BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim MegaDork
5/12/24 12:21 p.m.

Both my a/c 911 and the Rollerskate have speedometers that need attention. The 911's has the usual broken odometer, and while I know what the problem is and that it theoretically only requires a couple of new gears, speedometers are full of pingberkeleyits so I'd rather not dabble in them.

The Rollerskate has a VDO that's apparently notorious for breaking and as part of the attempt to diagnose the non-working speedo, I need to get it looked at and overhauled.

I'm aware of Palo Alto speedometer, but is there anybody the assembled multitude can recommend closer to the East Coast?

Trent
Trent PowerDork
5/12/24 1:08 p.m.

After 14 years of gauge repair, I send gauges to either Palo Alto if I have to be on my schedule or Mo-ma in Albuquerque if I can work with their schedule. Every other shop hasn't worked out. Dick's speedometer repair in Texas has been super hit and miss for us, but there have been a few times they saved the day.

With gauge repair it is the old time, money, quality pick any two thing.

cabbagecop
cabbagecop Reader
5/12/24 2:05 p.m.

Check with:

Joe's Speedometer (address: 6704 Tampa Ave, Reseda, CA 91335, phone: 818-468-4414; email: joespeedometer@gmail.com)
 

I had him do a full restoration of a Veglia speedometer for a Moto Guzzi last year and it turned out amazing. I know he does other brands too. 

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
5/12/24 2:17 p.m.

We used Mo-ma at work a few times.

Just don't be in a hurry.

Woody (Forum Supportum)
Woody (Forum Supportum) MegaDork
5/12/24 2:51 p.m.

I used North Hollywood speedometer for my 911.

https://www.nhspeedometer.com

We are North Hollywood Speedometer, your oldest VDO Warehouse Distributor in the U.S.A. Our specialty is with European made instruments from: Motor Meter, Veigel and VDO, commonly found on Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, Rolls Royce, Saab and Volvo. Veglia Borletti and Jaeger gauges found on Ferrari, Lamborghini, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and others. British Smiths Gauges found on Jaguar, Rolls Royce, and Bentley , to name a few.

We work on most Vintage American gauges.

We perform Concourse Restorations,ConversionsCalibration and Customization of your gauges, Concourse level restoration of speedometers, tachometer, clocks and automotive gauges.

For over 65 Years our Porsche Department has specialized in 356, 911, 924, 928, 930, 944, 993, 996 models. We are also specialized in many other models such as Mercedes Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, VW, including, Vintage and Specialty vehicles.

Slippery
Slippery PowerDork
5/12/24 3:28 p.m.
StilettoSS
StilettoSS New Reader
5/12/24 5:31 p.m.

Classic Instruments

http://classicinstruments.com/

 

Beautiful work and will do customizations and restorations. Might be pricey, not sure what the 'going rate' is for this sort of thing.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn MegaDork
5/12/24 5:37 p.m.

If it's just the odometer not working, there are little plastic gears inside the speedometer that deteriorate over time and the teeth fall off.  You can get quality replacement gears from https://www.odometergears.com .  They come with good instructions and are pretty easy to install, I've replaced them in both my old BMWs.  Once you have the gauges out of the car and on the bench, it's about a half hour job.

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim MegaDork
5/12/24 8:12 p.m.

In reply to stuart in mn :

I don't trust myself to carefully removing the bezel and with the assembly/disassembly, especially in my current stressed state.

If it was from a cheaper car than my Carrera 3.2 I'd probably give it a shot.

The VDO speedo on the Maxton needs to be serviced by someone who knows older VDO gauges as they seem to generally have internal issues that stop them from working (and in my case, likely also stripped the gears at the gearbox end).

As I have to send the Maxton unit to someone who knows what they're doing anyway, I figured I'll chuck the 911 speedo in as well...

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim MegaDork
5/12/24 8:16 p.m.

Thanks for all the recommendations, that gives me a few additional people to call.

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia UberDork
5/13/24 1:38 p.m.

are you only going to fix the odometer  and not change the face or outer ring ?

Or are you going to change it to a 200mph etc?

If its just the gears I am sure that VDO  has "factory" authorized  shops that can do the simple repairs all over the country , 

If you were changing the MPH range then North Hollywood or Palo Alto probably have the artwork for new faces , 

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim MegaDork
5/13/24 2:14 p.m.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Please note that I'm talking about two different speedometers:

  • The 911 one needs to have the gears for the odometer replaced
  • The Maxton Rollerskate speedo (also VDO, discontinued, rare etc) needs to be gone through as it likely has an unspecified issue that results in breakage of the Rube Goldberg devices that drive the speedo, thus rendering it completely inoperable.

It's the second speedo that needs the real TLC, and I figured that if I have to send it off, I might as well include the 911 speedo in the box.

A lot of people in this forum have experience with these sort of services so instead of picking someone at random - authorized or not - I figured I'd probably be in a better place if I asked for recommendations here first.

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