911 Speedometer rebuild quickly?

carolinatrophy · 06-21-2008, 02:12 PM

I need to get the speedometer rebuilt on my 1985 911, and both the big places I called said they are backed up and it might take as much as four weeks.

Does anyone on the boards rebuild these things? Or does anyone know where I might be able to get mine rebuilt with a bit quicker turnaround time?

In case it matters, the speedometer works fine. But the odometer recently stopped working.

Thanks in advance,

barndoor · barndoor's Garage

out of the two I would go North Hollywood. People have been having problems with Palo Alto lately........

Jack Olsen · 06-21-2008, 03:57 PM

If it's the broken odometer gear problem, which is fairly common, then there's a tech article on this site, and I'm pretty sure it's also covered in Wayne's 101 Projects book.

I think Pelican sells the replacement gear, too.

crustychief · crustychief's Garage

I always have good luck with San Diego Speedo-tach. A little far away for you though. I believe the gears are available for a Carrera but for some reason they are not for an SC?

signature65 · 06-22-2008, 09:44 AM

I pulled my 73 speedo apart following Waynes 101 book. Super easy to get apart. Once the internals were in my hand, I used a power drill to simulate the imput. Clear as day my gear had just shifted and was no longer in contact with the worm drive. Slid it over and volia. Free and easy!!!

carolinatrophy · 06-22-2008, 08:14 PM

Thanks, guys! I'm going to try to tackle it myself tomorrow night and see what happens... I'll keep you posted!

Cheers,
Paul

PCA7GGR · 06-22-2008, 08:44 PM

Even though I am within driving distance to Palo Alto, I have prefer and have had great service from North Hollywood.

ajmarton · 06-22-2008, 09:01 PM

I used NH VDO to freshen up my gauges and fix my tach and speedo gear. They did a spectacular job. I dropped everything off and got the estimate a couple of days later. Everything was ready for pick-up around 9 days later.

vreference · 09:43 PM

The gauge in your car is quite a bit different than the one Wayne covers in the Projects book. The part that fails in your gauge is a gear that is driven by the stepper-motor worm gear. It will be orange with teeth missing and you'll notice it will fall apart in your hands. You won't be able to do the repair without removing the gauge-face. The good news is that you don't have to worry about calibration like you do with the cable-driven gauges. When you are done just line the needle up with zero (with the shaft also at the "lowest"/zero position of course) - you will be dead-on accurate.

Excerpt from an article regarding needle removal:

"This is the trickiest part of the job. The needle is pressed onto a shaft that is extremely thin. It feels like a pretty tough metal, but you HAVE to be careful here. Do not pull straight up. Do not put any torque on the shaft. Rotate the speedometer needle clockwise until it hits a stop point. Gently continue to rotate the needle while lifting up gently at the same time. The friction is all that is holding the needle to the shaft. Keep turning and prying until the needle comes off. Do not force it. I don't know that that shaft assembly is user replaceable. "

I got my replacement gear for $25 I believe - search on the forum for places to get them from.

I'm still not sure if bought the right gear. The speedometer is perfect but I always forget to check the odometer VS. mile markers even 700 indicated miles since the repair!

EDIT: BTW, upon receiving my gear it must have taken me every bit of 45 minutes to make the repair. I feel bad for the guys who report waiting months for repair shops.

mdbrd · 10-21-2008, 11:11 AM

I'm in Texas. Where should I mail my odometer in North Hollywood? Not feeling real comfortable with places around here.....1991 911/964 C2

84_Carrera · 10-21-2008, 11:20 AM

www.nhspeedometer.com - ship to address is on their site. Let them know it's coming first (at least, I would). I wrote my name & phone number in Sharpie on the back of the tach housing, just in case.

Kevin just got me back my tach which was repaired in just a couple of days after receipt (I think he got it on a Thursday PM & it was out on Monday PM again...).

Tach's working great, Kevin's a great guy to work with.

ischmitz · ischmitz's Garage

NH Speedo hands down. Kevin turned around my 964 speedo in two days and did an outstanding job (new gauge face, fixed odometer, set odometer, re-surfaced glass, reconditioned housing). Great work all around.

Ingo

tcar · 10-22-2008, 08:35 AM

DeLuxe Speedometer in Denver is great. They try to do 24 hour turn around. Sometimes a little longer. Do a lot of mail business.

They're local to me. I dropped mine off at 3 PM, was ready next morning at 10 AM.

http://www.deluxespeedometer.com/index.html

3.2 CAB · 10-22-2008, 10:50 AM

I had my speedometer/odometer refurbished, serviced, and calibrated at a shop in Houston, same day service. I dropped it off that morning, and picked it up that evening. It was and still is working flawlessly. The cost was around $100.00. If any would like to know the name of the place, let me know, and I will dig out the receipt and get back with you with their info. Tony.