The odometer in my 55 F-350 did not work when I bought it. The tenths digit went around but the other digits did not move. I bought a used one on ebay a while back and finally went to work this weekend on fixing everything. I found out why. There was a chip on number 4 and I think a piece was preventing the other digits to turn.

And of course it did't go easy. I found out there were a lot of differences between my 55 speedometer head and the one I bought. Go to this thread to read about and look at pictures of the differences: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...fferences.html

And after I struggled to get a working odometer in my speedo I had to touch up the whole instrument panel. I painted the needles cleaned the glass, and painted the trim that Ford argent color.

Before:


After pic on the bench:


After pic in the dash:


The speedo face is not in the best of shape, a bit of surface rust. So if I find a better one I might replace it. But I must keep in mind, as my wife reminds me, "this is your work truck, don't go spending a lot of money making this one perfect!" But of course I got a check for $1,100 for the damage to the door when some guy backed into me and my body man said he can fix it for $600 so I might as well use the rest of that money to paint the rest of the truck. Right?

 

Looks good!

 

Glad you like it Joe. I remember when I posted pictures of the truck from Craigslist before I bought it, you commented that if it was restored like the PO said then why didn't he paint the needles. So I was thinking of you when I was doing it.

 

Good work Abe. Looks great

 

It's the details that make the difference...and this detail is beautiful. Nice work Abe.

 

That did come out great!

 

Yes, I am pleased. I am thinking now about pulling out the instrument panel in my 54 and redoing that one. The needles are good, the paint in the inside is good, but there is dirt or a broken bulb piece inside the panel and the trim got scratched up putting it back in place. I removed it and replaced it by going under the dash. I learned last week that it comes out the hole in the dash and is easier and less likely to get scratched by inserting the same way.