When I stopped by my local self-service yard to photograph the Crusher-bound '49 Ford on Friday, I discovered that I'd walked into Half Price Weekend. Might as well do some shopping!

The usual crowds of grimly determined men were plucking engines from minivans, of course, but I wasn't interested in minivans.

Now that I'm applying the lessons learned during Race Car Wiring Hell to my Personal Hell Project, I figured I could just rig up any old 4-cylinder junkyard tachometer in the scrap-aluminum dash I'm fabricating. I had this perfectly serviceable late-70s Volvo 240 unit that came with one of the free parts cars we obtained for the Black Metal V8olvo, but it's only about 3" in diameter and- well, let's face it, that Volvo emblem wasn't quite sporty enough for my sports car.

As you can see from my under-construction wiring harness and fusebox, this project is all about image, because I am truly an image consultant at heart. So when I spotted a Fiat 124 Spider with a nice Veglia tach still in place, I grabbed it.

On Half Price Day, you can score any tach in the yard for $3.01 out the door, including all the Rip-U-Off™ fees and taxes that magically appear during the transaction. When I saw the long line, I hesitated, but an Italian tachometer in a Japanese-engine-powered British car would be just so right that I decided to wait it out.

I haven't tested my new find yet, but there's no way such a passionate, soulful gauge could refuse to function!

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.