So if any of you are going the stock look and using the decals for the odometer, here's what happened to me. Many years ago, I pulled my gauges and completely reworked them. They had the Chevy black and white face plates, and for some reason I wanted the tan GMC face plates, so I order them from our host. I put all of them on and was very pleased with the look. I put everything back together and finally got around to driving my truck, many years later. I was very surprised to find out that the odometer number strip decals had come loose at the ends. As the odometer wheels came around, they hung up on the metal face plate, jamming up the works. I had SO much fun getting under the dash and taking all the stuff apart that I needed to, to get the speedometer gauge back out so I could remove those strips, clean it up, and then use a sharpie to go over the original numbers. Hopefully, I (hopefully) will now be able to see how fast I am going, how far I have gone, and keep track of my mileage. If anyone else out there reworked the original gauges, I hope this does not happen to you.
Bummer , this . Sadly the original odometer wheels went out of production about 29 years ago and they were good sellers right until you couldn't get them any more . Higher end Speedo Shops clean up and re paint decent originals and / or have large stocks of good used ones squirreled away . I bet Joe in Az. can set you up with some good used ones harvested from junkers .
Run into the same thing, Zig. We now stick the reproduction ones on and then dry spray a first coat of urethane clear on them. After the first coat dries a second medium wet coat is applied and finally a wet clear coat. Leave plenty of flash time between coats but still green enough for each coat to burn into the previous coat. The decals are now "decoupaged" into place and can only be removed by sanding off. No chance of the ends lifting. You can mask to keep clear off the gear teeth but we use plastic discs that are on insulation nails and hold in place with vacuum hose to keep unwanted over spray away from the ends.
Thanks, Evan. Wish I would have done that the *first* time... I just took the number strips off and used my best penmanship to go over the numbers. They look okay for me, but after I got it all put back together, the speedometer still doesn't work. I could spin it by hand before I put it in. I took the cable loose at the transmission and had my wife sit in the truck while I spun (to the best of my ability) the end of the cable. She said it "moved a little". I guess I need to start with a new speedometer cable. Any other ideas?
We use the speedometer gear (to get the square drive hole) with the gear part cut off so the stem will fit into a drill to spin the cable on the transmission end. The drill must be in REVERSE to give a reading, usually <> 30mph with most drills.
Thanks, Evan! The weather is supposed to be real nice again this weekend, so I'll get it out on the street, disconnect the cable from the transmission, roll some electricians tape around the end of the square shaft that fits into the transmission gear (so I can clamp down on the shaft without buggering it up in the drill chuck) and try that. At least I could really check it that way to see where the problem may lie.
Zig, My gauge decal set arrived the other day. I will be scanning it into the computer to do some gauge-face photoshop work. If you would like the odometer strips, just PM me your address, and I'll send them off. The Odometer readout will be digital, so they won't get used at all.
Thanks, Mike. I already screwed with my speedometer for the last time. I have gone over the original numbers with sharpie, and they look fine. The problem is in the cable now, I do believe. I hand cranked the cable and got the needle up to 23 MPH using my dad's old hand driven twist drill. It has stayed there ever since. I'm done getting up under the dash for now. Good luck with your project, however!
