Hey folks, the speedo in my '51 quit working soon after I got the car on the road with its new drive-train (302, AOD, '91 Ranger rear end). I checked the drive gear and new cable, then used a drill to slowly spin the speedo and figured out the gauge itself is bad. A phone call to one of the Alliance vendors (thanks Rusty at Speedometer Service in Colorado Springs!) let me know that parts for those speedometers are just about gone but that he can give it a try. I'm going to pull it and send it to him later this month but I want to have a back-up plan in case it can't be fixed. My internet searches have found no direct replacement gauges for the '51 unless I want to shell out $1000 or more for a custom built unit (not happening- way outside my budget). So I'm looking to find out what other '51 Shoebox owners have done in this situation- anyone found other gauge options that will fit or maybe some "outside the box" answers to the problem. I'm sure I'm not the first to run into this problem. Note: I just need a working speedo, I'm not worried about getting the other gauges in the housing to work- the only gauge in the cluster that I'm using is the fuel gauge, all other gauges are under-dash units. Thanks!!
I hate to say it, but go to your local boneyard and look at late-models. There's lots of large-diameter speedos out there, find one the same diameter/sweep. Watch out for electronic versions, although with the right sending unit in your AOD even that can be worked out. A little creative work can 'fix' the face to better match your car's 'vibe'....
If you get a cable type, it can be easily corrected. There a guys who advertise a device that attaches to the back of the speedo and the cable goes to it. All you need is to give them the speed you a going (real) and what the speedo says. They send you the correction device. Street Scene has their adverti*****t.
I see your post is almost a year old...if you are still looking for a fix you might want to check out our "More Shoebox Gauges" post....like he said a little creative work and very affordable ...
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