VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Speedometer

Anybody use either Chevs of the 40's or the Filling Stations speedometer repair/rebuild service? Mt speedo howls like one of those howler monkeys we've all seen on "Nature" or National Geo or Wild Kingdom. Not the cable,,,got a new one...same howl. Hooked to drill and spun...same howl(so not at tranny end).
If not either Filling Station or Chevs of 40's used by anyone any recommendations for a cracker jack (and reasonable) speedo rebuilder. Would buy new if anyone has a source. Lotsa new ones for PICK-UP TRUCKS but alas it's a '50 Coupe.

Thanks gang!

Both are well respected vendors so I am sure you will get a good repair thru either. Don't know if either does them in house.

Did you lube the new cable before installation, or was it installed dry ?

There are a couple of shops listed in WA. One in Seattle and another in Tacoma and you can find info on them on the internet.

You might try opening the speedo up and cleaning and lubing the gears. Then, if it still misbehaves, you can ship it to Chuck at Commercial Speedometer in Sacramento.

He still works on old speedos. He fixed the speedo for my '28 truck. You can reach him at 1-916-371-5873.

Cheers, Dean

As usual, thanks guys.Hope that some day I might be able to be helpful to somebody else on this site. Course I don't know anything, so....Anyway to bobg1951chevy, I did lube old and new cables (used 3in1 oil as it seems from previous postings folks have used everything from olive oil to spit so 3in1 ok for now), but also cut off section of old cable, stuck in cordless drill, hooked to speedo and let 'er spin. Think I invented my own speedo testing tool. Ha Ha!

m006840: Thanks for Seattle & Tacoma shop info...40 miles from Tacoma and a half hour ferry ride removed from Seattle...at least if they screw up I can reach out and touch them(choke 'em out?) with little effort

And, rustoholic, was thinking right along those lines of popping the back off and taking a look inside(I'm really good at taking things apart...puttin' back together seems to be my weak suit. Memory tells me either Filling Station orChev's40's(or both) had speedo gears for sale. And thanks for the specific recommendation on the Sacramento shop

If I forgot anybody, sorry. Somebody said both Filling Station and Chev's40's reputable and probably ok...agree here,,,my dealing with both have been without flaw.

Being able to hand deliver your parts for repair certainly has advantages. First it eliminates the possibility of loss in shipping plus the cost. Second you can get a view of the vendors shop and talk to the person who is responsible for the repair.

One of the reasons I mentioned opening it up yourself is something that I ran into with the '28 speedo.

I observed that one worm gear shaft could slide back and forth around 1/16 of an inch. When it was in one position, there was an interference situation with another gear.

To fix this, I made brass spacer (cutoff small brass bolt with the end polished) that would push and shift the shaft to the side with no interference. I also made a simple brass clip from brass shim stock to hold the spacer it in place.

Having fixed this, my speedo gears turned smoothly, but the speedo still would not give a good speed reading, so off to the shop it went. It turns out the magnet needed to be remagnitized. But at least I know that the gears are in good shape. I cleaned them with a Qtip and lubed them with a smidgin of bearing grease.

Cheers, Dean

Do you have the names of the shops in Seattle and Tacoma?

It is my opinion that 3 in one oil is not adequate for the job. Refer to the manual for the proper lube, I just regreased the ccable in the 52 and purchased speedometer cable lube from a local parts house.

Not right on hand but you can do a Google search-that's how I found them.