curtis75

Hi I am rebuilding the engine in my 75 and was thinking that it would make sense to set the odometer to 0. I've heard of people doing this with a drill but it takes for ever. I was wondering if there was a way to do this.

RockyL32

rolling back an odometer is against the law. while you may be bringing the engine back to zero miles with a rebuild the rest of the car still has all those miles on it.

MotorHead

Pretty much useless thing to do with a C3, it rolls over at 100,000 anyway, lots of 30 year old C3's out there with 12K on them

aussiejohn

Curtis,
It is illegal in Australia as well to roll odometers BACK, but I am not aware of it being illegal ANYWHERE to roll them FORWARD. Just run your odometer up to 99,990 or so miles and go for a ten mile drive and let nature take its course.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn
19 months to go.

guitarcrazy02

That's no different than restamping an engine. Come on, now. Reset your trip odometer if you want to know how many miles since the rebuild. Don't cheat.

7T1vette

The only time such action is legitimate is when you have to change the speedo out and can't reset it to present mileage. When that occurs, you are supposed to take that info to your License Branch along with the car title and have the title amended to show the change (along with the prior mileage). That way future owners can know real vehicle mileage. Just turning it back for "looks" is not legal. You might call the License Branch to see if "show" cars can do this AND change their title accordingly.

Mike Ward

The odometer measures mileage on the entire car, not just the engine.
You have have not replaced the engine with a new one, it still has the accumulated stress of the mileage on it.

That's why aircraft engines measure time and cycles since new as well as t&C from overhaul.

parkerracing

Roll back the miles, restamp the engine, make it a Vert, take it to Barrett-Jackson and make a huge profit like the big boys (next time start with a base engine '67 coupe, they make nice 427/435 cars )

Aggitated Monkey

Why not just document the milage from when the engine was installed. You could keep that info in the glove box or just find a hidden spot to write the milage on with a shaprie.

Chris Farrer

I agree with 7T1vette. The mileage is not only for the engine but what the whole car has travelled.

seacliffe301

I don't know how it's handled in other states, but when transfering
a title in Michigan you are required to state if the mileage shown
is "Actual, Incorrect, or over 100k miles".

What becomes legal or illegal is what you do when you sell the car.

CORVETTEKARL

Roll back or ahead. Either way, it's tampering with the odometer and that's illegal in all states.

Artsvette73

moosie982

Take the speedo out and look at how the drum with the numbers is fastened to the assembly so you can put it back the same way then look at how the tabs are positioned and then just figure out , by looking and trying how to change the position of how the numbers line up, very simple to do, removing the speedo is the hardest part of the whole deal. Peace,,,Moosie

Binnie77

Corvette odometers have lock tabs between the wheels. The tabs are held straight with a narrow strip of fiber material. These tabs have a slot in the bottom of them that slides over a rail to keep wheels and numbers aligned. Here is the catch, the rail is missing a short section and one of the center tabs does not have a place to lock. This is why they used the fiber to lock that one in place. Why did they design it that way???? Because, if try to reverse the odometer with an electric drill, or drive it forward for that matter, the fiber strip breaks by the tab where the rail is missing and now your odometer wheels no longer line up nor does it work properly, the tab spins with the wheel. This was intentional on GM's part and they used this on several cars during the same era. The only way to change the number sequence is to remove the odometer assembly from the speedo unit. I bought a NOS speedometer for my car three years ago and I had to duplicate the correct mileage on the new one.

seacliffe301

Many years ago I had an Olds W-30 that despite what the seller told me about the mileage, I was certain that the odometer had been tampered with. When the drivetrain was rebuilt, I pulled that speedo and had the odometer turned back to zero. Twenty years later when I sold that car, I disclosed what had been done to the buyer.
Not only did he have an odometer reading that was relevant to the drivetrain, he had a complete maintenance history as well.

When I submitted the mileage for title transfer, I stated that the
mileage was "Incorrect". As far as I was concerned, I broke no laws.
The buyer was more than satisfied.

Do stay away from any drill motors though. As stated in a prior post, there is a procedure for doing this correctly. The person I had do this
was a self proclaimed "expert". I do recall him having to take each digit
apart as described so not damage the unit.

Rope-a-dope

Like my Uncle Olaff used to always say " If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Hadez

Check your state laws as they are all different. Here is the law in Florida I copied from the DMV. Check out the last few lines...

Odometer Fraud

Is the physical condition of the car consistent with the mileage on the odometer? The odometer reading is an accepted means of determining the dollar value of a motor vehicle. If the vehicle is in exceptionally good condition, perhaps items were replaced due to excessive wear. Also look for scratches on the odometer/dashboard, misaligned digits, digits that stick or an odometer that fits loosely. Any of these may indicate odometer tampering.

If you suspect that the odometer has been rolled back on a vehicle offered for sale, contact your local law enforcement agency or the DMV. If you suspect odometer fraud has occurred with a vehicle you have already purchased, the DMV can assist you in obtaining a record of all previous Florida owners and odometer statements from the dealers involved. If your suspicions are confirmed, you will need to retain an attorney in order to file suit against the violator. Due to the importance of the odometer reading in determining the value and condition of a vehicle, state and federal laws have been enacted making it illegal to tamper with a vehicle's odometer. Under the law it is illegal to:

Disconnect an odometer.
Turn back an odometer.
Drive with a disconnected or non-functional odometer.

It is a violation for anyone (dealer or individual) to sell a vehicle without providing a written statement of the actual mileage at the time of transfer.

Exemptions from odometer disclosure include vehicles which:

Are 10 years old or older.
Have a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) of more than 16,000 pounds.
Are not self-propelled.

spedaleden

I did a write up on how to change your mileage or speedometer mileage. Do a search for spedaleden. I would do it for you but my internet is down and I am on dial up It shows step by step with pics

Ron R

So then it's legal in Florida on all C1's, C2's, C3's, and C4's.

Personally though I don't think rebuilding the motor is a valid enough reason for resetting the odometer, as the odometer mileage is the mileage the CAR has traveled and really has nothing to do with the motor's run-time.

If you restore the whole car, feel free to reset the odometer, but I just don't think it's right on just a engine rebuild.