volvorod85
03-20-2007, 02:52 AM
So I bought an R-sport cluster. The inside of the glass on all the guages was hazy and the speedo needle was stuck to the input shaft, and the odometer didnt work. Heres a run down on basic VDO/R-sport guage dissembly and odometer repair.
Some of this info is avaiable if you search the web for it.
The can style guage comes apart from the front. As you can see in this pic there is a film on the inside of the glass. Take a small flat head screwdriver and carefully pry back the black ring from the back. The crimp is what holds the ring/glass in.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997525_vs7zs/hazy%20guage.JPG" alt="hazy guage.JPG" />
Once you pry it back just enough to pop it off, you'll have this. The oil pressure and voltage guage look like this when its apart. The fuel and temp guage have an extra insert that has an alignment notch, this will be obvious when it comes apart.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997522_3eby3/guage%20apart.JPG" alt="guage apart.JPG" />
Clean the glass with a soft polishing cloth and reassemble. Be carefull here cause the glass has a shiny one one side and matt finish on the other side. The matt finish goes towards the inside. The shiny side out!! You dont want to pry the ring off again! Carefully align all the pieces and with the screw driver do your best to fold the ring back over the can.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997523_ja1fr/guage%20clean.JPG" alt="guage clean.JPG" />
Now, the speedo in the cluster I got was flat out trashed. You turned the input shaft and the needle moved with it. hmmm....
I took the glass off and the two screws in the back of the can out. this allows you to take the speedo mechanism out of the can.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997526_qwuu4/speedo%20assembly.JPG" alt="speedo assembly.JPG" />
There is a hair spring that sits on top of the odometer assemble, mine looked like this.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997524_mgyfg/hairspring%20thrashed.JPG" alt="hairspring thrashed.JPG" />
I went to the junk yard and got a 130MPH speedo from a 164, same one you can also find on a pre81 240. And swapped the spring. Problem here is you have to remove the needle to do so. This is not easy. I removed the speedo head from the odometer assembly. ther are 2 screws holding it on. Once you do this there is the drum thats on the needle shaft. Now the problem here is you loose the calibration if you take the needle off or take the shaft out. Fair warning!
I took a flat screwdriver and carefully pryed the drum back. This removed the whole shaft and got the needle to pop off, it was abrupt and not fun, fortunatly I did not scratch anthing. This also pulls the shaft from the hair spring. To put the shaft back in you MUST HAVE THE FACE OFF. Or the hair spring will be damaged!
Now the odometer. I found the info else where about repairing this. The potmetal gear on the side of the odometer (not the trip meter) basically slips on the shaft. Its pressed on. You want to pull the shaft out just enough to get the gear out. You can do this carefully without removing the needle or face!!! just remove the screws on the face you will have enough room to remove the potmetal gear!
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997530_nnhql/potmtealgear.JPG" alt="potmtealgear.JPG" />
All i did was tap the center with a hammer to restake it a bit and put it back in. Alignment with the idler gears at the top is critical! if you get it off it will jam and break when you turn it! they all much point exactly the same direction. All of the long and short teeth much line up. Also DO NOT pull the shaft all the way out! if you do the wheels all come loose and its a pain to reset them all, with the face off its a pain, i dunno if you can do it with the face on.
Slide the gear back in and push the shaft back through, you should be able to turn it and it should all count properly again.
One other thing you need to do it put one drop of oil in the hole here.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997534_fxmje/speedohead.JPG" alt="speedohead.JPG" />
This is so the needle shaft can float properly. If its not lubricated you get what happened to me. The needle moves with the input shaft and if you really lucky turned your perfect hair spring in to a mess.
Beware when it comes to guage repair...it takes a skilled gentle hand, patience and time.
Mark
Some of this info is avaiable if you search the web for it.
The can style guage comes apart from the front. As you can see in this pic there is a film on the inside of the glass. Take a small flat head screwdriver and carefully pry back the black ring from the back. The crimp is what holds the ring/glass in.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997525_vs7zs/hazy%20guage.JPG" alt="hazy guage.JPG" />
Once you pry it back just enough to pop it off, you'll have this. The oil pressure and voltage guage look like this when its apart. The fuel and temp guage have an extra insert that has an alignment notch, this will be obvious when it comes apart.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997522_3eby3/guage%20apart.JPG" alt="guage apart.JPG" />
Clean the glass with a soft polishing cloth and reassemble. Be carefull here cause the glass has a shiny one one side and matt finish on the other side. The matt finish goes towards the inside. The shiny side out!! You dont want to pry the ring off again! Carefully align all the pieces and with the screw driver do your best to fold the ring back over the can.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997523_ja1fr/guage%20clean.JPG" alt="guage clean.JPG" />
Now, the speedo in the cluster I got was flat out trashed. You turned the input shaft and the needle moved with it. hmmm....
I took the glass off and the two screws in the back of the can out. this allows you to take the speedo mechanism out of the can.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997526_qwuu4/speedo%20assembly.JPG" alt="speedo assembly.JPG" />
There is a hair spring that sits on top of the odometer assemble, mine looked like this.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997524_mgyfg/hairspring%20thrashed.JPG" alt="hairspring thrashed.JPG" />
I went to the junk yard and got a 130MPH speedo from a 164, same one you can also find on a pre81 240. And swapped the spring. Problem here is you have to remove the needle to do so. This is not easy. I removed the speedo head from the odometer assembly. ther are 2 screws holding it on. Once you do this there is the drum thats on the needle shaft. Now the problem here is you loose the calibration if you take the needle off or take the shaft out. Fair warning!
I took a flat screwdriver and carefully pryed the drum back. This removed the whole shaft and got the needle to pop off, it was abrupt and not fun, fortunatly I did not scratch anthing. This also pulls the shaft from the hair spring. To put the shaft back in you MUST HAVE THE FACE OFF. Or the hair spring will be damaged!
Now the odometer. I found the info else where about repairing this. The potmetal gear on the side of the odometer (not the trip meter) basically slips on the shaft. Its pressed on. You want to pull the shaft out just enough to get the gear out. You can do this carefully without removing the needle or face!!! just remove the screws on the face you will have enough room to remove the potmetal gear!
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997530_nnhql/potmtealgear.JPG" alt="potmtealgear.JPG" />
All i did was tap the center with a hammer to restake it a bit and put it back in. Alignment with the idler gears at the top is critical! if you get it off it will jam and break when you turn it! they all much point exactly the same direction. All of the long and short teeth much line up. Also DO NOT pull the shaft all the way out! if you do the wheels all come loose and its a pain to reset them all, with the face off its a pain, i dunno if you can do it with the face on.
Slide the gear back in and push the shaft back through, you should be able to turn it and it should all count properly again.
One other thing you need to do it put one drop of oil in the hole here.
<img src="http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/files/997534_fxmje/speedohead.JPG" alt="speedohead.JPG" />
This is so the needle shaft can float properly. If its not lubricated you get what happened to me. The needle moves with the input shaft and if you really lucky turned your perfect hair spring in to a mess.
Beware when it comes to guage repair...it takes a skilled gentle hand, patience and time.
Mark