My stock oil pressure gauge failed a few years back and I had a hard time finding a replacement so my mechanic installed a new gauge above the HVAC controls. I like the gauge but the color does not match the rest of the vehicle and it never gives a great read. I just bought a new gauge today that will look a lot better and after I was all prepped to install it I realized it was mechanical and not electric like my previous one.
I read that it is pretty easy to swap to mechanical from electric but from what I can see of the sending unit there is nowhere to add the line and send to the gauge. So what is the process? FYI, I am not extremely engine savvy, I can do the basics on a car ie bleed breaks, change oil etc. but taking apart a carb or the throttle linkage and all is far above my head.
So is this something I can easily do on my own or should I get a professional?

 

The mechanical sender is tapped into the oil somewhere, likely in the spot the OE sending unit was located near the distributor. Use that spot. If not, T in a fitting.

Good move getting rid of the mechanical gauge, if it ever fails it will mess up your car real bad. The electrical ones may not be as accurate, but it will be plenty good enough.

 

Or the oil gallery port above the oil filter

 

sorry for the misunderstanding but I am trying to install a mechanical one haha. I found the OE sending unit but from what little I can see there is no hoses. I might just try to find a similar gauge but with electrical because I have the wires all available where I need them and something is bound to fail and an electrical short is easier to fix compared to oil in the car.

 

Because the OE unit is electrical

 

damn alright, well there is no need for me to be pulling this all apart for a gauge, that's just asking for trouble, thanks for the help everybody!

 

my email shows you posted more but I can't see it on the message boards. it shows;

Here is the message that has just been posted:
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---Quote (Originally by Dabesiv)---
I found the OE sending unit but from what little I can see there is no hoses.
---End Quote---
Because the OE unit is electrical
Be aware there is also a oil pressure switch that runs the fuel pump.
If your engine has 2 units , can replace the one wire unit with your new
sender.
If you have a single unit with 3 wires then that has to stay in place and you
will need a T to fit the new sender
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I have a single unit (looks like an elongated D) coming off the top of the block next to the distributor with 1 wire which goes strait to the current gauge. Not sure if this is some different setup because of age or model (not the first time that's happened to me) or if I just have something very weird going on. I'm thinking I might just do the mechanical since I have the parts available and I trust my plumbing abilities enough.

 

No idea why you got that ,
I posted that info before I remembered you don't have a EFI car it relates to so you only have the 1 wire gauge sender

 

Odd, but it seems to have helped a bit either way. So with the single wire sender am I ok with removing it entirely and just installing the brass adapter to run to the mechanical instead? I honestly don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

 

never mind, I installed it last night, thing works like a charm and looks a lot better than the old one