My 37 Buick came from factory with a 4.44 rear end gear so I pulled the torque tube and used a 2.73 from a 1970 El Camino (Chevelle). This was fine for the old straight eight in this part of Texas with no hills but it ran out of poop in Missouri. Decided overdrive was the way to go but not smart enough to figure out on paper what gearing was needed to put me in the peak of the torque range at 65mph so tried several gear combos which threw the speedo off with each change. Finally wised up and stuck my Garmin gps to the windshield to get dead accurate reading no matter what gears or tire size. Now I have a gps speedo which I'm making a factory looking rectangular mount plate to accept both the stock gauges and the gps. Am a happy camper that will never fight cables, gears, or ratios again on any future project.
True. My 32 was built over a long tough time on a budget, but at my age, I wanted it to be 100% old time with no modern stuff at all. 1940 Ford dash with a 1947 Plymouth gauge cluster & speedo. The speedo numbers, and those number lines, and even the needle, change colors from green up to around 40mph, to orange, and then to red at 60mph. I think that was pretty cool when Plymouth did that starting in 1946. I am using a 37 Buick top shift trans with early Olds V8 gears in it, and I actually had a few different NOS speedo drive gears, so it reads dead nuts perfect on those speed display roadside radar trailers set up near schools, etc. I used a stock 56 Olds speedo cable that I had. I also put 12volt gauge guts inside the Plymouth gauges, so they all work properly, too. No offence, but no way I'd have modern stuff staring at me in my car. But,when my son takes it on long trips, that chrome radio block off plate is actually a flip-open defroster vent, so he sets his phone in it to use GPS for directions.
We use a Garman (GPS) almost on a daily basis with the shop van, trying to find streets on and out of Anderson and neighboring towns, ours has the speed if needed and when we travel I generally use the suction cup on the windshield. I use to use the old fashion folding maps but in our business I would spend more time looking for addresses in those map books. HRP
I just have an old GPS stuck to the windshield, hard wired to the key so it comes on whenever I start it. It serves as a speedo, and also as a odometer that I reset when I fill up with gas, so I know after about 100 miles it's time to find gas.
I just got the speedo working in my new 51 Hudson. I dropped off the original speedo at a repair shop in Tucson, where it may or may not get fixed. Then I remembered I bought an old SW speedo for my other car last year, but it didn't fit in the hole on that one, too big. But it does fit the Hudson, sort of. And it's only off by about 10%, I think I can rig up a speedo cable reduction gearbox to make it just right. I haven't given up yet, but then, I'm an idiot.
Nope, you are just one of those people that still take the effort to fix things or make old stuff work. When was the last time you bought a Ididit column, Lokar shifter, or a one wire alternator .
The Jalopy Journal
