Rolled back odometer anyone?

-
When I replaced my gauge cluster with a better one, I just matched the mileage of the original.
 
I used to roll back speedos by connecting the cable to a drill motor and running the drill in reverse. The numbers always lined up. With cars over 25 years old, The law dosen't apply.
 
Ummm you run the drill backwards to match how it works in the car, so you didn't run the drill backwards! :poke:
 
I rolled it a few miles like that but didn't like the way it was flopping around on my setup. Plus it would take about 6 hours to roll this back, forward would have been far quicker but literally, the cylinders rolled pretty easily once it was out of the cage with just one little retainer clip. Get it where you need it, line up the lock tabs and put it back into the cage. Use your finger to roll each cylinder back onto its stop and they will line right up. This 64 actually has a very faint 1/4ish hex socket on the speedo cable ferrule. I had it up to 110mph on the drill and that drill was spinning! Hard to imagine the speed of that cable registering 110mph. And remember to lube these every so often. This one was a little stiff and the bushing got quite warm on the drill. I lubed it and it spun much easier after that.
 
pishta said:
Funny thing about these old gauge faces. You touch them with almost anything and it leaves a mark. The anti glare finish turns almost into a chalk and anything that touches it will leave a burnished track. I bought a nasty mud crusted 64 Bezel at the fling and parted out the guages and the almost perfect lenses! A little Meguires plastic polish and they look 1964 new. Speedo worked after I lubed it, as well as the 3 other gauges.
Click to expand...
What Did you lube the Speedo with?
 
I just put a few drops of spray lube on the rotating bushings. Very light weight oil.
 
rebuilt suspension...rebuilt motor? The ability to dial in a mileage to suit a replacement odometer? It had its instructional purpose.
 
Dana67Dart said:
I'm sure someone will point out you probably broke 37 laws in 59 states:lol:
Click to expand...
And then posted it on the internet for all to see including the 216 robots that are scanning the site. :poke::rofl:

upload_2022-5-30_10-22-54.png
 
If you really wanted to piss some people off, take a rebodied '70 340 car, roll the speedometer back to zero, and put a 350 4 barrel small block Chevy in it, and stamp the V.I.N. of the car into the side of the block and call it a ''Matching numbers all original concept car''.
 
I was a sales manager for a few car dealerships in the 1970 in Vancouver B.C. You could go on any car lot in town and you would find every car had about 10,000 mile per year. There were 2 people that came to the dealerships and spun back the miles as soon as the trades came in. This lasted until one of them decided to return to his home in another country and gave the news media the whole story including the fact that he had reversed the millage on some cars 3 or 4 times. That put a stop to it with many dealers paying fines.
 
This is the Iowa State Law. where I live. Read #1.2.and 3. Check with your own state if you care.


upload_2022-5-30_13-52-21.png
 
The original speedometer in my 65 Barracuda broke after it had turned over twice and read 50,000 miles. I.e., at 250,000 miles. Drove it without a functioning speedometer for a while, then replaced the original with a 150mph speedo out of a Duster 340. Have turned that one over, too, now reads just under 50K. I estimate the total miles on the car is around 350K. Here in Florida, you just mark the papers as speedometer does not read actual miles and you're OK.

20200126_164716.jpg
 
In the early sixties, Hill-Kelly Dodge in Pensacola, Florida had a 60 Dodge Phoenix D500 convertible with a long ram 383, black with a white top. First time I looked at it (I was way too young to drive, just curious), odometer showed a bit over 60K. Next time I looked, maybe 30-40K. Last time I looked, 20K. Would love to have that car today, though.
 
They got GPS on them now, no more speedo disconnect as it would throw a PCM code anyway. In CA its legal if the car is over 10 year sold. Now why its legal is beyond me but it clearly states in the title transfer check box that "odometer exceeds actual miles". Its no longer a factor in a 5 digit odometer. Of course today you can just scan the PCM for the actual mileage, run time and a host of other things. Not uncommon for a police car to have 10,000 hours of idle time. 8 hour day, 2020 hours in a year, 10 year life span? Thats only 4 hours of idling a day at the donut shop or on side of road at an off ramp closure.
 
That was one of my ‘jobs’ at the Dodge dealership back in 1970, cutting clocks. One of the owners (3) would buy used cars from other dealers, mostly 50 to 60 thousand miles on the clock. Any car over 50 went to wholesale lot so I’d make em ‘new’ again, somewhere in the 40s. Using utmost care not to touch any face parts (fingerprints) easy peasy. I know a few guys $10,000 less in the pocket and a couple years in the slammer
I’ll add, these dealers would gather these high millage cars, recondition and detail them, 20-30 a month. They never cut clocks because they knew the dealers buying them would do that. A Big part of their sales
 
Last edited:
Ceedawg said:
That was one of my ‘jobs’ at the Dodge dealership back in 1970, cutting clocks. One of the owners (3) would buy used cars from other dealers, mostly 50 to 60 thousand miles on the clock. Any car over 50 went to wholesale lot so I’d make em ‘new’ again, somewhere in the 40s. Using utmost care not to touch any face parts (fingerprints) easy peasy. I know a few guys $10,000 less in the pocket and a couple years in the slammer
I’ll add, these dealers would gather these high millage cars, recondition and detail them, 20-30 a month. They never cut clocks because they knew the dealers buying them would do that. A Big part of their sales
Click to expand...
Ah, the good old days.
 
pishta said:
Interesting...did it make a mark? Wonder why they didnt just put a 7th roller in there. That would be a great selling point: "Our cars are designed to go past 100,000 miles and the million mile odometer proves this!"
Click to expand...
It was an red translucent ink dab that on the 6th number. We slid a piece of plastic between it and the numbers because as soon as you took it out it would touch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top