Next Speedo Restoration...

[kb0nly]

Ok i know you guys have been waiting for me to get around to this... I now have the perfect candidate to take apart, document it, and repair it. I have the excellent replacement knobs and parts from jeswinehart and so here is where we begin.. The face on this one is actually pretty decent, a little sun fading but not too bad compared to the last one i did.









She's pretty beat up, but i got the stuff to fix her up. The grommet for the trip odometer reset shaft is there just pushed in, the knob is broken off but the shaft isn't that bent and i have replacements ready, so it should look good when its done! I will document it and take pictures along the way! It might take a day or two inbetween updates, but i will detail what i do on it.

[jeswinehart]

Oh wow, that is in rough shape ! Yep. looking forward to this alright.

[kb0nly]

Its rough but thankfully its just the front ring that is dinged up, the can is in good shape and the mechanics seem to work, i spun it up with a drill and a chunk of an old speedo cable that i cut the end off of, the cable was frayed and split in a few spots but it makes a good test adapter.

I will probably do some teardown later.

[userj8670]

Cant wait to see this. You should start tearing into the tach's for the 350x's as well. I have one that needs a new case (which i believe to be plastic), a grommet that goes in the back of the 'can' and the wiring harness (jumper wire that connects from the coil to the tach).

[kb0nly]

Teardown is complete....

First thing you need to do is get that front ring off. I like to start with a skinny screwdriver and pry on the rolled over edge to start it, once its started a larger screwdriver works better and just work your way around slowly.



Now that you got the ring off be careful with the needle.



Now to get the needle off, it has to be removed to access the rest of the guts. I found the best tool for this was something from the junk bin, this is a computer case slot filler, for unused slots on the back of the computer case, it fits perfectly under the needle. Make sure its fully under the brass bushing of the needle then just pry on it slightly, making sure your using one of the face screws under it for leverage so you don't damage the face, it will pop off, and maybe even scare the heck out of you when it does, but it will pop off with some patience.



Now one thing with this particular unit, the knob was broken off and missing, so we won't be documenting the removal of the knob. However, the knob is pressed and glued onto the shaft, you will have to force it off as i have done before. Its a major pain. And now that jeswinehart is reproducing these knobs i would suggest you just try to get the knob off without damage to the shaft and dont worry about replacing the knob with a new one if you have to. On this one all i had to do was remove the grommet around the trip odometer shaft and what was left of the knob. The knob has to be completely removed because the grommet won't slide off otherwise.



So here we are, knob, face, needle, grommet, all removed.



Next step, removing the guts... I don't mess with the trip odometer reset shaft that the knob goes on, i just make it come out by creating some wiggle room. Remove the two screws from the back, then look at the trip reset shaft and you will see a small black plastic keeper on the frame where the shaft sits, take a small screwdriver and pop that piece off and make sure you don't lose it. Now you can move the shaft against the spring a little more til it clears the frame edge then slide it down a bit, see the pictures. Once its in that position it gives you enough movement to remove the guts from the case and slide it out.



The face on this one is pretty nice actually, only a little bit of fading, a light cleaning and it will look nice.



I cleaned up the can, lightly sanded, prepped, and painted. Waiting for it to dry and i will get back to it and document more in the next day or so. The mechanism seems to be working fine, needs a little cleaning and some lubrication but otherwise its fine.

[atc350xer]

Could we get those more common Canadian KM/H models and use the faces you're getting redone on them?

[kb0nly]

Sure you could, not sure if they would be calibrated correctly though.. I would think since they usually just put a dual face on most modern speedo's that it could be done, but not sure on accuracy.

This one i am just re-using the original face, it was nice enough it didnt need replacement.

[kb0nly]

Got a little more done today. Paint was dry, i reinstalled the guts into the can.



Then i installed the grommet for the trip odometer reset and also the new knob. Thanks to the reproduction of these knobs you can work on them without fear of breaking an irreplaceable knob.



Then i reinstalled the face, just two screws, then i carefully put the needle back on and set it on zero. Its a little fiddly, you have to push it on without turning the shaft and it turns easy, use a light touch and set it on the pin let it settle make sure its on zero then press it straight down with a little pressure on it, it won't pop or snap into place, just apply a little pressure and it will wedge it on tight.



And thats where i am for now! Getting ready for the next step to close it back up, probably won't be today, maybe tomorrow evening.

[dustrunner]

great job... cant wait to see the finished product......

[userj8670]

looking outstanding!

[Stonewall]

Just curious, is there any particular reason you didn't reset the total mileage? Or is that not possible?

[kb0nly]

I could have taken the main counter apart and reset it, but this is what i call a "working restoration" making a beat up speedo useable again. I don't like to reset them to zero, thats, well, fake... I mean it adds to its experience. Now if your going to build like a museum quality rebuild and everything is new then i could see zero'ing the clock so to speak, but otherwise i don't feel its necessary.

That speedometer did over 1200 miles before needing repair, it will be fun to see it hit another 1200 miles!

[kb0nly]

Ok so here we go, spent another couple hours on it today and its looking nice! First thing i had to do was clean up a new piece of glass, the original had a chip and a small crack starting on one edge where it got dented. After cleaning up the new piece of glass and arranging the glass, rubber seal, and the trim ring together i put it on the front of the speedo. Then i use an aluminum rod with a little tape around it to try and help minimize scratches to the new paint on the can and a rubber mallet to tap the edge down a bit at a time.



There you have it! Repaired, cleaned, painted, and ready to be used. Final step is to just double check its operation which only took a second with a cordless drill and the adapter i made from an old cable. Spins right up, works great!

The original had a black ring, this one is a chrome ring that i got from jeswinehart, he straightened it after removing it from another speedo. The planned owner of this speedo wanted it to be left chrome and not painted, his choice, and so thats how it was done!

I also have some custom aluminum pieces that jeswinehart had made for reassembly of speedo's and tach's of this size as well. I will showcase them on an upcoming build! Here are some teaser pictures..

[userj8670]

how many hours would you say that you have into this speedo?

[kb0nly]

Oh... Three hours maybe of actual work time. This one wasn't bad, the guts just needed a light cleaning and a little grease on the factory spots so everything runs smoothly, i have had worse that required a full teardown of the guts to clean, polish, grease, all the moving parts. They become a real pain if you have to go that far.

Now if it was going for more of a show restore i would have pulled it apart further, replaced or cleaned the sun faded white number dials and did a little more polishing and buffing, etc.. LOL