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changing odometer reading...?

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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 04:20 AM
  #1  
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Default changing odometer reading...?

while im doing my interior resto and have the speedo out, i want to change the odometer to read the amount of miles that i have put on the car since buying it...as tho it read zero when i bought it...
is that hard to do? how do i do it?
i dont plan on decieving anybody...as a matter of fact, after 25 years and over 100k...who really cares if its accurate?
(except of course the fed gov :rolleyes: )
i will probably keep it til "the end" anyways... :blueangel:
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 05:15 AM
  #2  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

never done it. there might be a way of hooking up something with a drill
where the speedo cable connects . and spin with drill?
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 11:30 AM
  #3  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

Have you spoken to your local speedo shop?
They might be willing to do it . Or not, worried about fraud etc
Otherwise its dismantling the speedo and manually setting the reading. You could then take it to the speedo shop for re-calibration.
BTW, thanks for the mirror stickers!
:cheers:
James
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 12:13 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (RHD '68 L89)

No recalibration necessary. Once you have the back off the unit you will see that you can, with a little fiddling, turn the number wheels with screwdriver. Sometimes the whole number assembly will come out by removing a "C" clip.
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 02:17 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (KenSny)

I don't want to ruin your party but you had better ckeck to see if that's legal. I'm not sure about collector cars but I know if you turn back the odometer on a "normal" car it can lead to big trouble.
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 02:36 PM
  #6  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (6t9l4t6)

Oh whoopie doo.....I don't even have the original odometer as the original to my car was all discolored for some funky reason...and so it's out of another assy, most likely not even a vette.....

the things are really easy when you have the speedo out, just take it apart in the obvious way, and under kitchen lights...bright....on a clean table...you can take that thing entirely apart one wheel at a time, and lever at a time, and make it read anything you want to...make sure your hands are clean of any solvents, water, or much of anything else...be carefullll....it's not hard really, but words can't describe it....

GENE
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 02:49 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

Whatever you decide to do - do NOT attach it to a drill and spin it backwards. There are little plates in between some of the numbers that are white normally. If the odometer is turned back too far, the plates are moved to a black position and do NOT move forward again, thus providing an easy way for folks to tell if these older odometers have been turned back.

If your gonna reset it you must do it by physically repositioning the wheels. I personally wouldn't do it, even on a mileage undetermined title - because it is not the right thing to do in my opinion, and because you are probably NOT the last owner of the car. We are all really just caretakers of these cars.
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 04:08 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (sray454)

Well just to chime in most of the time when someone restores the gauges they turn em back to zero. I know when my pop restored his he had it set to zero b/c the car was new again and so he'd know how many miles were put on it exactly since the resto.. Dave.
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 05:30 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

If you can figure out how to do it for sure, I don't think the "legal" issue would really be anything to worry about on our cars. Once the speedometer rolls past 99,999.9 it goes into the catagory of "exceeding mechanical limits" anyway. Who is really to know for sure or care how many times the speedometer has been around or altered. If you are driving a 25 year old car with over 100,000 miles on it the drivetrain has most likely been replaced or rebuilt anyway and mileage is just a number at that point.

Signguy - you are going near and dear to heart with several of your recent posts as I am going to be doing a lot of these items this winter that you are now working on. Keep up the informative (and questioning) posts. I contacted you a few weeks ago about a banner for my garage. I have not given up on this yet, just been busy getting the "toy" garage finished up and trying to pay the last of it off. I'll be getting back with you shortly to get a banner on the way.
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 05:44 PM
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (79 Midnight Blue L82)

Just a tangential question- what if a person's speedometer were not working 100%, and he ordered a new one. Could he set the new one to reflect the mileage on the original speedomter? (IE, set the new one to the mileage on the old one...)

Or, would he be required to leave it at 00000?

-Steve
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 09:55 PM
  #11  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

Watched someone ;) clock a 79 Z28 back in the 80's. Remove the speedometer. Then I believe there was a plastic strip that held tabs for each wheel on the odometer. Remove the plastic strip and then spin the wheels to put the numbers where you want. You have to make sure the tabs all line up and then put the plastic strip back on. That's what I remember from 20 years ago. Hope it helps.
:cheers:
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 10:18 PM
  #12  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (bertmeister)

sorry if i wasted anyones time here but i didnt recieve any replies soon enough this morning and the speedo is back in the car...
thanx to yall anyway!! :yesnod:
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Old Oct 16, 2003 | 10:58 PM
  #13  
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Default Re: changing odometer reading...? (SIGNGUY)

You can bet a rebuilt unit from http://www.redlineg.com for around 50 bucks. I got the one that read 140 instead of the 85 mph stock. I started to wind mine since I was putting in a new engine. I think I figured that it would take an electric drill around a month.

Check for yourself. Carefully hood a drill onto the transmission end of the cable and let it spin off a mile while you watch the clock. Then multiply the time by the miles you need to unwind.

By the way, the speedometer took me 10 minutes to install in my 80. No lie.
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