The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk speedo shaft snapped off

Why hasn't someone designed and marketed a piece that can be slipped over and glued on the end of the broken speedo shaft and have the other end made to fit the needle. It could be made of nylon or other kind of plastic. It just kills me to have to trash an otherwise good speedometer just because of being born with sausage fingers.

I did the same thing the first time I worked on a speedo ,I built two small crowbars out of 16 gauge that I can put on both sides of the shaft and pop the needle off. Works every time.They look like two flat bars like the ones a carpenter would use.


Pete

Well, since I didn't have the little crow bars to prevent from snapping off the end of the shaft, do I now need a large sledge hammer to smash my broken speedometer into little tiny hateful pieces? Your post will prevent a lot of people from making my mistake. I'm going to now put on my MacGyver hat and see if I can come up with a fix.

you should be able to salvage yours using the "bell" piece that the shaft is on from a "scrap" speedo, try a post in the parts wanted

Bill

Yes I could do that Bill, but then I wouldn't have a cool MacGyver story to tell. Its just another ridiculous adventure in this pointless hobby.
Carl

I would consider a short piece of the correct diameter wire insulation (stripped from a piece of wire) and a drop or two of an all-purpose adhesive. It would be very light and might even work without the adhesive.

Very interesting, got me to thinking. How about a properly sized piece of heat shrink tubing?

I feel your pain brother. I'm presently wrestling w/my brakes, which appear to need a total/complete rebuild.....

Now we're talkin Ed! I'm going to get right on it with the wire insulation. Just need to find a piece that fits inside the needle and outside of the shaft.

I slipped a very small piece of shrink tube over the shaft and heated itwith ahead gun. As I remember I had to push the little guide bushing toward the front of the speedo to make room for the tubing. It's been on there for three years and the speedo works. If I were to do it again I think I would put a dab of JD in the tube before I heat it.

I also found a dinner fork helped me get the broken shaft off the speedoneedle

Why not heat up the end of a needle and melt it into the broken off piece of the shaft...let it cool and bond...then remove ?

Are you talking about heating the broken off piece of the brass shaft that fits into the metal backing of the needle? I guess I'm not following what is supposed to melt.

Sorry....mine was plastic....that's what I thought yours was too.....my bad

Which gets the ideas flowing! Don't have a speedo in front of me
so I don't know if there is access or enough of the shaft left
to repair. But like I've been doing for a year now, I was
unpacking boxes from my BIG MOVE and found my "Little Torch"
and "Microflame" torches. These are, or were used to do fine
jewelry the smallest tip being .006", so it is a really small
flame. When I worked as an instrument welder at the National
Lab I would often be called upon to weld thermocouple wires
together, which I did with the TIG. Just for fun I would show
off by welding two single edge razor blades together, the sharp
edges that is.
So I was thinking that it might be possible to weld a new shaft
on to the speedo if there were enough of a stub left using one
of the Micro torches. Love to try it one day if I can find a
cadaver to practice on.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL