Odometer rebuild tips?

[Jgordon]

Just had my odometer bite the dust. I've read Wayne's 101 projects, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice from having traveled the path before me.

1. Things to watch out for?

2. good parts? I know that gear deterioration/crumbling and slippage are the most common issues. Where does one buy new gears for the ones that stripped/crumbled?

3. Anything else?

Thanks.

[964TargaC2]

Our host sells the gears..you need to carefully open yours up to find out which ones you need

See How to fix a broken odometer

[martidj]

I sent mine to North Hollywood Speedometer. $147.00

[dicklague]

Originally Posted by martidj

I sent mine to North Hollywood Speedometer. $147.00

NHS is great! They did mine too. why would you want to do your own? You end up with a funky crimp and who know if the class will crack or???

[fanaudical]

My opinion: Worst part of the whole process is getting the gauge bezel off the speedo. I very carefully "uncrimped" mine with a small flat-head screwdriver. I'm very curious to see what the pros use to do this.

[TDMPenske]

Mine broke on me a couple years ago, speedometer needle shaft is extremely fragile, once apart was able to see broken gear, upon removal of the needle the shaft broke, was able to replace the gear myself but it went to north Hollywood speedo for new shaft. In hindsight much easier to just send to NHS, once they had it about 1 week turn around, back to perfect.

[McLaren-TAG]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

My opinion: Worst part of the whole process is getting the gauge bezel off the speedo. I very carefully "uncrimped" mine with a small flat-head screwdriver. I'm very curious to see what the pros use to do this.

My advice on this one is pay the pros to get it done for you... I did my own for the gas/oil level gauge, nothing wrong with it just the haze inside that would completely fog up on humid days. Although I was able to open and close it there are lots and lots of imperfections left on the back side as it's impossible without the right equipment to do a clean job. The nicks are in the back so you don't see anything especially when they press up against the rubber sleeve but you just know they're there.

Don't know where I saw it but it was a video online where they use a machine not dissimilar to a tire machine. It bites the edge of the bezel and then spins, and does the opposite when putting it back together with a press.

[texas993]

I disagree with sending this out for repair. I did that on my 993 and it cost me $250.

I purchased the gear $25 from Zims and they provided clear instructions on how to replace the gear. Absolutely no problem at all.

Start to finish in less than one hour. If you are patient, there is little risk of breaking things. If you are heavy fisted, forget about.

The trick on removing the needle was turning it counter clockwise gently while slightly lifting. Mine came right off.

[grizzfan]

North Hollywood Speedometer +1

Tom

[ischmitz]

As others said. Sending it out gets you A-rated quality back. If you do it yourself, you will end up with a bezel that'll show the pry marks.

I did an early Tachometer myself to address a bouncy needle and it was never quite right after that. Oh well, bought another one to fix the issue.

I send out a 964 speedo to NHS to get the face plate replaced (star night effect), get the gears repaired, get the plastic lens replaced, and they set the odometer to the correct mileage of my rebuilt engine. Couldn't have been happier with the end product.

Ingo

[Josh D]

By nature, I prefer to do things myself rather than pay someone else to do it.

This was an easy fix.

[Joe Bob]

$100 at Foreign Speedometer in San Diego. While I was local, one hour turn around. The part is like 25-30 bucks. Do a Google search in your area.

These guys specialize in vintage motorcycles and dabble in Porsche. YMMV.

[Robey5]

I too hate paying others for work that I believe that I can complete on my own.

However, as I pulled apart the speedo, I realized that $147 round trip would cost me less (AND they calibrated it at that price) than attempting to put the bezel back on without bending it.

Since I was going to have to get it calibrated either way, I decided that I would be sending it to NHS.

It's back, and looks great.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by McLaren-TAG

My advice on this one is pay the pros to get it done for you... I did my own for the gas/oil level gauge, nothing wrong with it just the haze inside that would completely fog up on humid days. Although I was able to open and close it there are lots and lots of imperfections left on the back side as it's impossible without the right equipment to do a clean job. The nicks are in the back so you don't see anything especially when they press up against the rubber sleeve but you just know they're there.

Don't know where I saw it but it was a video online where they use a machine not dissimilar to a tire machine. It bites the edge of the bezel and then spins, and does the opposite when putting it back together with a press.

I did a PPI on a car once and asked the tech to pull the speedo to look for any tampering (boogered bezel). The problem with finding one that has been opened up on someone's kitchen table without the right tools is you have to wonder if the mileage is correct.

[Joe Bob]

Pretty hard to roll these back. I had one that was boogered and tried with a dental pick....no joy.

[aschen]

Originally Posted by Josh D

By nature, I prefer to do things myself rather than pay someone else to do it.

This was an easy fix.

I think that describes alot of us here! Even if it costs more to do it myself, I dont mind as long as I learn something.

I had my ODO fixed at palo alto speedo about 15 years ago. A short time later it broke again. I dont think they replaced the gear I think something else was wrong. The second time I opened it up myself and fixed it. The 25$ for the tiny plastic gear is a bit silly.

Because this board is awesome, I found a tutorial that made it pretty easy. I like this type of job because you can do it on your kitchen table without getting too dirty. I found that some of the mechanism wires were a bit short to comfortably reassemble them into the case. I soldered in some extentions that made reassembly a snap.

[VW_NUTT]

I just replaced my gear in my 84.Not a big deal at all. I didn't get it from our host as the shipping to good old Canada was I believe $37 for a $20 part. Went on ebay and got one for $21 and $5 shipping . Sorry Pelican I cant support you with your crazy shipping up here. I have ordered in the past but it hurts the wallet to get the stuff with duty , tax and freight

[RedRoseRomer]

Does anybody know what sort of signal comes into the Speedometer unit so that I might be able to test it without driving along in the car?

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by RedRoseRomer

Does anybody know what sort of signal comes into the Speedometer unit so that I might be able to test it without driving along in the car?

There is a reed switch back in the differential that closes to ground when one of the eight magnets are near it. 8 pulses per revolution of the tire.

[TheSt|G]

Did it myself as well. It is mostly a case of patience/taking your time. The only real downside is I made the mistake of cleaning the glass while I was in there. Now I have one extremely clean gauge and a bunch of noticeably dirtier ones.

*Edit* No visible damage to the bezel either. You really would have to be ham fisting it to get such results.