Much Marcle Vintage (pics)
Discussion
Lovely little M type Double 12 
Great pictures of lovely cars, but I'm intrigued by a shot of a fuel gauge, which seems to be calibrated in inches. Was that a common way measuring fuel in your tank? Every tank, of course, probably has different dimensions, so you can't simply take that measurement as being common from car to car. Did people also measure their consumption in miles per inch? Now there's complicated! Any information would be gratefully received and apologies if this is slightly off-topic.
The 'inch' gauges are very often used on boats...
Basically inside the fuel tank, you have a vertical tube which the fuel rises up, this creates a certain amount of air pressure in the top of the tube, and provides a reading to the gauge. Car manufacturers would purchase a pre-calibrated gauge, so in that case a 12 inch gauge. You might not necessarily have a 12 inch fuel tank, but say for instance you had a 20 gallon tank, and when full the gauge rose up to 10 inches, then you know that for every inch on the gauge, you have two gallons of fuel.
Basically inside the fuel tank, you have a vertical tube which the fuel rises up, this creates a certain amount of air pressure in the top of the tube, and provides a reading to the gauge. Car manufacturers would purchase a pre-calibrated gauge, so in that case a 12 inch gauge. You might not necessarily have a 12 inch fuel tank, but say for instance you had a 20 gallon tank, and when full the gauge rose up to 10 inches, then you know that for every inch on the gauge, you have two gallons of fuel.
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff