivel fitting.

My suggestion is to go to your local hardware store and buy some 1/8" copper line and appropriate fittings. The copper line bends real easy, but care needs to be taken not to kink it when bending it. My suggestion is to first pass the line through the firewall from the engine compartment, and attach to the gauge with the right compression fitting. Then route the line in the same manner as the nylon line was routed, and attach to the sender with the proper fittings. I prefer the mechanical gauge over the electric ones because the mechanical ones are more accurate. The only electrical sending unit I'd use for oil pressure would be a low pressure cut off switch to shut the ignition down should you loose oil pressure. If you want to make your own extension to move the fitting away from the block, you can use a short piece of 1/4" (if I remember correctly) pipe threaded on both ends, with either a coupler or a T on the other end. If you use the T, and only connecting the line to it, then install a plug in the other opening. I would install the T so that you don't have to redo everything to add a low pressure switch in the future.

Gary

Not a good choice here. Copper is ok in a car as long as it's all firmly attached to the driveline or the frame and well supported. Making the transition from moving engine to stationary chassis requires a flexible line.

This is an excellent idea. There are a number of circuits that will interrupt the ignition when the oil pressure drops. It can't be a simple on-off switch, as you need to allow the car to start with almost pressure.

Some people say these fitting will fracture, because they are brass. But I did that on my '66 in