Electronic to mechanical speedometer converter

With the backlight gone, the LCD panel was now quite inset behind the odometer window. I wanted the LCD brought closer to the speedometer face.

The SpeedHut gauge came with a plastic spacer that, amazingly, was perfect to raise the gauge off the back of the Mini enclosure to bring it flush with the odometer window. I siliconed the spacer to the gauge then siliconed them both to the back of the Mini enclosure making sure to get the needle exactly centered. I was feeling pretty confident at this point, so decided I should calibrate the Speedometer while the screen was fully visible.

You then drive exactly 4km and stop the calibration. The speedometer tallies the number of pulses it saw and can now give you an accurate speed reading. Easy peasy. The calibration went well, and the needle seemed to be reacting appropriately for the rest of my drive home. In retrospect, once I was pretty sure the speedometer was going to work for my needs, I could have done the calibration before the integration got too far along.

Before final assembly, I needed a way to attach the the center disc to the speedometer face. In the original setup, the disc was fastened to the mechanical internals with two small bolts. I decided to attach a piece of copper across the face for the front disc to bolt to. In retrospect this was unnecessary — I could have just siliconed it permanently and placed the bolt heads there for show — but it made sense at the time. The end look is the same. The center disc, now rotated, has all of the white lettering upside down.

So before attaching the center disc with the two bolts, I gave it a spray paint with some matte engine enamel I had lying around. Also, I think the gauge looks nice and clean without it. Before final assembly I also gave the needle a new paint, cleaned up the glass, polished the chrome, re-attached the bottom fuel gauge and then put it all back together. I am very pleased with the result of this custom conversion.

Here is the fully assembled speedometer. Powered by Tumblr. Posted using the Full Custom H. Joined: Jan 10, Posts: 4, Profile Page. I have a cable x for sale. PM me to discuss purchase. Joined: Aug 23, Posts: 12, Profile Page. Take a look at GPS based speedometers Hnstray , Aug 18, Joined: Sep 29, Posts: 1, Profile Page. I have not herd anything about the Dakota Digital unit but have had two cars in the shop running the Cable-X and they seemed to work well.

Smooth needle movement and no problem with excess noise. Joined: Jun 19, Posts: 9, Profile Page. Joined: May 9, Posts: Profile Page. I'd like to know too ElBrujo , Aug 19, Joined: Sep 26, Posts: 16, Profile Page. Some T4s have the same tail housing and you can likely buy the whole thing for a couple hundred bucks. I had one a few years ago out of an '86 S Joined: Sep 25, Posts: 1, Profile Page.

CheatersPete , Aug 20, Joined: Aug 22, Posts: Profile Page. I can convert your electronic t5 s10 housing to mechanical. PM for details. Kato Kings , Aug 20, Joined: Sep 16, Posts: 3, Profile Page. Cable x converters don't make noise, well none that I can hear.

Work excellent , but be prepared to spend an hour or so calibrating it and peering intently at the small dip switches and writing down your sequence. Done once and forget. Kiwi 4d , Aug 20, Joined: Sep 4, Posts: 1, Profile Page. Joined: Mar 3, Posts: Profile Page.

Anybody have feedback on Dakota digital unit? Is it easier to calibrate? TinShed , Mar 20,