67 Barracuda oil pressure gauge

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Bobacuda

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Spinning the oil pump with a drill, then rotating the crank about 3”, then spinning the oil pump some more. I’m doing this by myself.

I can turn the key on, spin the pump, and the OP gauge is now moving. I can tell because the pressure is bleeding down when I get out from under the hood and look at the gauge.

Which leads to the question, “What do the increments on the OP gauge mean in pounds of oil pressure?
 
I dont have an answer to your direct question, BUT I would not trust 50 yr old gauges. We have our factory gauges installed, BUT a set of AutoMeter triple gauges mounted under dash. Oil psi, coolant temp and volts. We mounted them under the dash and look perfect.
Get an aftermarket oil gauge and hook up under hood to verify.
Good luck.
Bobacuda said:
Spinning the oil pump with a drill, then rotating the crank about 3”, then spinning the oil pump some more. I’m doing this by myself.

I can turn the key on, spin the pump, and the OP gauge is now moving. I can tell because the pressure is bleeding down when I get out from under the hood and look at the gauge.

Which leads to the question, “What do the increments on the OP gauge mean in pounds of oil pressure?
Click to expand...
 
I have always seen the factory gauge as relative, varies from car to car. In my initial test (new engine) I run a mechanical, once I'm happy and selected my oil I put the OEM back in and note the marks in similar conditions, usually the same day, same test runs.


Alan
 
And I forgot to include photo
C88B5D5E-1005-4809-BE3B-25E6D0ACF1E7.jpeg
 
55EE6E56-7D34-47E6-B091-DD1BACCE0036.jpeg
Got my wife to take a photo while I ran the drill. Does this look OK?

BTW, if this was a Mopar flathead-6, I would have this figured out.
 
4spdragtop said:
I dont have an answer to your direct question, BUT I would not trust 50 yr old gauges. We have our factory gauges installed, BUT a set of AutoMeter triple gauges mounted under dash. Oil psi, coolant temp and volts. We mounted them under the dash and look perfect.
Get an aftermarket oil gauge and hook up under hood to verify.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Even when they were new, the factory oil pressure gauges were inadequate. They are I believe bi-metallic gauges that move the needle through heat in the bimetallic coil. They were and are so slow acting that by the time the gauge notes a loss in oil pressure your engine is toast. I've always run a mechanical oil gauge as a supplement to the factory oil gauge. Water temp too, just because it tells you actual numbers, which the factory gauge does not.

20210530_092702 (2).jpg
 
Looks on low side to me, but it's not an accurate gauge/sender. For what they cost get a mechanical aftermarket gauge just for testing purposes .
Dash looks good tho!:thumbsup:
Bobacuda said:
View attachment 1715918892 Got my wife to take a photo while I ran the drill. Does this look OK?

BTW, if this was a Mopar flathead-6, I would have this figured out.
Click to expand...
 
Info from a Dadsbee post in 2018 about testing an oil pressure sending unit .
“40 psi = 31 ohms.
60psi = 26 ohms
80 psi = 19 ohms”

With the drill, I’m getting close to 18 ohms. As I read this, oil pressure is not a problem.
 
It sounds like your oil pressure is fine but I agree with going to mechanical gauges ASAP.

When I was first driving my 69 Barracuda home after buying it the factory temperature gauge was almost pegged to hot. I actually stopped at a service garage to make sure everything was okay (false reading). Switching to mechanical gauges showed 185 degrees which is the rating of the thermostat installed.
 
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