The odometer on my 55 F350 did not work when I bought it. The tenths digit worked but the other digits did not. Several weeks ago I bought another instrument panel on eBay to use the odometer in case I couldn't fix mine.

Yesterday I pulled out my instrument panel. I could not believe the differences in the two instrument panels. I had done the same with my 54 about 16 years ago. The original speedo in my 54 didn't work so I got another and put it in no problem. The two speedometers were the same. The good one fit into the original instrument panel.

I don't know what year this panel came from but apparently 1955 speedos are different from 53-55 speedos. See the differences.

The one in my 55 does not have that fuse or breaker thing on it. Anyone know why?




Mores pictures later, I got to eat supper.

 

The round thing that spins in the speedo head is smaller on the 55. The 55 is on the left. The worm gear on the 55 speedo is longer also.

 

The bottom of the needles are different. The 55 is on the left.

 

The round thing that spins is higher on the 55.



But as I went to put the back piece on the speedo head, I noticed the screws were in a different location. And as you can see the hole is larger and now I don't think the speedo cable may not fit. Will have to check that out tomorrow.



So I may have to put the original nonworking odometer back in my speedo. They are so different I can not just replace the odometers. The way they are held in place is different and the gear is larger (or smaller, I'm not sure) on one than the other. If this doesn't work I will have to find a 55 speedometer I guess.

I also painted the needles red. And of course I am painting the surround trim argent. Pictures when it is done.
Here is a pic after I painted the needle on one of the gauges. I used my wife's acrylic paints from her craft stuff. The paint is called Red Light. This needle I didn't paint the whole needle. The paint matches perfectly.

 

I just got home and sprayed the final coat on the trim. I looked at the two speedo heads. They are the same size. Whew!

 

I also had to take the red 'jewel' at the high beam indicator light from my original speedo and tape it onto the one I put into my instrument panel.

 

FAD-17255-C .. Speedometer Head / Obsolete

1953/55 all trucks except P350/500 Parcel Delivery.

1956 F100/600 model 84 Open Drive-Away (no cab or windshield).

1956 C500/600.

 

But Bill, why are they so different? They do look the same when in the instrument panel, but so different on the inside. Were they made by a different subcontractor?

 

As far as the circuit breaker goes, I cannot even guess why it might have been removed or possibly replaced with fuses. That circuit breaker only protects the lighting circuits. It's kind of nice having a circuit breaker that can reset. Presumably, if it trips or the fuses blow, it will be at night when the headlights are on. Fumbling around to install a new fuse in the dark sounds like no fun at all. I'd much rather wait for a circuit breaker to reset (cool down). In any case, I believe that the headlight circuits tap off the 30 amp breaker and all the rest tap off the 15 amp breaker. (Note: at least, this is how my '53 F100 with 215 and 6-volt positive ground is wired).
While on the subject of instrument clusters: I am going to replace my speedo cable. I am still uncertain about exactly how the cable is routed from the dash to the tranny. (I have the basic 3-speed transmission). Any advice with regard to this would be appreciated.

 

Abe, I am not sure about the differences in your years but I had the same thing happen to me when working with some 48 thru 50 speedometer heads. I bought some from Ebay as well to exchange out some speedometer/odometer parts and found out that Ford used different vendors in the same years and the internal parts were not interchangeable. From the outside they look identical and fit the same cluster but internally they are different. I talked with a speedometer shop guy and he confirmed this and even told me which vendor had the more durable unit.

 

That is what I thought. I wonder if it is by year or if it by the area of the country the Ford assembly plant was located?

Can anyone else chime in about the lack of the breaker on my instrument panel?

 

I have no idea why there are different speedometers, unless the one you bought is for a car.

This is the only picture of the instrument cluster, 12258 is the circuit breaker.

FDA-12258-A .. Circuit Breaker & Bracket - Has (1) 15 amp and (1) 30 amp circuit breakers / Obsolete ~ 6 available NOS

Misc. 1948/54 trucks / 1951/54 Ford Passenger Cars.

 

Thanks, Bill. No, the one I bought is for a 53-55 truck as seen in the pictures in posts 2, 3, and 4.

If there is not circuit breaker on mine then what happens if there is an overload or a short. A few weeks ago I had a bare wire going to my tail light and my parking lights were flashing on and off and the battery gauge that shows charge and discharge had teh needle jumping quickly back and forth.