Issues With 1960 Speedometer

[Ian McCrimmon]

So a brief description of the issues I am facing in getting my speedo working properly.
First thing its an A903 3 speed behind a slant 6.
The needle was broken off so I used a thin pin behind the needle and glued it in place. It worked after that but worked is a loose approximation-it bounced around and eventually started howling like crazy and wrapped itself all the way around.
I disconnected the speedo cable from the back and cleaned and lubed the cable with white lithium grease. I also lubed the speedo (there is a little felt oiling hole) and the little bushing.
I tested the speedo with a cordless drill and appeared to work but wouldnt exceed 20mph or so. I chalked that up to slow drill speed.
Re-installed everything and now the speedo wont move until around 50mph where it starts moving. And no bouncing or noise. So at 60 it reads 10. What is weird is the odometer works fine at all speeds. And no noise from the cable.
So the question is how to correct this issue without replacing the entire speedo. Impossible to find anything to fit the 60 V200 around these parts.

 

[Professor Fate]

Have it rebuilt. There are many services out there, these guys are local to me and do good work:
Speedometer Service of Milw providing speedometer solutions
A search for "Automotive instrument repair" should turn up some options in your area.

 

[Super-Cuda]

There's a spring in behind the speedo face called a hair spring. Is it possible you damaged it while repairing the pointer?

Here's a good explaination of how it works.

Hope it helps!!

Cheers from The East Coast!!

How do speedometers work?

 

[Ian McCrimmon]

The hairspring sounds like the issue. I had a very small amount of knowledge about speedo operation. That would explain why the odo works but not the speedo.
The question then is it preloaded with a set number of turns or tension? I guess I have to open it back up to see if it got damaged or misaligned when the speedo wrapped around.