Petrol dip stick material

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

I have a reproduction “prima” fuel dip stick which I use with the RK. I’d like to make something similar for the special, preferably one that shows the level a bit more clearly.  Does anyone have recommendations for the best material to use?

Cheers

Howard

[Chris KC]

Usually fibreboard I think, though it's not always easy to buy the stuff in suitable size / qty.
Made mine from wood.

It's definitely worth calibrating it yourself if you plan to use in earnest as most repros are a wild approximation.

[bob46320]

I have a piece of teak (wood) in the form of a crucifix, marked off in 5 litre steps. The back of it has a magnetic strip and it attaches to the side of the steel fuel tank. Seems to have worked ok for the last 25 years or so.

[Reckless Rat]

For the RP I use a length of 3/16ths brazing rod, with grooves machined corresponding to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 gallons. I then painted the markings with some red enamel. It has a ring bent into one end and it sits unobtrusively in the driver's door pocket. Works every time.

For calibration start with an empty tank and add a gallon at a time to obtain an accurate gauge.

[Malcolm Parker]

I made a brass top same as the original and attached a length of 4mm thick MDF by small copper rivets.  I made the graduations by a small saw cut across the MDF.  The MDF darkens when dipped in the petrol which makes reading it easier.   The dipstick lives behind the N/S scuttle vent in my RL saloon.

[Dave Mann]

It is red fiber, so get a rear spring red fiber packing piece and cut it down the middle as I did decades ago.

[JohnD]

i tend to just shove a bit of what ever i can find in to see what the depth is, tends to be a bit of tree branch etc.. providing its clean enough ive never had any problems!!

[Malcolm Parker]

The benefit of having a fibre dipstick is that it imparts an 'old car' smell of petrol into the car when it is not in use!

[Steve Jones]

I've seen Malcolm's petrol dip stick and it looks the part as well as doing the job. Never been that clever myself and all mine are lengths of 10mm dowel with the graduations marked on in pencil. As I tend to lose them regularly I have the measurements written down in my Austin 'book' so making another is straight forward.

Steve

[Chris KC]

Good thought Dave but I tried to do exactly this & found nobody selling fibre spring packing pieces any more...