Bodywork, Paint, Interior, Trim, & Wiring

discussions about bodywork, paint, interiors, trim, audio, electrical components, wiring, etc.

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wirewheels
Brian Induni
POrtland, OR
(4 posts)

Registered:
05/28/2013 05:19PM

Main British Car:


Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: wirewheels
Date: April 30, 2018 08:32PM

In the name of market research, I'm wondering if the majority of people would rather keep their stock speedo or change to electronic when dong an engine / gearbox swap?

Thanks for the feedback!


Spitfire 350
Phil McConnell
Perrysburg, OH (Toledo area)
(257 posts)

Registered:
01/11/2010 09:19PM

Main British Car:
74 Spitfire 350Chevy

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: Spitfire 350
Date: May 01, 2018 12:32PM

I like the electronic.


rficalora
Rob Ficalora
Willis, TX
(2764 posts)

Registered:
10/24/2007 02:46PM

Main British Car:
'76 MGB w/CB front, Sebring rear, early metal dash Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: rficalora
Date: May 01, 2018 07:43PM

Me too. Made it easy to reset to read accurately when I changed tire size.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: Moderator
Date: May 02, 2018 08:54AM

I'd rather change all the gauges, and install a custom dash. That approach seems especially popular among owners of "Abingdon pillow" dashboards.


74ls1tr6
Calvin Grannis
Elk Grove,CA
(1151 posts)

Registered:
11/10/2007 10:05AM

Main British Car:
74 TR6 / 71 MGB GT TR6/Ls1 71 MGB GT/Ls1

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: 74ls1tr6
Date: May 02, 2018 10:06PM

I'm another one that likes the electronic gauges, very easy to work with, and seem to be accurate.


MG four six eight
Bill Jacobson
Wa state
(324 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 02:15AM

Main British Car:
73 MGB Buick 215, Eaton/GM supercharger

Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: MG four six eight
Date: May 02, 2018 10:35PM

I prefer electronic also. It's way easier to route wires compared to routing a speedometer cable. They can be calibrated with a push of a button and best of all there's no bouncing needle due to a sticking cable!


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: May 03, 2018 10:24AM

Well I did something a bit different and am very happy with the results. (Pillow dash originally which I stripped, recovered with black leather, and refitted with a glove box and the early, larger gauges.) It turns out that the series-III ('85 or so) Jaguar XJ6 used the same size speedometer. It is not cable driven, but is fitted with a small motor on the back. At the transmission a small generator attaches at the usual location and a couple of wires connects the two. So I bought a used, good condition speedo on ebay and a new sender and installed them. The speedo goes to 140, which puts 70mph at the top of the dial.

The bezel was different so I fitted one from an early MGB speedo. The mounting was also different, a push and twist arrangement which I adopted but without the wavy spring. And of course I had already converted the MGB tach long ago.

It does have the typical needle sweep of the electronic speedos on power-up, and occasionally does not read below 10mph until the car has moved faster than that. I suspect there may be a little stickiness in the internal lubricants. Otherwise it is dead accurate and calibrated in the usual way by changing the gears. I did have to re-cut the threads on the transmission plug-in to match the sender.

Jim



DiDueColpi
Fred Key
West coast - Canada
(1365 posts)

Registered:
05/14/2010 03:06AM

Main British Car:
I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now!

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: DiDueColpi
Date: May 03, 2018 12:53PM

Your speedo drive might not be well suited to this crowd Brian.
We are more interested in modifying our vehicles rather than keeping them stock appearing.
The early british cars in particular lend themselves well to swapping out the round gauges for aftermarket offerings
If I had something with a more unique speedo your product would be a good choice.
Much like my 62 impala ss. 496 BBC with a 6 speed C5 drivetrain and suspension.
I might be contacting you when I get further along.

Live like you mean it.
Fred


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: May 03, 2018 07:16PM

I have kept all my stock gauges, Brian. I have also considered swapping them. :)


302GT
Larry Shimp

(240 posts)

Registered:
11/17/2007 01:13PM

Main British Car:
1968 MGB GT Ford 302 crate engine

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: 302GT
Date: May 24, 2018 09:24AM

Beware of aftermarket gauges! I originally put in electronic VDO gauges but the car out accelerated both the tachometer and speedometer. I changed to SpeedHut gauges which solved the problem. Try the original gauges if you can, I suspect mechanical speedometer, at least, will never lag.


jjohanski
James Johanski

(61 posts)

Registered:
11/15/2017 08:57AM

Main British Car:


Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: jjohanski
Date: June 15, 2018 03:50PM

How about using a Speedhut Speedbox to drive the mechanical speedometer.


wirewheels
Brian Induni
POrtland, OR
(4 posts)

Registered:
05/28/2013 05:19PM

Main British Car:


Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: wirewheels
Date: June 15, 2018 06:04PM

@jjohanski - Well, you could but that would be counter to my desire to have people use Classic Speed! [www.classicautoinnovations.com]

Oh, and we hold the patent for driving a mechanical speedometer via GPS ;-)
(U.S. Patent No. 9,802,487) [patents.google.com]


jjohanski
James Johanski

(61 posts)

Registered:
11/15/2017 08:57AM

Main British Car:


Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: jjohanski
Date: August 27, 2018 07:13AM

Smiths makes nice replica speedos and have one that is GPS driven.


maxwedge5281
larry ingram
south carolina
(52 posts)

Registered:
09/23/2014 05:59AM

Main British Car:
59 bn6 zz4 sbc 200 4R aod, 59bn6 302 ford, tremec

Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: maxwedge5281
Date: September 05, 2018 09:35AM

I have a modified v8 healey bn6. I used speedhut gauges in order to use the original gauge opening. they have a multitude of color, lighting, faces, bezels and the right sizes for me. also they have a combination gps speedometer with built in fuel gauge that can be adjusted to accommodate the healey fuel gauge sender. they are compact, lightweight and lifetime warranty...
11923274_10204656837930618_8634718861948082423_o.jpg


Jim Stabe
Jim Stabe
San Diego, Ca
(829 posts)

Registered:
02/28/2009 10:01AM

Main British Car:
1966 MGB Roadster 350 LT1 Chevy

authors avatar
Re: Keep stock speedo or change to electronic?
Posted by: Jim Stabe
Date: September 09, 2018 11:45AM

Speedhut makes a nice GPS unit that can be had with almost any face you could want. It also has features that compute 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for you.



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