Speedometer removal difficulties

Chukarg

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Just pulled the dash--a "custom" one built by PO--out of Tiger wood no less (not Tiger Woods!), and I'm unable to remove the speedometer. The trip reset lever prevents it from sliding out the front, and I can't tilt it to slip through, perhaps because the dash is thicker than a stock dash. If I remove the front bezel, the lip on the outer "cup" is still too wide to slide through to the rear. Is there some trick I don't know about? Couldn't find enough detail in the shop manual. Do I need to remove the bezel, and then remove the innards from the can in order to disconnect the trip lever? I don't really want to scrap the dash--it looks really nice, and I really don't want to accidentally damage the speedo. Any suggestions?
 

66TigerMK1A

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IIRC, the reset is pinned to a stub shaft that comes out of the speedo... hard to see and probably hard to remove but I think I took one apart that way at some point a long time ago...
 

Chukarg

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Yes, this "stub shaft" is what prevents me from removing the speedo from the dash, and I can't see (from the outside) how this shaft is attached in order to remove it. Does the speedo have to be (at least partially?) removed from the back cover (can) in order to do this?
 

Chukarg

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Update: So . . . the speedo article in recent issue of Tiger Tales was somewhat helpful. With the bezel and glass removed (please don't glue the glass in with silicone!), I can move the speedo innards forward, but the metal "stub shaft" still sticks out too much (about 1/4") to move the rest of the way out of the "can." After monkeying around with it from all angles (with the dash board still attached), I think I will have to remove the needle and face-plate in order to tilt the rest of the innards far enough to clear the stub shaft. I think I'll wait until morning and do it BEFORE I have a cup of coffee. If there is a better way, someone please tell me--not looking forward to putting it all back together in situ after it has been prettified.
 

Warren

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Mine

Came out of both cars with shaft attached . The gear that makes the trip reset work is easily damaged. Hap might be the guy to ask on this. He has a spare of mine . The guts are very fiddly small and nearly impossible to deal with old guy eyes and hot dog fingers. :)

There's a very small steel roll pin which connects the rubber like flexible shaft to the harder reset shaft. It's really hard to even see . There are other knobs on the car with similar pins not fun to get apart.
 

Chukarg

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Thanks for the reply. I had already found the almost invisible roll pin (and removed the flexible shaft) on the trip reset after re-reading the Tiger Tales article, but the metal part of the shaft--about 1/4" long-- won't push in far enough to clear the back cover. Since the trip reset doesn't actually reset when pushed, the gear is probably already toast. I tried pulling the needle off just using my fingers (supposed to use a nail puller to pry with?), but with the amount of force I encountered, I figured I had better stop before breaking something--and then there is the possibility of getting it back on! Think I'll leave this one on the work bench until I get some better idea/advice.
 

HolyCat

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Another Approach

It sounds like your custom dashboard is too thick. This may be a crazy idea, but can you thin the dash board down to stock thickness in just an area as small as possible but enough to R&R your speedo? Of course you would do this on the back side.
 

Chukarg

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Hmmmm . . . think I'll break out the dremmel tool this weekend.
 
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Chukarg

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Holy Cat! . . . your idea worked! Used a drywall cutting bit in a dremel to cut a small slot about 1/2" deep, which made it possible to remove the speedo without breaking anything. PO must have installed the innards, and then the faceplate with the back cover already in place(?) Knowing how things were supposed to fit together definitely would have helped.:)
 

HolyCat

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That's Great!

Good to hear you got your speedo out safely. Taking it completely apart whenever you want to pull it or reinstall it is too much work. Now you can R&R it with the IP in place, but hopefully it will be a long time until the next time.
 
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