speedo face

[vw_hank]

I have A 1972 super, its A euro spec car but it has A MPH speedo, and I wont A KPH one, Is there anyone making/selling Just the face plate to do this? I did A search but didn't find anything..

[DanKGMadrid]

I have exactly the same problem as of toady. I went for an MOT in Spain and failed because of the MPH speedo. I was thinking of buying a new speedo but the best option would be if some kind person is restoring their KPH speedo put in onto a scanner and took an image. Any help out there?

[glutamodo]

Does it matter that your odometer will still read miles even if you change the faceplate? If so, then you might be better off getting a KPH speedometer. Or you could get a late-model (or replacement) Beetle speedo head that has both scales on the dial. (beware though of busted-odometer-gear syndrome, very common on the later model speedo heads due to the plastic odometer drive gear they went to)

-Andy

[DanKGMadrid]

Thanks for your advice. I'm not bothered about the "miles" clocking up. Its just to pass the test. I can see your point though, could invalid any special "classic" car insurance that gives you a certain number of kilometres a year. I'd prefer to leave whats in there and just change the face.

[glutamodo]

The needles in the speedo heads from the mid 70s up can be very hard to remove without destroying them. But earlier on they aren't as bad. But you do run into the problem of getting the needle pretension set up again once you're putting it back together (important if you want it to read accurately)

In the Gallery I found this photo of a later KPH speedo head, probably not a good enough image for what you were wanting though:

[DanKGMadrid]

Thanks thats great. I'm probably going to take mine out and photograph it. A bit of photoshop to create a sort of "donut" shaped ring so that I don't have to remove the needle.

[DanKGMadrid]

Just read this thread :

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=393317&highlight=speedo+kph

Great idea the plastic clear sheet. That got to be the easiest option.

[DanKGMadrid]

Hope this helps. I'll try and print it out tommorow and let you know how it went.

The large image is here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48808081@N07/

[glutamodo]

Looks pretty good. So where did you come up with the photo or photos you used to draw that up?

-Andy

[DanKGMadrid]

Thanks. Will need some tweaking I'm sure. I took the speedo out of my beetle and photographed it. Here is the original.

I used a ruler to get the measurements straight on the photoshop document.

[Joel]

you need to match the face with the type of speedo
ie a 100mph speedo needs a 160km/h face where as the 90mph would need a 145/km/h face

keep a look out on aus ebay and i think some of europe had KM/h speedos too

they come up on ebay a fair bit here
_________________
Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[DrDarby]

I have several KPH speedometer face plates for 1972+ speedometers if anyone needs one. PM me.
_________________
Midwest Autosavers, Inc. Crystal Lake, IL

[vw_hank]

[DanKGMadrid]

[DanKGMadrid]

Well here is the first test version. I'll need to tweak it a little to fit at the top, but even if I do say so myself it looks pretty good. I'll do a decent matt colour print of the final version and if it works I'll send the post the image for whoever needs it.

Without glass in.

With glass.

I reckon it should fool the guys at the test station. I'll go rush hour.

[vw_hank]

Dude that came out grate!

[Inane Cathode]

[DanKGMadrid]

I was thinking of getting the image processed by a photo lab. On matte paper. Not sure how long that could last though!

[glutamodo]

I wonder if you can get waterproof laser shipping labels in larger sizes anymore, I've made adhesive decals on that kind of thing before, went to Kinkos and rented a computer upload my images and sent them to their best laser machine which they had set up properly to print on the label sheets I supplied them.

[pafree]