Anybody have a source for "new" Rochester fuel gages for a '56 170B??
I stupidly purchased a mechanical gage from Aircraft Spruce which looked the same but it will not fit in the tank when I cut the float arm short enough to achieve the proper needle range. I like the gage, but it will not work for me . (Incidently, I suggest anyone else seeking a fuel gage for 170 NOT use the Aircraft Spruce unit unless they have a better idea of how to install it.
Suggestions/comments/ideas will be much appreciated.
chuck
What about L19 fuel gauges? Will they work? This is strictly a shot in the dark as I have no idea what sort of tanks the L19 has, but the gauges look similar.
Chuck, did you compare the new gauges to the removed gauges before cutting the float arm? Will not your old float arms fit the new gauges?
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
Multiple problems surfaced in this effort. First the gear ratios are different forcing one to use a shorter arm on the "replacement" gage. Stated differently, the float has to describe a larger arc to get the full range of the indicator. And as for using the "Old" arm, the rod diameter is smaller on the old indicator compared to the replacement indicator. Also, the length of the "Tube" extending from the side of the tank that mounts the indicator makes it difficult to remove and replace the indicator.
Don't know about the L-19 Indicators.....can you suggest a source for these so I can inquire??
thanks again,
chuck
Check with Air Repair. They rebuild/restore L-19s. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe the L19 has the same fuel capacity - 42 gal total/21 per side. Don't know if the tanks are exactly the same. Again, this is a shot in the dark, but it can't hurt to check it out.
doug8082a wrote:Check with Air Repair. They rebuild/restore L-19s. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe the L19 has the same fuel capacity - 42 gal total/21 per side. Don't know if the tanks are exactly the same. Again, this is a shot in the dark, but it can't hurt to check it out.
I have heard of several 170's out there with L-19 wings as a way to increase available fuel, although I can't find any data to support the fact that any L-19's had more fuel capacity than 170's. Perhaps there were examples of both.
The 170's tanks are rectangular in planform, where the "L-19 tanks" I've heard of are L-shaped, a portion of the tank extending into the next outboard rib bay taking total capacity to somewhere around 50 gallons. In any case, the L-19 and 170 tanks are the same depth, so a fuel gauge that works in an L-19 should work in a 170.
Miles
Miles
“I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.”
— Thomas Browne
cessna170bdriver wrote:[There are several 170's out there with L-19 wings as a way to increase available fuel. ... I believe L-19 capacity is in the neighborhood of 50 gallons total. The 170's tanks are rectangular in planform, where the L-19 tanks are L-shaped, a portion of the tank extending into the next outboard rib bay.
There are several that you know about besides mine Miles? I'd be curious who.?
BTW to the best of my knowledge I only have 21 gal tanks in each of my wings. Maybe I should look closer at them.
A quick look on the International Bird Dog Association web site says they only had 41 gal. of fuel. Perhaps later models had bigger tanks.
CAUTION - My forum posts may be worth what you paid for them!
Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
Email: brucefenster at gmail.com
N9149A wrote:There are several that you know about besides mine Miles? I'd be curious who.?
BTW to the best of my knowledge I only have 21 gal tanks in each of my wings. Maybe I should look closer at them.
A quick look on the International Bird Dog Association web site says they only had 41 gal. of fuel. Perhaps later models had bigger tanks.
I checked the birddog site also, therefore my reservation as to whether the higher capacity is actually the case. Somewhere in the 23 years since the 170 and I crossed paths, I've heard of larger tanks being installed in 170's, as well as complete wings from another model with larger tanks being bolted onto a 170, but no recollection as to who had done it. Are there L-shaped Cessna tanks out there from some other model that may have been fitted to a 170? I very well could be thinking of the Cessna 175.
In any case, the tanks being the same depth, the gauges "should" work.
Miles
Miles
“I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.”
— Thomas Browne
I installed new Fuel Quanity gauges back in January of 2000, I bought the gauges from Aircraft Spruce. I recall having to bend the float wire to about a 45 degree angle to its original position in order to feed the float through the tank opening. The gauges indicate properly evan with the bend in the wire.
I have had my fuel tanks enlarged by Del-Air. They are now L shaped, (just like Cessna long range tanks) hold 51 gallons (I used to have a 4 hour bladder) usable and the fuel gauges are still accurate as the depth of the tanks did not change.
John E. Barrett
aka. Johneb
Sent from my "Cray Super Computer"
Miles, you might be thinking of the 175. Several 170s have been modified with 175 wings/tanks. But the 175 used electric gauges, so the tanks would require modification for the mechanical gauges...or the airplane would require modification to the electric ones.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
I have a set of C-175 wings in my hangar that I modified by welding a set of mechanical gage bosses in. This was copied from an airplane that had been approved on a 337 by the FUZZ. Sadly, after a relatively expensive modification I found another C-170 with C-175 wings using the electric gages. I still haven't installed the wings with the 52 gallon tank system.
Oh well, someday, maybe. After all, it's only money.
I have a copy of the Yingling aircraft Fuel Tank modification drawing.
the drawing number is Y300
Titled
25 gallon fuel tank instal. for cessna 170a
Dated 3-18-50
The part # on the wing is changed to y-300 and y-300-1
Fuel capacity 60 Gallons
Usable fuel 50 Gallons
No change is noted in regard to the fuel quantity gauge.
I've visited with Rochester, the mfr of those gauges (and heir to the original Scott PMA.) Those gauges are almost identical to those slightly modified for official replacement for Cessna, but which cost many times more.
Careful alteration of the arm can make it into an excellent look-alike replacement.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
A thousand pardons, George, but unable to comprehend what you writ. Would you be so kind as to "splain dat one mo time for this mentally challenged feller" ?? Thanks, chuck
purchased a mechanical gage from Aircraft Spruce which looked the same but it will not fit in the tank when I cut the float arm short 
enough to achieve the proper needle range. I like the gage, but it will not work for me 
. (Incidently, I suggest anyone else seeking a fuel gage for 170 NOT use the Aircraft Spruce unit unless they have a better idea of how to install it.
will be much appreciated.
?? Thanks, chuck