I bought my new sending unit from Inline Tube's eBay store (which claims it's just overstock). I wasn't very impressed. The float position was way off (see photos), the fuel pipe is angled so it's not perpendicular to the tank which made it difficult to slide the small piece of fuel line on without a kink, and I would have liked a new boot for the sending unit wire (I had to make my own out of a rubber vacuum port cap).
But it works and that's what matters.

Old unit on the left. Even the new rheostat is a little higher (on right).

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After bending (new unit on left in this pic)

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The new float also sits much higher...
The old float
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And the new...
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While I had the tank out I slopped on some Rust-Oleum and went ahead and painted the diff and axle. The tank was in great shape with just some surface rust here and there and the inside was very clean, other than some metal [what looks like] flashing. About three pieces the size of my thumbnail.

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I filled up this morning and here are the results:

1. Due to a gas can malfunction I'm not sure exactly how much fuel I added before driving to the gas station. I'm estimating just under two gallons.
2. The needle starting moving up from "E" after adding two gallons so I'm estimating that I have three gallons in reserve when the gauge reads "E". (I was tempted to sit at the pump and wait for the car to run out but there were people waiting).
3. After squeezing in as much fuel as I could without spillage, the gauge was one mark short of "F" (actually between the last two marks).
4. But when I hit the road, the gauge came up to "F" but no more.
5. So; needle at "F" when full, three gallons in reserve when on "E". Yup, i'm satisfied

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the writeup. Very helpful as I'll be doing a similar task in the near future.

Mike

 

Thanks brother. I try to give back where I can. If I had it to do again, I'd probably go with the cheap eBay (not Inline Tube) unit and save a few bucks. But I didn't want to wait for shipping from California.
I forgot to mention in my post; my original sending unit turned out to be fine. It was the ground wire. It felt like an overcooked chicken wing

 

As the fuel level drops let us know how much fluctuation you get as the tank empties, ie coming to stops, turning corners, up hills and down hills.

 

Will do

 

So driving around town and roughly 1500 miles to Niagara Falls and back, I saw very little fluctuation of the needle. Only once did it jump up and down after some very rough RR tracks with the tank at about 1/4. My needle reads about 1/8th of a tank down when full, I have 10 gallons at half, and three gallons when empty. Works for me.

 

As most fuel gauges of that era, we all just get used to how the one works in our car and adapt our habits.

 

That's much safer than having three gallons left when it reads 1/4 full... Sounds like it's working out well. I'll be curious to see how mine works when it's on the road. I also bought the fuel sender from ILT but didn't experiment as much with mock ups as you did.

 

I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but man -- I wish I had your problem.

I can't buy a sending unit for my 1962 Super 88. I've been spending my free time for the past week trying to get a crusty/rusty old piece of junk working again, because there's nothing available to replace it. If I could buy a sending unit and all I had to do was tweak a bend here and there, then I'd be one happy camper.

 

Bob? Why don't you contact DVAP and ask if they have one for you? Their inventory is likely in better shape than your oem part is. I just looked at their inventory for 1962 Oldsmobile and they appear to have a good number of 88's there. I don't know if the Starfire also used the same sender, but it's very likely the same? Here's a link to that site if you're interested. Desert Valley Auto Parts

 

Yeah man, I was sorry to read that when I came across your thread. I started cleaning up my old unit after removal and suddenly thought "what the heck am I doing?!".
Follow Allan's advice and see what you come up with.

 

Any idea of the brand ILT sells? Spectra Premium or something else? Is it a stainless steel sending unit?

What I noticed on one I bought (not from ILT though), the pick up tube in the tank sits higher than the factory sending unit. Not to mention the feed and return pipes from the sending unit switched sides compared to the factory unit. I'm going to look at getting my original rebuilt/restored

 

It's stainless, not sure of the brand. Here's a link to the listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200935344420...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

As I said earlier in this thread, I was a little disappointed in the match. Inlet tube angled incorrectly, float was way off, etc. But it's working so it's ancient history as far as I'm concerned, lol.