1968 Ghia speedometer (KPH or MPH)

[udo dreisoerner]

[kiwighia68]

I'm still waiting for a reply from the sellers, Udo. Too soon to celebrate.

Nice photo of your wife and your Ghia - summer in Germany? My visits were to Hamburg and Lübeck - very cold for me, even in summer. But the Ghia's heating system works well, eh? And it helps to have a pretty girl in the passenger seat.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[c21darrel]

[kiwighia68]

I'm still waiting for the sellers of the KPH speedometer to answer my email.

In the meantime; all my fiddling with my MPH speedometer has got it back to working again. I wound a piece of silk thread around and into the small gap between the rotating part (where the screwdriver points) and its housing to stop the rotatingpart from moving deeper into the housing. Lots of lubricant and it's working again.

But I still want the KPH one from Germany.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[John Moxon]

I think it would be easier to lobby NZ Parliament to go back to MPH Chris.
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John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
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[kiwighia68]

[kiwighia68]

After all of Udo's efforts and two letters to the sellers I have not yet received any reply from them. One letter via email plus a notice on there website.

In the meantime, I'm going to paste model aeroplane decals on the glass of my MPH speedometer at the appropriate intervals. I have smaller wheels than standard on the front, so 80KPH appears at 55 MPH and 100KPH at about 70MPH on the dial.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[udo dreisoerner]

[udo dreisoerner]

i have send kirsten a email that you are waiting. hope that she go in contact now with you...
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Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[kiwighia68]

[sputnick60]

Most readers like a happy ending and Chris, I'm sure you are going to be pleased looking at an instrument calibrated in SI units. ( Systeme International)

Although not as rare as '68 , for my '66 I also have preference for metric. However, for me it wasn't one of the last things to do. I did it first. I found a year correct NOS metric speedo date stamped 4-66 well before I settled on my particular Ghia. It seems like a precursor that set fate in motion for the '66 finding me.

You mention calibration. I went through the process of calibrating my speedo against a GPS. I drove to a GPS speed and recorded the indicated speed. I also drove to a particular indicated speed and recorded the GPS speed. I did this several times throughout the speed range to get numerous data points. I charted that in Excell ( or you could use graph paper) . I found that the error wasn't linear. At slow speeds the speedo read low and at higher speeds read higher.

I noted that that speedo did not lift off the end stop at the lowest part of the range and that effectively was an offset to the position the needle should take. I could use that to my advantage to make the instrument read as correctly as possible.

To "calibrate" I set up a adjustable drill, a stroboscope and the speedo. I could use the strobe to accurately determine the RPM for a given indicated speed. From my earlier measurements I knew the GPS speed that RPM would correspond to. I lifted the needle off the shaft and put it back on with a slight amount extra rotation. I had to check & repeat a few times till I got the right indicated value.

The "target" value I chose to set the drill rotation was an indicated speed that gave the least amount of real speed error at the top and bottom of the range. I also considered that a slight bit of over reading was probably OK at higher speeds given how RADAR happy the constabulary are in these parts.


Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[kiwighia68]

Hi Nicholas,

I'm glad to meet someone who is as fussy about getting his Ghia exactly to his liking as I am. I've driven a sufficient number of ACVWs to "know" the speed at various engine revs and sounds, so I don't need to go as far as you have to get absolutely accurate speedometer readings.

In these parts the cops allow a 9% excess over the speed limit before they prosecute. That's good enough for me, as I have no desire or need to exceed 55KPH in a 50KPH zone or 109KPH on the open road where the limit is 100KPH.

That said: My Ghia feels just right for relaxing driving at about 100KPH. (My Porsche 911 felt just right at 160-180KPH. Reactive. Safe. No strain on the engine.)
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

Update:

I was able to pay for the KPH speedometer this morning (it's called a Tachometer in German).

Now the wait.
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[kiwighia68]

Some days are just better than others. Today is a way-better day.

While I was out - taking a grandchild to a dance class, trimming the hedge at my tennis club and doing shopping for my wife - the postman delivered a parcel for me.

Thanks exclusively to Udo Dreisoerner's efforts. Thanks Udo, I owe you a big favour.

After 5 years of searching for a KPH speedometer when I was ready to give up, all it took was a PM to Udo, and voilà, here it is.

The speedo looks like it's been refurbished too. In near new condition.

(I think we can add www.tristar-connection.de to our sources of rare Karmann Ghia parts.)
_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[sputnick60]

Hmmm Tristar connection? There's Ghia Connection as well.. It looks like Lars Neuffer is expanding his interests. Good on him!

Use Google translate to read the "About Us" tab and it reveals the connection is real. ( couldn't resist that )

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[c21darrel]

Congrats Kiwi, very nice and long time coming. What is the red marking between 40 and 60 KPH?
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[kiwighia68]

[rhd914]

Hi, i was told that red line was indicating suburban speed limits in Germany, i could be wrong. I am quite often.....
But i have seen it on other German cars.
Thanks
Geoff

[kiwighia68]

[kiwighia68]

The end of this thread, I think:

Old and new together:

As installed:

_________________
Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015