Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 19:25:22 -0500
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Subject: Re: Technique For Removing Speedo needle? Project done!!
In-Reply-To: <4ac7ba0a.9753f10a.4fcb.2372@mx.google.com>
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I did loop the needle over the 0 peg and it rested right beside an
existing white hash mark on the extreme lip of the face plate. The
spoons idea worked really well. I guess I was expecting the whole
shaft to come out, but only the button and needle and a really short
piece of the shaft came loose. The procedure at hand was to change
the odometer reading from the 59,xxx on it to my real mileage of
239k. I didn't fool with the last 4 numbers so as to make the number
wheeling focused on the first two.
After removing the 2 black screws that hold the face plate, there
was a brass thingie and the coil spring that I didn't have to move to
do my dirty work(actually trying to be honest in reality). I stored
the micro black screws on an old speaker magnet I had laying around
so I wouldn't lose them. Then the 4 brass screws came out of the odo
housing and I put them on the magnet too despite them rolling around
anyway. I carefully pried on the odo frame and got the white gear
out of the green and red drive gears so the green gear was free to
move. Then I took my "$1 at a garage sale" Klein needle nose
pliers and CAREFULLY pulled the driveshaft for the upper gear
row(little white paddle wheel looking thingies) out of the
housing(pulled from the single digit number side of the shaft) just
far enough to free up the first two digits. I did not remove any of
the white paddle thingies, but there was enough space to work without
pulling them out. I had duct taped the other numbers together so as
to not have them move and get out of place. Once I rotated the 2 and
the 3 into place, I duct taped them also. It was easy to line things
up, as if the non-visible number rows were aligned, then the visible
ones would be also. I got the paddle wheels aligned properly, took a
steel bar and gently pushed the shaft back into the plastic
carrier(backing it up with a screwdriver to avoid cracking or
breaking) and then removed the tape, reinstalled the white gear in
place, put the 4 brass screws back in, and then the face plate and
black screws, and then a gentle push of the "properly"aligned speedo
needle, and the job was done. Took maybe 30 minutes with major
patience on my part.
Maybe I just got lucky this time. I took a few photos if anyone's interested.
Thanks again for the guidance. i\It did pay off.
DM&FS
At 03:54 PM 10/3/2009, David Beierl wrote:
>At 04:59 AM 10/3/2009, Max Wellhouse wrote:
>>the removing of the speedometer needle. Just don't wanna break it
>
>I want to stress that unless you have finger control way beyond most
>of us, it's vital to use a twin-ended tool or two opposed tools to
>remove the hand(s) from any dial, clock or otherwise. Absent a
>fancy clock-hand remover, the best way is with two opposed tools
>having strong lever action, like the spoons mentioned earlier. This
>keeps everything under control and avoids putting bending stress on
>the socket and on the spindle (which is usually hardened, and hence
>very brittle). I learned this lesson in blood in my youth, getting
>IC chips embedded in my thumb or first finger, depending which end
>lifted out of the socket easier -- dial pointers are a much less
>forgiving environment than ICs.
>
>Yrs,
>d
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