The 'E' Type Forum

Hi guys,

I am thinking about sending them my speedo. It needs to be converted from mph to kmh, so they have to use a new face plate.

They say they "print" it.

Has anyone tried that before, and how close to the original did it come out ?

The price is reasonable, of course it depends (for me) a bit of what happens on 23. June... but from a todays point of view I would accept it (165 pounds incl. Freight and 20% VAT).

Kind regards,

Carsten

Carsten : in general terms, I can recommend Speedograph highly, although I have not had their printing service. On the subject of price, I had a feeling that VAT should not be charged on supplies to another ( for the time being ) EU state, but you may be liable for MWST in Germany, but someone more knowledgeable than me may be able to confirm this for you

I send all my instruments to them from Australia; they're that good.

Hi Chris,

Having bought a lot from the brits over the last 2 decades (even a Nikon camera set when the pound was down to 1.04 Euros about 8 years ago, waaay cheaper then here), I know I do have to pay VAT.

In fact you can go to the german toll offices, show the bill, get the brit VAT refubd and pay ours. We are at 19%, iirc you are at 20, so, well, waste of time. Driving the car to their office would cost more in fuel then the 1 % gained.

Of course they should have harmonized the VAT EU-wide together with taxes and pension ages and so on to make it fair to anyone living here, but thats a different matter and we're entering politics so I better stop now :-).

I talked to Speedographs recently, and currently they told me I have to lift the rear end of the car, turn the wheel 6 times, and count the speedo drive wire revolutions. This is because I will be fitting 185/15, to the original Dunlop wires fitted now, and I also have an OD fitted, so they say it's too much chance something goes wrong and want me to record the data which I will do shortly. It does not make any sense to moove the car because 4 different tyres fitted now, one of them being a "Jumbo tyre" which has a larger circumference and their advertisement claim it to be faster then other tyres !

Conclusion- I'll give Speedograph a try.

What they did not answer yet- maybe anyone knows- will they print over my existing speedo face, or will they use a new one ?

Carsten

I just received my temp gauge and my speedo from Richfield. Gauge repair and speedo calibration. Excellent service. Delay, 4 weeks. I'm in France.

For the speedo calibration, I followed their instructions, 6 turns of wheel etc... My speedo is now absolutely correct.

Hi guys,

I did send my speedo to them yesterday.

We fly on monday, 3 weeks south africa, so I hope I can get the speedo back when we are back by the end of juli.

....just read there's a pilot strike in france from tuesday on. Our flight leaves monday 23:25 ! from Paris. Fingers crossed, as we follow a pre-booked route....

Carsten

Hi Carsten
I had my speedo recalibrated last year by SR having changed from a 3.54 diff to a 2.88 unit and also had the unit rebuilt to get rid of bounce. I also had them reprint the speedo with both MPH and KPH scales. Service was great, bounce gone completely and printing was well done.
Hope this helps

Ian Irving

Another one will be on its way to them. Hopefully it won't mean being off the road for a whole month.

I was planning to send it to them for calibration as it was only reading 56 while doing 70mph. However not long after a whining sound came from the around the gearbox and then almost immediately the speedo stopped working. I had assumed it was the angle drive that had failed although the cause of its failure appears to be the worm drive in the speedo has completely seized.

Hopefully they can repair it.

The good thing is, from searching this forum, I found out that the ratio of the angled drive that was on my car was 1:1 rather than 1:27. So inaccuracy of the speedo was down to the wrong angled drive.

Hi all,

My speedo came back today.

First of all, I can only highly recommend them- it looks gorgeous, like new.

Being a bit of a german anorak I'd like to comment a few things- because I have not been told this before, so maybe someone reading this in the future may find it interesting.

- they did print "made in UK" on top, it was "made in England" before.
- they did not print "1311/700" or a similar code where it was before. This may be because for my special application there is no code- km/h, 3.54 rear end.
- the font is a bit thinner then original- I have another speedo here to compare.
- they did blast it, very few glass / sand remains found
- the rear side was painted silver
- front glass renewed
- front outer ring renewed or repainted "near-new"
- the old needle is still there (I love it)
- it came with a new rubber ring

Total cost incl. freight and VAT was 162 pounds.

I am happy !

Carsten

Pictures:



And

Did you also have the internals updated to count kilometers instead of miles or is it just the face that has been changed? There should be a code available for the 3.54 gear ratio with km. I'd have to try and check an original European delivered car. I've always found it slightly disappointing there isn't a combined mph/kmh dial face available.

Yes, the internals have been swapped.

I also have an OD fitted and will go for 185/15...

Carsten