Hood Tachs

[dforsyth]

I am an author and am writing an article one the use of hood tachs on musclecars and am needing information on the Hoods Tachs used by Yenko.
1. I need to know who made them?
2. What years were they offered?
3. What cars were they offered on?
4. Were there different Hood tachs makers for the Yenko Hood Tach?
5. Part numbers?


If you have any info on any Hood Tachs on NON Yenko cars please do not hesitate to let me know.
I will be happy to include you as a source of information.

And Thanks for all the help.
Dave

[email protected]

[Supercar_Kid]

Ok Dave, I'll start with the obligatory "Please fill in your profile information." It's kind of a common courtesy thing we do around here, as most of the members of this site like to know who they're dealing with up front, but since you're a newbie, I thought I'd get that out of the way and save someone else the trouble of saying it. But on to the hood tachs. First off the hood tachs used by Yenko were manufactured by the Dixco corporation, a fairly popular supplier of aftermarket gauges and tachs in the late 60's early 70's. They were installed by Yenko exclusively on the 1970 model "Yenko Deuce" LT/1 powered Novas, and were an "HT/x" model as they were dubbed by Dixco. They came in several RPM ranges but Yenko used the 8,000 RPM version on his Deuces. They also carried a Yenko only white silkscreened Yenko crest logo on the faceplate, while over the counter versions carried HT/x logos. They were also available with other logos through other sources, but Yenko exclusively used his own crest design. As for the picture you posted, that tach is most likely an over the counter version, with the original HT/x silkscreen rubbed off and a homemade Yenko crest glued on. It's definitely not an original Yenko installed unit, and the add on logo jumps right out to the trained eye. I'd go on...but then again it's you who's writing the article right?

[dforsyth]

The pic is of an ORIGINAL Yenko Duece hood tach so I know it is real. I have updated my personal info so feel free to read it.
If you have a pic of what you consider a real Yenko tach please let me know.
I know they used Dixco but another was used as I own examples of both and the one in question was NOT made by Dixco but we know came on the car originally.
I have attached a pic of the inside of tach.
Please understand I have seen several like this and that is why I am here asking.

[dforsyth]

This is a Dixco tach internal mechanism so you may compare to the previous attachment. I have several Dixco hood tachs and one is on my Galaxie so that is how I got started collecting them.
thanks

[dforsyth]

If anyone has a close up pic of a Yenko Duece hood tach that is unrestored and untouched I would extremely appreciate it.
And please inform me of anything you know as I would not have asked if I had known. I will never be offended by being informed of something I did not know.
I have attached one more pic showing a closer clearer pic of the Yenko logo of my Duece hood tach.

[55chevy]

David, Supercar Kid is right. That tach you show pics of was on Ebay not long ago and we had some fun with it then too. It's not an original Yenko tach. You can tell by the obviously home made decal that looks like it was done on computer printer paper. It is however the right KIND of tach that was on the Deuces. Just an original HT/x. I'm sure one of the guys on here with a real Deuce wouldn't mind getting you a close up of a real one. But as far as info on these tachs, I'd say listen to what Supercar Kid and his brother CamaroJoe have to say as they (the Barr brothers) are a pretty good authority on this stuff. You should've made the trek to SCR6 to see their Supercar memorabila collection first hand. Incredible.

[dforsyth]

Not so much doubting them but understand the inards of these tachs are different. See the 2 attachments to see they are 2 totally different tachs. The Dixco have black plastic inards and the Yenko tachs are clear.
The question should be I guess; who made the clear plastic hood tachs?????

Dixco did NOT make the clear ones.
Thanks

[Supercar_Kid]

Dave, you might want to start by reading this thread on your tach that was started here awhile back. I describe what I know about the Dixco units pretty well, and rather than retype it all it may be easier to gain some knowledge from the previous thread. Please take no offense if you're the person who shelled out the $875 for the unit, we're sort of close knit around here and alot of us (including myself) thought there was some shenanigans being pulled by the seller. We tend to bring these kinds of things out into the open here on the sYc forum to prevent future misunderstandings. As for an authentic Deuce tach, you'll see one here. Deuce Tach I apologize for the poor image quality, but it's the best I could get as it's actually a still created from a digital video clip I have of it functioning on the car. You'll note the logo is a simple white silkscreen on the black plastic of the tach face. I assume it was created in the very same process as the HT/x logos Dixco used on their own over the counter units. Most likely a "tampo" stamp as the Hot Wheels guys refer to it as. As to what your tach is, I can't say for sure, as I haven't had any original Dixco units apart. I know that the face looks to be a Dixco HT/x over the counter unit, but J.C. Whitney also used to sell a similar tach well up into the 80's and perhaps even the early 90's, that had the same body as the Dixco unit but with a multi colored RPM range, I belive it had red, yellow, and green in it's sweep stripe, but I won't swear to it. Perhaps your tach is the Whitney unit with a Dixco face swapped on, but I assure you the face is not an original Yenko installed unit. It looks to be an amateurish recreation of some sort, the origin of which I can only speculate, but it looks awfully "digital" to me to have been created in the 60's or 70's. My guess is it's an ink jet print out on a piece of paper, trimmed out and glued to the plain black face, which had been wiped clean of it's HT/x silkscreen. these silkscreens are quite delicate, and rub off rather easily. You'll note part of the top of the crest is missing in the attached Deuce tach pic. If you wanted this silkscreen gone, all it would take is a little lacquer thinner. I don't claim to be any sort of self proclaimed expert, and I'm not saying what I've posted here is the end all be all of hood mounted tachometer information, but what I've said here I believe to be 100% accurate and you can take what you will from it. Perhaps my brother "Camarojoe" can chime in with further info, as I know he has several NOS in the box Dixco HT/x tachs and a whole collection of original Dixco HT/x advertisements, including as a press kit that was intended only to be received by speed shops and authorized Dixco retailers. In it there are some Dixco hood mounted units I'm sure many of you would be surprised to see, but he's kind of a stickler about reproducing that stuff here on the internet for all the world to see, where people like the seller of the said "ultra bogus" tach would have a field day making quick $$$ off of the knowledge he'd like to share with all you honest folk here on the sYc. I hope I've been helpful Dave, welcome to the site.

[camarojoe]

First off Dave, you already are off with some facts. BOTH tachs you show are indeed made by Dixco. the 1st tach you have pictured is indeed a Dixco HT/x, but it is definitely NOT an original Yenko faceplate. The Yenko logo is homemade and is not correct, as has already been stated. The "other tach" you post pics of is also made by Dixco, and is a later version of the HT/x. The first one is the correct (for Yenko applications) "1st version", and should feature round bullet-type "push in" connectors on the wires, whereas the second version you show uses regular "flat" wire connectors. The newer version also uses a plastic nut on the bottom to attach it to the hood, where the original version used a steel nut. The second versions I have seen always seem to have the "colored" face, with a red, green, and yellow stripe around the top edge of the face. BOTH versions you show are made by Dixco, and were actually marketed by many different vendors, who often paid to have their own names and logos on the face. Ford, Mopar, JC Penney, JC Whitney, etc. all sold versions of this tach, and all were manufactured by Dixon (Dixco). By the way, What publication are you writing this article for, might I ask? Sounds like Supercarkid already has it written for ya.

[mnyenko]

David,
My original hood tach has the clear plastic insides that you show.The black plastic insides look like a newer tach.Couldn't they both be Dixico made at different times?Earl