Remove speedometer needle or sync new odometer

[My78truck]

I was able to obtain a beautiful, clean, cluster guages at my salvage yard. My gauges are showing their age. My question(s) is/are:

1. - it is possible to remove the speedometer needle and face plate and put on my speedometer. If so, how do I remove the needle(s). Somewhere I saw that you unscrew the needle, other posts I saw lifting it off.

2. - if no one recommends attempting to remove the needle due to age & breakage, how can I make the odometer reading on this new gauge exactly what my original odometer is. I know that "rolling back odometers" is a felony. I am NOT rolling back to lie about mileage, nor do I plan on selling this vehicle. I just want the new odometer reading/numbers to match what my original odometer reads.

Thanks.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I was able to obtain a beautiful, clean, cluster guages at my salvage yard. My gauges are showing their age. My question(s) is/are:

1. - it is possible to remove the speedometer needle and face plate and put on my speedometer. If so, how do I remove the needle(s). Somewhere I saw that you unscrew the needle, other posts I saw lifting it off.

2. - if no one recommends attempting to remove the needle due to age & breakage, how can I make the odometer reading on this new gauge exactly what my original odometer is. I know that "rolling back odometers" is a felony. I am NOT rolling back to lie about mileage, nor do I plan on selling this vehicle. I just want the new odometer reading/numbers to match what my original odometer reads.

Thanks.

#1. I would not try to remove the the speedo needle and faceplate. Is it possible, probably, is there risk of breakage most definitely.

#2. At the shop on a customers vehicle this is how we handle it. Figure out the differences in the two speedometers, fill out a speedometer disclosure, submit to DMV, and fill out a door sticker and apply to door jam. At least in WA that's the law. But most of these old rigs are 5 digit anyway and have rolled. So if you want to make it match it is probably possible to disengage the little gears from the odometer from the back of the odometer and simply roll to desired mileage. I've never needed to match mileage on a square so I can't be more specific than that but on most older vehicles it's pretty easy but delicate.

 

[My78truck]

Okay, thanks. I decided that trying to remove the speedo, and all other gauge needles, was less an ordeal than dealing with the odometer. And as luck would have it, I was able to transfer all my new, brightly, painted needles to the new gauges without issue. Wasn't hard at all, just have to be careful. Thanks anyway for responding. Moving forward on getting dash back together now.

 

[75gmck25]

It’s only a felony if the speedometer reading is not documented and disclosed IAW DMV rules.

Bruce

 

[Goldie Driver]

Okay, thanks. I decided that trying to remove the speedo, and all other gauge needles, was less an ordeal than dealing with the odometer. And as luck would have it, I was able to transfer all my new, brightly, painted needles to the new gauges without issue. Wasn't hard at all, just have to be careful. Thanks anyway for responding. Moving forward on getting dash back together now.

Did they pull off ?

Thanks!

 

[fast68chevy]

Sec of State police dont care one bit, at all, once it is past its mechanical limiits. IE rolled over past 100k, with the old 5 digit odometers, here in IL anyways..
this is plainly stated on vehicle titles, specifically.
and also vehicles over 10 years of age.

but of course each state has it own laws and rules.. so you have to check, where you are, on this stuff..

and there is a special little tool to pop off the needles. talk to anyone who rebuilds clusters.

 

[My78truck]

Did they pull off ?

Thanks!

I saw something somewhere that the speedo needle twisted off. So I tried that with the one from the yard and it came off. I then use a trick I saw somewhere (I am a member of several sites) to use a fork. For the smaller needles I used that. Position the post of needle in the last opening of the fork tine like this to keep from bending the needle arms. just go slow and easy. make sure to cover the needle/gauge with your hand because they fly off. I did find out that if you look at the underside, they are metal. I was afraid they were plastic. The ones today I am sure are plastic. I am sure you could use a fork for the speedo also.

When putting on other gauges, I just placed them appropriately for off gauges and pushed them on. (hint - take a pic of the gauge(s) before pulling just in case. Do not push too hard, the small post the needle sits on will break, as I found out with the donor odometer. NO sweat there as I wasn't using that one anyway. With the speedo needle, I just placed it on top of post, not pushing it down completely, then did a sweep test. that way you can make sure the needle ends on zero. I I then also pushed that on - gently.

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[TPISly-C10]

when a swap my mecanical speedo for an electric coming from Gvan the C10 needle broke easely....but the Gvan electronic can be remove gentlely and put back with my old C10 faceplate!

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[ballencd]

When I tried to repair a non-working odometer in my 91 Suburban I had little tiny gears go everywhere. Some I never found. I have just purchased a set of aftermarket gauges and am in the process of building a dash so that I can use them. What bothers me is the 6 gauge set cost more then the vehicle did. : (

 

[SuburbanS]

I never tried the the Fork removal trick but I was able to successfully break my speedo needle pin off and destroy my speedo. Highly NOT advisable to try. Glad the author of this post had success.

I was able to separate my speedo backside where the gears are, and mate it with a different frontside that had a nice face and needle. Just had to make my own mini socket to fit into the small space and split the mechanism. caution advised but doable. I was able to keep my old gears with correct mileage but am now running with a newer face.

 

[Bextreme04]

when a swap my mecanical speedo for an electric coming from Gvan the C10 needle broke easely....but the Gvan electronic can be remove gentlely and put back with my old C10 faceplate!

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I managed to buy an entire 91 cluster like this for $50 for my swap. I was able to just gently pull off the needle and disassemble the whole cluster. I managed to fix and strengthen the broken plastic trip odometer gear and roll back the odometer reading to 0. In Oregon the odometer reading doesn't matter on any vehicle more than 10 years old. Now I'll have a new 6 digit odometer and the addition of the trip meter along with the electric speedo to work with my swap.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I managed to buy an entire 91 cluster like this for $50 for my swap. I was able to just gently pull off the needle and disassemble the whole cluster. I managed to fix and strengthen the broken plastic trip odometer gear and roll back the odometer reading to 0. In Oregon the odometer reading doesn't matter on any vehicle more than 10 years old. Now I'll have a new 6 digit odometer and the addition of the trip meter along with the electric speedo to work with my swap.

In general I'm a fan of the factory gauges and I don't really like most of the aftermarket setups. With that said, I really, really wanted to get the tach fuel gauge conversion kit from LMC, but the price was so much, I ended up getting an aftermarket tach and attached it near the ash tray, which is not really the look I like but the function is good. With all that said I would really like to have a trip-meter. Maybe one day....

 

[Bextreme04]

In general I'm a fan of the factory gauges and I don't really like most of the aftermarket setups. With that said, I really, really wanted to get the tach fuel gauge conversion kit from LMC, but the price was so much, I ended up getting an aftermarket tach and attached it near the ash tray, which is not really the look I like but the function is good. With all that said I would really like to have a trip-meter. Maybe one day....

I also managed to get a tach cluster from someone local for dirt cheap.. like $50 or so I think. It was filthy and tore up, but the tach and fuel gauges were good, so I am frankensteining them all into a single cluster. Between buying the two clusters, getting the needle paint, and getting a new clear gauge lens, I think I'm into it about $150 and a few hours of my time. People ask stupid prices for them on ebay, but you can usually find parts locally if you are patient and don't mind experimenting yourself.

 

[My78truck]

For those of you wanting to brighten up your florescent orange needles, go to a hobby store and buy Testers model paint. I used it and it turned out great. Took about 4 coats for good coverage, but looks like new. Just an FYI!!!

 

[Dutch Rutter]

I ended up giving mine an easy make over. I painted the needles with white model paint. Turned out decently I think. And still visible at night.

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