Help with '56 Speedometer
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 151
Likes: 14
Help with '56 Speedometer
We are deep into a total, frame-off restoration of my '56 Panel Truck, and are trying to tie up all the loose ends before re-assembly time. One problem I had was the speedometer made a lot of noise at anything over 10 MPH. I want to open up the instrument panel and replace what's worn.
We want to take care not to damage anything so I'm asking for advise as to how to take it apart. It looks to be held together only by the tabs through slots. We can also see 5 places where the outer housing is crimped to hold the back housing in place. Do we bend back the crimped places and strighten the tabs?
I've got over a hundred photos at:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/drt_boy/my_photos
of the project and progress to date. We are just about ready to remove the body.
Thanks for any help from those who've been there.
DB
We want to take care not to damage anything so I'm asking for advise as to how to take it apart. It looks to be held together only by the tabs through slots. We can also see 5 places where the outer housing is crimped to hold the back housing in place. Do we bend back the crimped places and strighten the tabs?
I've got over a hundred photos at:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/drt_boy/my_photos
of the project and progress to date. We are just about ready to remove the body.
Thanks for any help from those who've been there.
DB
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,813
Likes: 6
From: Connecticut
Yes, you have it right as far as disassembly. I have restored alot of those and you have to bend the tabs up to disassemble it. If it's making noise, you can try to lube the speedo drive. On the back where the cable goes on, there's a small brass plug near the threaded portion. Remove it carefully. Put some 3 in 1 oil or equivalent in the hole. There's a felt wick in there. Take a drill and hook the cable back on and clamp the drill to the other end. Run the drill in REVERSE only. See if it quiets down. If not the speedo head needs work. The gears in there are notorious for going bad. Make sure you put that plug back in. You can find these on Ebay used. Look in your local phone book for a speedo shop. They can repair or replace the gears if they're bad.
Barry
50 F-1
Barry
50 F-1
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 151
Likes: 14
Thanks barry,
We kind of guessed that little brass cap was a lubrication point. Thanks so much for the information, we will try lubricating it tomorrow. If that doesn't work we may farm the job out rather than do it ourselves; we've got a lot of sand blasting to do!
Thanks again,
DB
We kind of guessed that little brass cap was a lubrication point. Thanks so much for the information, we will try lubricating it tomorrow. If that doesn't work we may farm the job out rather than do it ourselves; we've got a lot of sand blasting to do!
Thanks again,
DB
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 376
Likes: 0
Hi, That panel is BEAUTIFUL, Love the color and the stock appreciation. The speedo cables I've messed with twisted in very carefully. I cleaned all the rust and buildup from the flex cable and housing with WD-40, blew it off and lubed it all with white grease. Quiet as a church mouse with no problems. Good Luck dylan1952
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 151
Likes: 14
We lubed the speedo head and after a few turns it started feeling a lot smoother, now it's smooth as silk! Only took a few drops of lube.
We are polishing the rust and dirt off of all the heater/defroster cables and I have a new speedo cable. Will probably gravity feed oil through the heater cables (old dirt biker trick) to give them a good lube. I don't think the emergency brake cable can be saved and will probably go with a new one.
Thanks for the help, guys.
DB
We are polishing the rust and dirt off of all the heater/defroster cables and I have a new speedo cable. Will probably gravity feed oil through the heater cables (old dirt biker trick) to give them a good lube. I don't think the emergency brake cable can be saved and will probably go with a new one.
Thanks for the help, guys.
DB
