Odometer Access

[Edward Roberts]

I pulled the speedo last night (my brake and clutch pedals think we are now romantically involved). I'm not restoring the speedo, but do want to recolor (see other thread) and clean the odometer gears so that I can determine whether I need to later change to a different gear now that I'm running different tires.

The back of the speedo housing needs to come off. The little tabs holding the face on seem delicate (one is already broken) and the two arms at the top do not seem to be meant for bending:

Any tricks on disassembling the speedo housing/accessing the odometer gears without putting undue stress on those tabs?

Is there a better alternative to replace said tabs?

Am I asking for too much?

Thank you.

[Cpt.Fred]

I pulled the speedo last night (my brake and clutch pedals think we are now romantically involved)..

ha! i know what you mean:D

i broke my speedo while disassembling and had to send it to an expert,

but mine was broken anyway and maybe i wasn't careful enough.

good luck with yours! sadly i cannot help you because it's a different model like the one on my 40. but they're all pretty eggshell, i guess...

[Edward Roberts]

Iwas thinking it would almost be easier to remove the pedals.

I ended up placing some closed cell packing foam on the floorboard, then and egg crate on top of that. Almost comfortable enough for a nap.

Almost.

No solutions to my questions to report, though. In the end I wimped out for now. Left it all intact and used some pipe clearners to sort of clean things.

[BobT-47P15]

You might try going under the car, pulling down the pedals, and placing

a 2 x 4 or what ever size item you need between the arms and floorboard..

to hold them down and out of your way.

[Edward Roberts]

Thanks for the advice on that. A definite for the next time I am digging around up there. In fact, I have a Runtz unti on the way so this week might be a good time.

That's one of the great things about this forum: while the technical advice is great, it's the stuff you really can't just study or research on your own. My grandfather "Pop" loved his workshop, and more than likely enjoyed building tools to perform jobs more than actually performing the job. He was a master at figuring out how to accomplish a mechanical task in the most efficient way, and he taught me everything I was mature enough to listen to. I've worked with other mechanics and worked in a garage while in college and figure myself to be pretty handy in my own shop. But in the short time I've been cruising this forum I've already come across three or four pieces of advice about how to do a job that come from nothing but experience, from hood spring installation to making room around pedals. Pop is gone now, but this forum is like having a hundred Pops in my garage all the time (no reference meant to age, there).

Thanks again, to everyone involved.