Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 11:46:51 -0700
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Technique For Removing Speedo needle? Project done!!
In-Reply-To: <4ac7eb6c.1702be0a.76f5.2902@mx.google.com>
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Hi Max,
I dunno who Major Patience is, but next time I have a fiddly project I'll
ask you to send him or her over.
Save your photos -- maybe we can do a "how to" on the wiki once Sudhir
gets things set up on a new host.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR
On 10/3/2009 5:25 PM Max Wellhouse wrote:
> 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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