67-72 Electric speedo

[eagleuh1]

Thanks Eric, got the kit in the mail last night. Now gotta get some descent weather and a day off at the same time to find me a donor speedo at the yards. Jim

[ls1nova71]

Ok guys, here's the long over due 'how-to' write up. This is going to take a while to do since I can't type, and making the parts and photographing the steps then putting it all on here is time consuming. So here's the first installment.

First up is the tools I used to do all this.



This is what you'll start with.



Cut out the template and trace it on to a piece of 22 gauge sheet metal.



Cut it out.



Cut out the middle, I did this with a cut off wheel and a die grinder.



Should look like this.



Cut out the holes and drill the 3 small mounting holes.



Make sure the speedo fits it, you may have to do some trimming for a nice fit.



Back side



Put the template in the back tin and mark what needs to be cut out.





Cut it out.

[ls1nova71]

Next we'll move on to the face. I can't stress enough here how important it is to TAKE YOUR TIME, and make sure it's positioned correctly.

Start by pulling the whole S-10 face off the clear plastic part, it comes off easily.



Then cut out the center hole in the speedo decal, I use an X-Acto knife for this.



Center the decal on the S-10 face, on the back side center the small hole in the larger hole.



Then make a mark at the 50mph mark on the S-10 face, and the 60mph on the new decal, and tape it on so it doesn't move.



Make sure it's centered side to side also, and tape the top as shown.





With it taped in position, carefully flip it up, and peel just the backing off the sticker. Make sure that the S-10 face is CLEAN, any dirt under the sticker will leave bumps in it, you don't want that.



Then starting at the top and working your way down, slowly press it on, working out any bubbles as you go. Don't try to put the whole sticker on at once.



Once it's on, carefully remove the backing, Don't pull straight up as that will lift the sticker, pull back on it's self, flush with the face. Go slow!



Once off it should look like this, notice it's centered in the old numbers on the old face.



Using a BRAND NEW X-Acto knife blade, carefully cut out just the odometer holes, DO NOT cut the center hole out any more. Just the weight of the blade should be enough, any more pressure and you run the risk of cutting into the S-10 face. I didn't have a new blade, so in the pics it isn't done yet, but this gives you an idea.



Then just cut out the speedometer face.



Put it on the clear plastic part and mark where it needs to be cut.



Then cut the clear plastic part, it should look like this when done.



This is all I have at the moment, in the next couple of days I'll be posting more.

[eagleuh1]

Thanks for the time and effort to show us how its done. Hope to get to mine soon. Jim

[FL71StepSide]

So... are there anymore kits available? I just found this thread.

Nice looking Install and great idea!

I have a 71 I'm doing a LQ9/4L60E swap into that could really use this mod!

-Brent

[jjzepplin]

Then cut the clear plastic part, it should look like this when done.





How are you guys cutting this clear plastic out?

[ls1nova71]

I usually use an air powered cut off wheel then sand the edges with a DA sander, but those tin snips in the background should work.