47-55.1 Speedometer

[Matt_50]

I want to eventually buy nice gauges. But that's a lot of money. So in the meantime I have a triple gauge set and my phone can be a speedometer.

But I need an odometer to get an inspection and I can't find my old one anywhere.


Does anyone have a sad old speedometer I can slap some new stickers on? I did find a glass so if the glass is broken that's ok.

[mr48chev]

good freaking grief. half of the odometers in these trucks haven't worked for 40 years anyhow.

Some phone apps have odometer readings

If Broomhilda still worked I'd send her to you to use to get past inspection. One of those small GPS map things for cars that plugs into the lighter. You might even have one that works tucked away in a drawer somewhere.

[Matt_50]

I have an old GPS in a drawer lol

But yea unless I'm wrong I need an odometer. They don't have to know it doesn't work bit I need something installed there.

[Steeveedee]

Considering that the mileage of your truck may exceed the limits of a factory-installed odometer, I'm laughably confused at the requirement. We went back and forth with our insurance company when they asked for a mileage reading on the truck. They have a bunch of young people working there that don't know that the odometer only has five places plus the decimal on these old vehicles. It really confused them when the truck was driven about 5k miles in 5 years.

[Matt_50]

How does it work when you get new gauges? Do they just go with it and put in a new number on the paperwork? Brand new would just put you at zero.

[leegreen]

I got a 3 1/2 inch GPS speedometer that has an odometer off Amazon for $85 Canadian and stuck it inside an old trashed speedo housing

that will be an odometer with 00000 showing until you drive it, but it is an odometer

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0755HF5H8
full disclosure: it is installed and appears to work, but I have not driven with it yet

[Matt_50]

I've looked at a couple of these. I could use gauges like this until I eventually want to spend the cash on the nicer gauge sets. Just another reason to get a old speedometer so I can put one inside it lol. I could do the same with the gauge cluster too. Fit a couple of smaller gauges in it or something. Maybe rpm.

[leegreen]

We are in the same situation but I had a trashy set of AD gauges as well as a nice set. Nice set, when I get 'round toit' will be redone to be driven by stepper motors.

This is the old rusty set, cluster has modern/cheap gauges beheaded and put in from the back, lit with red LEDs in center. Speedo is the one I linked, plus turn, hibeam indicators and I added a ign/alt light since this picture.

you do destroy the original housing doing this

[Matt_50]

You were able to fit 4 dismantled gauges into the original cluster to work with original faces?

I played with this idea once. I didn't think I could do more than 3 and I wouldn't be able to use the faces. Maybe I should revisit this and find both of these.

[leegreen]

Original faces: No, I had to create and print my own. I switched to volts, original was D-C for current. The typical 2" aftermarket gauges sweep clockwise where the original AD temp and press were CC so those needed redoing too. I tried to get the smaller number you see in each gauge face to be at the 'normal' for my engine.
Everything you see was just printed on a laser, plain paper, coulda/shoulda printed it on some stiff plastic, but this was just a make-do solution.
I could share a png or xcf file of the faces if you wanted to go this route, but you'd probably need to modify to suit your gauges.

Physically you have to cut the top off each gauge, cut a matching hole into the back of the original cluster and then insert each gauge the appropriate depth so the needles are all in the plain of the original gauge faces. 3 of my gauges were tin houses so they got tack welded. One was plastic so it is just gooped in place with epoxy. All 4 gauges were different depth. The end result is quite functional but getting there was fiddly.

If you buy gauges for this look for ones with the right amount of sweep, tin housing and electric senders. My temp gauge has the original style sensor on tube which is a hassle to work with and the mentioned plastic housing was also a hassle. But I was using gauges I had on hand during covid.

I never took any pictures from the back, but I could stick my phone behind the dash and get something.

If you mount intact gauges under glass more like I did the Speedo you will only fit three. But you can get some small digital Volt meters: you might fit 3 round gauges with a volt readout in center.

[mr48chev]

I've bought several small speedometers the size of the one Leegreen has in his dash for pocket change at swap meets over the years. Some read 80 mph and some read 120 or 160. You could have found one at the Pate swapmeet last weekend pretty easily.

[leegreen]

Mine reads to 120KMH, about 75mph. If my 250 can even push it any faster than that I wont be looking at the gauges.

[Hcb3200]

Matt_50

I would check that rullng on odometer.
I don't see it in the texas code for inspection.
Funnier still is
you can in fact have 1 that right 1 tail light for anything under 1959 according to rules.

Also it looks like all titles and inspections have odometer exections for 10 and 20 years depending on how you read it.

Do like a friend did put the old one on set it to the model year and never hook it up. It always read 1956. lol

[mr48chev]

Texas has a couple of different inspections. The annual ( I guess they still have it) state safety inspection that you have to go in and have your vehcle looked over by a licensed state inspector. That can be at a gas station, dealership, or service garage. Level of thoughness varies. Mostly they check your lights, wipers, your tires and check the aim on your lights. The good is that you don't meet many cars on the road with cockeyed headlights like you do in a lot of states.

When I built my T bucket in the 70's I took it down to a local gas station and had him do the safety inspection and then took the receipt to the DMV office to show that it had passed inspection with two photos of the car. That was in 1974 so things are a bit different now than then.

Texas has a pretty straight forward build a vehicle from pieces application. https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/default/...les/VTR-61.pdf

Very simply documentation is everything there. Bills of sale, receipts from wrecking yards, invoices from Ebay or other online purchases, Copy of the title to a donor rig that you bought for parts and harvested parts off that might be the S-10 a guy buys and uses the chassis, motor and trans. Bill of sale, copy of the title and the papers from the scrap yard when you hauled the leftovers in if you gave them the title. Their whole deal is that you acquired the parts legally.
The rebuilt statement reads the same https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/default/...les/VTR-61.pdf

Some forms wouldn't come up when I went through the list.

[Matt_50]

Leegreen, I liked your speedometer in the old housing so I thought I'd try it with my 3 gauges.

Only have the three so I dont know if 4 would work. But these are 2 inch gauges and its a tight fit.

Its too bad I can't find the trim piece for this gauge cluster. All I have is this back piece and the glass lol.

Fingers are still crossed ill find a sad set thats needs TLC.

[leegreen]

I wonder if you could fit 4 in if you cut a plate to sit just on top of the dash cutout? That way the edges of the gauges could be slightly further out from center.

but a fuel gauge is hardly essential!

[leegreen]

I found a picture of the back side of the speedo install


you have to cut the back out of the old housing and add sheet metal at the right depth to hold the gauges behind the glass. I jut tacked that in, you can see one spot weld near the camera where my paint coverage was poor

[Matt_50]

Ha! Yea I'll need a fuel gauge for sure.