New product - 140 mph speedo overlay

[TR Custom Parts]

In response to a thread on the "other" board that was talking about a 140 mph speedo we have come up with an overlay that duplicates the original.

These were on some Rivieras and someone had one up for auction on ebay and it went for $480! Our overlay is only $40. Here's a pic. Available from this page of our site.

http://www.buickgn.com/speedometer.htm


Here's a link to the thread on the other site.
http://turbobuicks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30217

 

[denn454]

nice!

if i didn't have a digital dash i'd buy one!

i dont' know how you guys use the 85 mph dash, i have the 199 mph chip and its a good thing. theres so many times i'm over 85 and its good to know how much over i really am.

 

[DCVING 6]

how do you calibrate the overlay?

 

[sixnboost]

I would like to buy one for my GN, but what do you do for calibration?

Do you have a gear? If so how accurate will it be? Would I need to take the car to someone that calibrates speedo's?

Thanks, You make alot of cool stuff for these cars!!

Billy

 

[Buick From Hell]

Some info--

First, to use this overlay you'll need to have the speedo re-calibrated to use any of the typical 145 overlays...I'm not sure how to go about the re-calibration, but I'm sure someone on the board does! For those of you that already have a 145 speedo, the 140 is a direct replacement!

As for how I "calibrate", I built a calibration graphics program based on the original 85 speedo, and as long as I know (or can calculate) the percentage difference from stock, I can make an accurate overlay (or at least as accurate as the 85 speedo is!)

 

[TR Custom Parts]

You would have to bring your speedo unit to a shop that specializes in recalibration. Most big cities will have someone listed in the yellow pages. I think they tweak a spring or something in the unit itself.

 

[Fakeyankee]

Originally posted by Buick From Hell
Some info--

First, to use this overlay you'll need to have the speedo re-calibrated to use any of the typical 145 overlays...I'm not sure how to go about the re-calibration, but I'm sure someone on the board does! For those of you that already have a 145 speedo, the 140 is a direct replacement!

As for how I "calibrate", I built a calibration graphics program based on the original 85 speedo, and as long as I know (or can calculate) the percentage difference from stock, I can make an accurate overlay (or at least as accurate as the 85 speedo is!)

Not trying to be a wise guy or anything.......but what are you talking about ??? Did you have anything to do with this new product ?? If so...are you saying that the overlay offered in this thread is fairly close to the actual speed from the original ?? I'm very interested as i'm sure many others are......but we need some more info and in laymans terms please !!! Does your calibration program mean that if you use this overlay, It should be pretty close to the actual speed you are going ?? Once again...please forgive me if I have misunderstood what you were trying to say !!! Thanks, Darrell.

 

[cwelk87gn]

If you really wanted to impress the passengers, just leave the speedo alone and put the overlay on it. "Wow your car hit 140 in under 9 seconds!!" Just kidding, but does any one know an easy way to get the needle to quit jumping at low speeds? I know it needs lubricating, but what's the easiest way to do it?

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Originally posted by Fakeyankee
Not trying to be a wise guy or anything.......but what are you talking about ??? Did you have anything to do with this new product ??

I would say he has something to do with it! Kevin is the engraver genius behind all the engraved stuff we sell.

If you already have a 145 mph speedo this is a simple swap as you already have the speedometer recalibrated.

Bottom line? If you have an 85mph speedo it would have to be recalibrated by a speedometer shop.

Kevin (BFH) has a program to determine the proper placement of the numbers and the hash marks for the 140mph speedo based off of the 85mph speedo.

We came up with this for people that didn't want a crammed together speedo overlay like the 145mph one. Read the thread on the other board.

Did a quick search on the net and here is a company that does speedometer work. http://www.speedometersolutions.com/

I am sure everyone can find a place in their area or one that provides mail order service.

 

[Fakeyankee]

Understood. Thanks Mark !

 

[Whut]

It was also posted here

http://turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143201

I am going to find a shop around here that will re-calibrate my speedometer. If I can find one for a good price I will definately buy that overlay.

 

[dsa87gn]

Originally posted by BuickGn Boosted
You would have to bring your speedo unit to a shop that specializes in recalibration. Most big cities will have someone listed in the yellow pages. I think they tweak a spring or something in the unit itself.

Is having the unit calibrated the only way around this or can you change tranny gears ?

 

[HellOnWheels]

I have the 145 mph speedometer overlay installed and it came with the re-calibrated gear. However, while the speedometer shows the correct mph (-5mph) the VSS shows speed as being only 40 mph!!

I don't know if the speedometer can be re-calibrated so the VSS will read correctly, but if not the ECM will NOT read right either. In my case the ECM reads the speed as being 40 mph which screws up the chip scaling back timing, lockup won't work correctly, plus some other factors that I can't think of right now.

HOW

 

[phillyturbosix]

I got mine and it looks awesome! I love it! I thought all of those 145 speedo overlays looked like crap in the GN's IMO. This one looks stock because it was from a turbo Buick Rivera. There is a local speedometer shop near me and I'm just going to take the car there. From what I gather they install a reducer in the line and that's about it. Very simple job. We'll see! But I think this overlay is one of the best ever!

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Jim, did you ever get around to installing this?

 

[AZ Vic]

Originally posted by HellOnWheels
I have the 145 mph speedometer overlay installed and it came with the re-calibrated gear. However, while the speedometer shows the correct mph (-5mph) the VSS shows speed as being only 40 mph!!

I don't know if the speedometer can be re-calibrated so the VSS will read correctly, but if not the ECM will NOT read right either. In my case the ECM reads the speed as being 40 mph which screws up the chip scaling back timing, lockup won't work correctly, plus some other factors that I can't think of right now.

HOW

Funny, when I first got my GN, I noticed that the speedo was way off. I checked it with another vehicle and quickly found out that the km/h were dead on for a mph reading. Turns out, my dad had put a reducer in line that was set for this and the different tires.

I asked here in the tech section if this could affect anything other then convertor lock up and the unanimous (sp?) conclusion was no.

Are you sure the chip uses the VSS for timing and other things then TC lock up?

 

[Welby]

Sorry to sidetrack the thread, but does anyone know how accurate the speedo function is on a Scanmaster? My dash speedo is screwy and reads slow (I know from pacing my wife home with the car when I bought it) It'll read 50 mph, when the Scanmaster says 57 or 58. The tires are 225/60/15's which should be close to stock, so I don't know what someone did the screw it up so bad, lol.

 

[HellOnWheels]

May want to check the rear end gears to see if they are stock 3:32's.

HOW

 

[tjthorson]

ummm. sorry.... you meant 3.42???



couldn't resist....