60-E61 Low Horse tach

[Loren L.]

Found a tach at a garage;turned freely, but faded face and scratched lens. White #s, two shades of green on the marker to the red line.
Checked out the past stories on tach and the variations and decided the above was my new tach. Repeated the exploration with someone from Corvette Specialties of MD, who I was told were the current suppliers of the new faces.
Made the order - face, lens and gasket arrived - and so did the problem. I got one where the fianl red line is fire orange (couldn't tell what my original colors were) but the word "TACH' was also in Fire Orange - on the ORIGINAL FACE "TACH" IS IN WHITE.
Two e-mails, one to the seller and one to the author of one of the stories - after two weeks they both remain UNANSWERED, so here we are.
Thoughts?

[Howard M.]

Re: 60-E61 Low Horse tach

Loren:
The original "TACH" on my 230 horse '60 is fire orange. All the faces shown in the corvette central catalog also have fire orange "TACH". Could the one you found have been so badly faded that all the color was gone?

[Loren L.]

Re: 60-E61 Low Horse tach

Howard:
First, is there any chance that your car was restored before you bought it; ie, it has a new face from Corv Spcl. of MD?
Second, through a magnifying glass, I cannot detect any difference between "TACH" and the "R.P.M. in 100s" just above, which is ALSO white on the new face.
Perhaps I'm more bothered by the lack of response to me e-mail that questioned what they had sent - the world is used to non-responses from some vendors - I was not aware of the possibility that CS/MD might be in that group.

[Howard M.]

Re: 60-E61 Low Horse tach

Loren:
I am the second owner of the car and did the refurb myself. The tach was original and had been repaired in 1968. Some investigation using Adams Vol 1, pg 251 & 252, indicates that my tach is apparently an early 60 although the car was built early Feb '60 (VIN 3978). The lower picture on pg 251 shows the tach but conflicts with the description of a 60 base tach on pg 252 (Noland say's the full range is 6000 rpm). It does say however that the "TACH" is fire orange. My tach has pale green to 2000 rpm, darker green to 5000 rpm, then the yellow and red warning bands and goes to 7000 rpm. The numbers are white as is the "rpm in 100's"(Noland say's they should be light green). The "TACH" was faded red before refurb. Not sure if there is an absolutely correct configuration since parts were grabbed at random during assy and changes made during the model year without knowing an effectivity date or VIN #.

[Loren L.]

Re: 60-E61 Low Horse tach

Thanks Howard.
I've heard from Corv Specialties and am now convinced that the face supplied is correct. I have no idea where this thing has been laying for the past ___ years. Guy at the garage sale had NEVER owned a Corvette, said he didn't know what it was for and the price was right.