Early C1 Tach rev counters

[Jim K.]

Does anyone know why the early (53-57) Tach's had an engine Rev. counter built into them ? I would be interested in knowing the purpose of counting the engine revolutions . What was the thinking behind this feature ? Thanks for your thoughts, Jim

[Chris S.]

Re: Early C1 Tach rev counters

Hi Jim
I think the thought was kinda like todays hour meters on my Silverados- - -

[David H.]

Re: Early C1 Tach rev counters

Does anyone know why the early (53-57) Tach's had an engine Rev. counter built into them ? I would be interested in knowing the purpose of counting the engine revolutions . What was the thinking behind this feature ? Thanks for your thoughts, Jim

Jim

Plausible explanation from CF: Repurposed speedometer heads. (Link below, posts #5 and #14)

Or maybe they wanted a better indication of usage/wear than an odometer - for folks that put on miles a quarter at a time.

Dave

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...n-counter.html

[Jim K.]

Re: Early C1 Tach rev counters

Dave , thanks for the link to the previous posts about the tach rev counters. I do understand that the far right digit turns over after one thousand revolutions of the engine. So that would mean when that far right digit returns to 0 the engine has turned over 10,000 times. In a previous post by Kent Keech (Jan. 14, 06) he says there is an acceptable "ratio" between the odometer and the rev counter. Has anybody heard of this ratio ? or know what it is ? Is this considered when the car is NCRS judged ? I like your thought that the tach rev counter is a better indication of usage/wear than the odometer. The odometers only go to 99,999.9 miles before they turn over. I do not believe the rev counter would turn over before 100,000 miles were hit, but I am not doing any math to try and figure this out. I think a person purchasing an old C1 would get a better feeling of mileage on the car buy looking at the rev counter figure than the odometer figure, provided that they have been working since they left the factory and the engine is original to the car. Thanks kindly for your feedback. Jim

[David H.]

Re: Early C1 Tach rev counters

Jim

Don't think there could be an "acceptable" ratio between revolution counter and odometer.

New car, zero miles, full tank, start engine and let idle until it runs out of gas. Revolution counter goes up and miles stay put at zero.

Car used exclusively for long trips (high gear). High odometer reading with minimal revolutions count.

Might identify a race car or someone in stop and go driving.

I think the CF answer was likely. Don't have parts you need? Put a bandaid on your problem, and do the best you can with what you've got.

Dave

[Jim K.]

Re: Early C1 Tach rev counters

Thanks Dave, I can see there is no real correlation between the rev counter and the odometer. So can we safely say that the tach rev counter has no other purpose than to simply count engine revolutions ? and to be repurposed speedometer heads of course ! Cheers, Jim