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6,649 Posts
I have a 74 Europa Twin Cam with the 5 speed transmission, aka the 365 transmission.
The speedo crapped out on me, so I did some testing to find out if it's the unit itself, the cable, or the gear drive in the trans.
I pulled the cable back at the trans, stuck the end in my drill, looked through the window at the speedo and discovered my Ryobi cordless drill is capable of 12 mph.
Ok, not the speedo, not the cable. It's the gear drive down in the trans. Turns out that part is virtually unobtainable, and if you DO find someone with one sitting on their bench, the price reflects its rarity...prohibitive.
AND if you find one and put it in, it's a temp fix, as sooner or later these parts will fail anyway. It's just a plastic gear extremely sensitive to constant lubrication.
Looked into GPS speedos, picked one up from Speedhut. They have a lot of different styles and sizes.
Found one the right size, and you can customize them on the site. Bezel finish, color of gauge face, color of indicator needle, lighting and color of same, font and number style, color of numbers/letters etc.
'Built' one that looks as close to the OEM Smith's gauge as possible. Finally got around to installing it, and it really looks good in the car. Nearly OEM. Purists or concours restorers will frown, but for a car that is being used and shown in informal shows, it's a great solution. Non-Lotus afficionados are unlikely to notice it's not OEM.
It's accurate too. If you start the car within 4 hours of last shut down, the GPS comes on instantly. More than four hours and it takes just under a minute to pick up the satellites.
The only hint that it's a modern gauge is the digital readout for the odometer. But it's relatively unobtrusive. The odo also toggles to doing 0 to 60 elapsed times.
I'm delighted with this solution for its aesthetics and utility. AND I don't have to worry about the cable/speedo/gear drive going out. And removing the cable saves a pound or two!
The speedo crapped out on me, so I did some testing to find out if it's the unit itself, the cable, or the gear drive in the trans.
I pulled the cable back at the trans, stuck the end in my drill, looked through the window at the speedo and discovered my Ryobi cordless drill is capable of 12 mph.
Ok, not the speedo, not the cable. It's the gear drive down in the trans. Turns out that part is virtually unobtainable, and if you DO find someone with one sitting on their bench, the price reflects its rarity...prohibitive.
AND if you find one and put it in, it's a temp fix, as sooner or later these parts will fail anyway. It's just a plastic gear extremely sensitive to constant lubrication.
Looked into GPS speedos, picked one up from Speedhut. They have a lot of different styles and sizes.
Found one the right size, and you can customize them on the site. Bezel finish, color of gauge face, color of indicator needle, lighting and color of same, font and number style, color of numbers/letters etc.
'Built' one that looks as close to the OEM Smith's gauge as possible. Finally got around to installing it, and it really looks good in the car. Nearly OEM. Purists or concours restorers will frown, but for a car that is being used and shown in informal shows, it's a great solution. Non-Lotus afficionados are unlikely to notice it's not OEM.
It's accurate too. If you start the car within 4 hours of last shut down, the GPS comes on instantly. More than four hours and it takes just under a minute to pick up the satellites.
The only hint that it's a modern gauge is the digital readout for the odometer. But it's relatively unobtrusive. The odo also toggles to doing 0 to 60 elapsed times.
I'm delighted with this solution for its aesthetics and utility. AND I don't have to worry about the cable/speedo/gear drive going out. And removing the cable saves a pound or two!