I haven't posted on here too much since I finished the Wild Canary roadster pickup 8 years ago. Every once in a while I will add something to my "How to build an early hotrod frame" thread (109,000 hits and counting), as I did this morning, but by and large I haven't had anything intelligent to say, so I haven't posted. This hotrod is my daily driver from May until late September, and I have enjoyed it more than any other car I have built. This year, when I first got the model A out for its maiden spring voyage, the speedometer was acting funky. Needle kept jumping around, then finally died and laid on the pin. This is an Autometer gauge, (electronic speedometer, no cable) purchased as part of their "Golden Oldies" set of 5 gauges. All the gauges have performed very well up untill this year. I enquired at my local Hotrod parts retailer,"Performance Improvements" in Barrie, and was told $200 for a replacement speedometer, and that included a new sending unit, and no, I couldn't buy JUST the speedometer at a lower price. (The sending unit costs $127.00) I called the Autometer techline in Illinois, and they said "Send us your speedometer---we can probably fix it for a much better price, or worst case scenario, replace it at a lower price." -----So----This morning I pulled the speedometer out--(Remember I'm an old fat white guy, laying upside down in a roadster pickup, kind of like a Sea lion in a go kart)---- I boxed the speedometer up and mailed it off to Illinois, insured for $200 in case Canada Post loses the damned thing. (Jeez, that by itself cost $23.70)-----Now I play the waiting game untill I hear from Autometer. I'll let you know how I make out. And Oh Yeah---A speedometer is IMPERATIVE here. I don't get any heat from the Ontario cops, but I see the suckers setting everywhere with their radar units, and I really don't want to give them any business!!!
Can't wait to hear your experience after getting the new speedometer. Customer service may not be dead yet...but I'm not holding my breath.
Brian, Just went thru this a month ago with them. Got it back repaired @ a cost of $25 Stuffed it in and workin great 4 now.
Okay Guys----So here's the rest of the story. It turns out that whatever was wrong with my speedometer was not fixable. Autometer GAVE me a brand new speedometer, and adjusted the accumulated mileage on it to match my old "unfixable" speedometer. They told me it was a "warranty replacement, no charge" even though I built this car 8 or 9 years ago and have driven it daily every summer since. I put the speedometer in my roadster pickup this morning, calibrated it as per their instruction sheet, and its working perfectly. This time its even registering in Kilometers as I need it to, not miles. I don't honestly know if that capability is something new, or if I screwed up the calibration on the old speedo when I installed it 8 or 9 years ago. I do know that I could only ever get it to register how fast I was going in miles per hour, and then had to convert that to kilometers per hour in my head----which was a royal pain in the arse!!! So---From me---HOORAY FOR THE GREAT FOLKS AT AUTOMETER!!!!!!----Brian---(And, Oh yeah---what was my total cost?---Well, $23 to ship it from Ontario to Illinois, and $62 to FEDEX to get it back, so a total of $85---which beats the Hell out of paying $200 for a new one at my local speed shop.)
Brian, that cost is pretty good, spread out over the 8 or 9 years use you got out of it. Nice to hear there are still companies that build a good product and stand behind it. Don
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