DIY Aetna Tach Bezels 5" -4"

dtfeld

Water Contrails
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Jun 5, 2016
5,519
Milton, GA
Boat Info
410 Sundancer
2001
12" Axiom and 9" Axiom+ MFD
Engines
Cat 3126 V-Drives
Converting old 5" Teleflex tachs (diesel) to a new Aetna LCD. Different hole sizes, so I needed a custom bezel.

Cut a 5" and a 4-1/4" disk from 1/4" plywood, sanded the edges. Used a 1/4" bolt to center them on each other and glued together.

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Cut the center hole to 3-1/4" to accept the Aetna.

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Used some 1" aluminum bar stock to make a backing bracket. Used Aetna backing bracket as a template to drill mounting holes and bent the legs at 4-1/2" with the legs at 1" tall.

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I'll dry fit tomorrow. Hopefully drop right in. If so a little stain and poly will finish them.
 
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That looks awesome. Nice. And I had no idea we made such things right here in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Good stuff.
 
Fit is a little loose, but it will work. Now for a little stain

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Why the double stack of wood? Why didn't you just cut a hole in the larger disc and call it done?
 
Why the double stack of wood? Why didn't you just cut a hole in the larger disc and call it done?

I wanted a self centering feature, and I initially was going to screw tabs into the back to hold it in place before I found the aluminum stock and bent new brackets. It was a work in progress.
 
I wanted a self centering feature, and I initially was going to screw tabs into the back to hold it in place before I found the aluminum stock and bent new brackets. It was a work in progress.
Good idea. Turned out great.
 
Converting old 5" Teleflex tachs (diesel) to a new Aetna LCD. Different hole sizes, so I needed a custom bezel.

Cut a 5" and a 4-1/4" disk from 1/4" plywood, sanded the edges. Used a 1/4" bolt to center them on each other and glued together.

View attachment 77540

Cut the center hole to 3-1/4" to accept the Aetna.

View attachment 77541 View attachment 77542

Used some 1" aluminum bar stock to make a backing bracket. Used Aetna backing bracket as a template to drill mounting holes and bent the legs at 4-1/2" with the legs at 1" tall.

View attachment 77544 View attachment 77543

I'll dry fit tomorrow. Hopefully drop right in. If so a little stain and poly will finish them.

Great Job! Nice Work! As far as the Aetna gauges you can't beat them. I put them in back in April they work great.
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Installed. I think this will do for a while. New dash panels are on my wish list, but still trying to decide if I want to update the analog gauges or replace with a N2K system with digital displays.

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Installed. I think this will do for a while. New dash panels are on my wish list, but still trying to decide if I want to update the analog gauges or replace with a N2K system with digital displays.

View attachment 77778

Those look Great!

I checked out the Aetna website. Looks like there are a lot of tachs to choose from. How would I know which ones to purchase? I have all mechanical 6BTA Cummins engines.

My stock tachs have hour meters on them. One of the hour meters stopped working a few hundred hours ago. Both of the tachs bounce around after about 20 minutes of running. I looked for replacements but they are no longer available (VDO). I don't know if the tachs are bad or if its the sensor, ground or something else.
 
Those look Great!

I checked out the Aetna website. Looks like there are a lot of tachs to choose from. How would I know which ones to purchase? I have all mechanical 6BTA Cummins engines.

My stock tachs have hour meters on them. One of the hour meters stopped working a few hundred hours ago. Both of the tachs bounce around after about 20 minutes of running. I looked for replacements but they are no longer available (VDO). I don't know if the tachs are bad or if its the sensor, ground or something else.
This is the one for your engines, with polished bezel. If you want black bezel then you could chose that one as well.
 

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Those look Great!

I checked out the Aetna website. Looks like there are a lot of tachs to choose from. How would I know which ones to purchase? I have all mechanical 6BTA Cummins engines.

My stock tachs have hour meters on them. One of the hour meters stopped working a few hundred hours ago. Both of the tachs bounce around after about 20 minutes of running. I looked for replacements but they are no longer available (VDO). I don't know if the tachs are bad or if its the sensor, ground or something else.
You can call them and speak with tec support they were very helpful!
 

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