[chris.817]

Thanks guys. Lessons learned. What I found was the needle was hitting the inside of the glass. Totally disasembled again (pretty easy the second time...), found the issue, back together and I'm golden to include being within one MPH of my GPS!!!

Now my lessons.

1. Diagram the hardware, number and bag. Of the six screws on the back, four are sheet metal screws, two are machine screws. Three phillips head, three slot.

2. Remove the needle with the twisting approach... So much easier and not a big deal.

3. The needle goes back on much easier than it came off and it doesn't go on very far.

4. The needle shaft is tiny. So tiny I thought I had broken it initially because I had to put glasses on to see it.

5. When you put the mechanism back in the case, make sure the wires, etc do not get bound up. My problem ultimately was that the mechanism was not sitting flat in the case. Looking at the face it should have an even gap around the perimeter to the case. Clue one for me.

6. When it's fixed leave the face off, connect it and test it. The bezel is the real pain for the project and you don't want to do it twice like I did.

7. With the face on, press against it and roll guage in your hand to ensure the needle is moving freely. This would have been clue two for me.

8. Small needle nose work well to flatten the bexel edge before putting it back on. Just run around like you're opening a can or whatever.

9. Take your time flattening the bezel back on. Assume in advance that's it's going to be chewed up a bit but it gets covered by the rubber grommet.

Thanks so much for the original post. There is a link at odometergears.com. These guys are great to deal with. I had my gear in 36 hours (they are only 30 miles away). They also sent me the next size gear in case and that's the one I actually needed! I guess they get that a lot.

Hope a couple of these "gotchas" will help the next reader.