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Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:37 pm

ive seen the different ones in there or on ebay before. As long as the speedo cable hooks up and the wiring and bulb holders are relativity the same and of course it bolts to stock mounts i dont really care what it looks like. Its a hacked up baja so it doesnt need to be a exact stock 69 speedo. I like the super speedos they look kinda cool

Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:46 pm

The odometer calibration is "hard-wired" into the gearing, and that did change.... early ones had a W0.80 ratio. Then it went up to W0.82, then to W 0.825. The larger the number, the smaller the tire for the odometer to be accurate. I'd avoid the later 825 ratio ones, as they have that plastic odometer gear that fails. The 1968 is my favorite, early style graphics with the fuel gauge. (I think the 69-71 speedometer graphics to be ugly as hell)

Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:50 pm

glutamodo wrote: The odometer calibration is "hard-wired" into the gearing, and that did change.... early ones had a W0.80 ratio. Then it went up to W0.82, then to W 0.825. The larger the number, the smaller the tire for the odometer to be accurate. I'd avoid the later 825 ratio ones, as they have that plastic odometer gear that fails. The 1968 is my favorite, early style graphics with the fuel gauge. (I think the 69-71 speedometer graphics to be ugly as hell) Agreed.

Thu May 03, 2012 8:47 am

All right, so let's talk needles. After removing the needle there is the brass disc with splines on it. How does that come off the needle shaft so the face can be removed? I grabbed it with a pair of pliers and pulled but got no movement.

Thu May 03, 2012 10:20 am

Face on my guage had a hole big enough to come off around the splined brass wheel...

Might be a later model though.

Thu May 03, 2012 11:55 am

The one I've tried is a '68, but I've looked at a '64, '69 and a '70 and none of them have big enough holes to remove the face around that brass disc.

Thu May 03, 2012 1:17 pm

From this other speedometer thread in the 58-67 forum, I mentioned the same thing.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=327535

glutamodo wrote: To get it off - I first tried pulling on it with some pliers, but it didn't budge and I didn't want to dig into it hard with the pliers. So I got a smaller set of diagonal pliers, and put them under it, and used them to pry up on it, and it popped off.

Fri May 04, 2012 9:20 am

I don't know how I ever missed that thread, Andy. Amazing. I thought I had already gone through every speedometer thread on the site over the years. This one you linked should give me every detail I could possibly need.

Thanks again!

Fri May 04, 2012 10:56 am

You're welcome. That's funny that you hadn't run across that other thread. I think I stuck a link to that one somewhere in this thread previously even.

I later thought about fully taking apart the 1974 speedometer with the cracked gear from this thread, and even started to at one point, but that needle was really really on there, it didn't really have the same sort of brass carrier under the needle, and I utterly destroyed that needle gettng it off. That stopped me, because if this is typical I can't be suggesting other people do it too.

-Andy

Fri May 04, 2012 6:03 pm

Maybe it was just oversight on my part.

So far, even with your method I haven't been able to pull it off yet. Thinking of soaking it with some penetrating oil before trying again. I don't want to damage the face trying to manhandle That bushing.

Fri May 04, 2012 6:16 pm

I think I might have used some wood under the diagonal pliers to get leverage... I've got a bag of "craft sticks" (basically, popsicle sticks) that come in handy for that kind of thing.

Fri May 04, 2012 8:59 pm

Good suggestion. I'll give it a try.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:10 am

here's a how2 on rebuilding a vw speedometer, it doesn't cover every variation but a lot of stuff is common :
http://dragonflypower.com/VWspeedometerHow2.htm

Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:24 pm

Seeing as how I am going to be taking apart a speedometer soon to replace the gels along with a clean and lube (needle is bouncy at lower speeds). Is there anything to clean the face of the speedometer with other then a soft dry cloth, or is there a cleaner that wont take the lettering or black off the face of the speedometer?

Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:30 pm

There is no cleaner that won't take off the ink. I tested just a wet microfiber cloth in an inconspicuous area and it started to take off the ink. I just ran the face under lukewarm water to get rid of any dust, then blew off the face with canned air to dry it off/remove any lint from the cloth. Works great.

Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:45 pm

'69Custom wrote: The one I've tried is a '68, but I've looked at a '64, '69 and a '70 and none of them have big enough holes to remove the face around that brass disc.

I had my own way to handle that. I figured if I ever did get the brass disc off the shaft I likely couldn't get it back on without bending the shaft.

What I did was bag the whole speedometer except for a little hole for the brass disc and shaft to poke through. I took 2 pieces of masking tape and slit each one, sliding the slit around the shaft below the disc and taping it to the bag (each one from the opposite direction.) That sealed up the speedometer body from what I did next.

I trimmed the disc diameter down with a fine cut-off wheel on a Dremel. The needle only needs a small base as the sides of the brass shaft secure the needle. The new smaller base cleared the face. I reassembled mine without the silver painted center disc, leaving a chrome center.

Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:15 pm

19-VW-74 wrote: There is no cleaner that won't take off the ink. I tested just a wet microfiber cloth in an inconspicuous area and it started to take off the ink. I just ran the face under lukewarm water to get rid of any dust, then blew off the face with canned air to dry it off/remove any lint from the cloth. Works great.

I am confused.... a wet microfiber (with water?) took off the color but running it under warm water did not?

Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:16 am

RA 70 wrote: 19-VW-74 wrote: There is no cleaner that won't take off the ink. I tested just a wet microfiber cloth in an inconspicuous area and it started to take off the ink. I just ran the face under lukewarm water to get rid of any dust, then blew off the face with canned air to dry it off/remove any lint from the cloth. Works great.

I am confused.... a wet microfiber (with water?) took off the color but running it under warm water did not? Any cloth, wet or dry, will produce some friction and take away with it any of the oxidized paint on the surface. Running water won't, necessarily, although I don't see the benefit.

Someone once told me he used diluted Windex to clean up his. It looked great afterward. That was a late model face, by the way. Personally I don't trust the ammonia content so I've considered trying an ammonia-free glass cleaner. Still, whatever oxidation does come off could smear into the other colors and create a nice mess.

Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:19 am

EVfun wrote: '69Custom wrote: The one I've tried is a '68, but I've looked at a '64, '69 and a '70 and none of them have big enough holes to remove the face around that brass disc.

I had my own way to handle that. I figured if I ever did get the brass disc off the shaft I likely couldn't get it back on without bending the shaft.

What I did was bag the whole speedometer except for a little hole for the brass disc and shaft to poke through. I took 2 pieces of masking tape and slit each one, sliding the slit around the shaft below the disc and taping it to the bag (each one from the opposite direction.) That sealed up the speedometer body from what I did next.

I trimmed the disc diameter down with a fine cut-off wheel on a Dremel. The needle only needs a small base as the sides of the brass shaft secure the needle. The new smaller base cleared the face. I reassembled mine without the silver painted center disc, leaving a chrome center. Tht is an interesting idea all the way around. I don't mind going drastic considering what I have planned... I'll give it a look, but I haven't given up on the prying method just yet. I'd rather do a complete disassembly under the circumstances.

Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:55 pm

Excellent thread! My odometer stopped once..had it repaired...but who knows if I'll need this thread down the road. Thank you!