Noob needs answers: Can this speedo be resurrected? How costly would you estimate said resurrection to be? Who, if anyone, is capable of performing said resurrection? Am I wasting my time? What are this weeks Power Ball numbers please (in advance of course)? Is it possible to buy a 300kph speedo for under $500 anywhere!? Should I bin it and retain the 180kph speedo 'coz my driving skills suck and will crash & die before I exceed that rate of travel anyway? Obligatory photos of PITA speedo:
I have posted on your other post regarding this but just to refresh, I am actually a electronics tech, and used to fix all manner of things including the odd cluster for auto elecs, I have just recently ressurected my own speedo that never worked when I got, I had to dissassemble it all and resolder all sus joints and a few more. If you want to freight it to me I'm happy to have a look, maybe a small fee but just happy to help out. PM me if you get stuck
ZOMG! I'ma break out my Bette Midler "Wind beneath my wings" album, you just might get myself, boombox raised high above my head, standing out the front of your house if you can fix this unit! I'ma PM you asap... Oh yeah Hidds, I've been driving around for the last few hours in my local town/city(?) - Port Augusta - to every automotive service around and no one, I mean absolutely NO ONE can fix or knows of any service provider who can fix it, locally or Adelaide... very relieved to get back and see dangas' post. O'le, I'ma dancin' a jiggly wiggly! :br:
You dont need an auto electrician. YOU NEED AN INSTRUMENT MAKER. I got my 300klm/hr face stainless background, all fitted, calibrated, cluster face polished for $70. Looked like new. Dont know why people pull stuff apart they know nothing about and are unlikely to be able to fix. BTW If that speedo is rooted. I have another 280klm/hr cluster here I wanna sell http://www.whitepages.com.au/busSearch.do?subscriberName=instrument&location=Adelaide+SA heaps of them in adelaide.
Um... well, thank you for that, it's a big help. I was about to PM dingas but I genuinely am grateful to know about the professional instrumentation people. As for why I pulled things apart, it was just a simple speedo swap, thats as far as I went. Found out that the speedo does not work, replaced with original 180kph unit, all is fine. The 280kph unit appears to be on the blink, hence why I asked about professional help, I'm sorry that my tinkering offends you. It's not like I live anywhere near civilization and so if I don't have a go then sh!t will never get upgraded/fixed. I wish I lived near a horde of very adept, knowledgable Z experts that I could hit up, but that is just a dream. I'm it, so please pardon my foibles.
there used to be a member Can't remember who though, that used to do 300kmh faces for $20. No kidding bought mine with about $3 worth of resistors and I think a cap was needed to. (can't remember it was so long ago) And all you need is someone with an oscilloscope (instrument fitter) I paid a 6 pack from memory and it is perfect. I think that was done in 04. So might be worth trying to find one. Oh just to be clear it was a 180 converted to 300. Came with instructions to
Its not that, I would estimate that there has been 20-30 clusters screwed up by guys on here fiddling with them. I am an electronic tech by trade and even I wouldnt attempt to remove dials etc etc out of a cluster unless I had a spare. Instrument clusters are a really sensitive instruments. ITS LIKE TRYING TO DO SURGERY ON SOMEONE WHEN YOU ARE A PLUMBER. Without the right tools or very little knowledge its a disaster looking for something to happen. As I said for the price, these guys can fix most issues and save you from pulling your hair out.
Tekky would you still have details on the place that did your cluster? Im getting another cluster coming in from Japan and would like to fit it and calibrated. If you can find details it would be much appreacited. Thanks in advance.
Ringwood Speedometer Service Instruments--General - Mitcham, VIC 693 Whitehorse Rd, Mitcham VIC 3132, Australia (03) 9874 2260
With all due respect, as I mentioned I am also a tech and in a country town we don't have the luxury of specialists so all the car yards, autoelecs etc bring their clusters and other electronic gear to us to be repaired, I'm not saying I've fixed them all but I haven't made one worse yet. As a tech here we work on all sorts of things even computer controlled equipment on tractors and machinery, of course you have to be bloody careful but as a tech that should be natural, and I'd be willing to bet when the bloke that puts the dials and needles on the front of the clusters has an electronic problem in the board he sends it to a tech to fix that part, theres probably quite a few people involved in the making of a speedo from start to finish, thats my experience anyway.
Word of caution to anyone that opens speedo's... don't touch the black face as the special 'paint' (?) is designed to show finger prints. So, it's like your neighbours 15 year old daughter... no touchy!
lol this is great, and no I would not try surgery (yes I am / was a plumber) but I also have dismantled and rebuilt speedo clusters in the past, I put a 280kmph cluster in my 280zx and a full custom cluster in my n13 pulsar/astra which included fabricating a custom fuel gauge. in my defence I have been playing with electronics since I was 10, so about 25 years (+ a couple)
All valubale info, thank you very much to everyone! I'm heading to Adelaide on Friday (for Soundwave, that will make it twice I've seen MAIDEN in 9 days!) so I will drop it in to an instrument specialist, as per Tek's recommendation. Not brushing you off there dangas, it's just a matter of convenience. ...just wished you'd posted about 6 hours earlier Vader Once again, thank you all for the valued feedback regarding this issue.
No worries Roadeater, Good luck and I hope you get it sorted. I don't disagree with Tekky, its not for the faint hearted, but in my experience I've learnt a lot by having a go myself, I guess theres a lot of people in this forum that never thought they would rebuild motors and tackle all the issues that can arise in Zed but thats half the fun of owning one. Cheers
Oh I HAD fingerprints until a few hours ago, when I put down a cup of coffee next to the fingerprinted speedo face, then abruptly knocked the coffee over said speedo face ... the funny thing is, the spilled hot coffee made the fingerprints dissappear and now you wouldn't know anything had happened at all! ... yup, I worry myself too ...
