Dash update and speedometer questions on my 1940 56S

[Daves1940Buick56S]

While I'm waiting for the weather to clear up I figured I would go ahead and get the wiring issues behind the dash cleared up. But I also know that getting the instrument panel off is not easy or fun. So I decided the first thing to do was to get the grill off to make it easier to get my hand in from the right side.

I wrote some time ago about trying to get the grill off the dash. Well I got down to the point where I could see that it was held on by Tinnerman nuts and I decided to wait and do it at a later time. That later time has finally come and last week I started crawling under the dash to see what I could do. It was a struggle but I managed to get all all six of the Tinnerman nuts removed. Obviously they will go back all rubber grommets so I will never have to go through this again.

Once that was done I could start looking at what it would take to get the instrument panel off. There are two studs with nuts on the right side that were really easy to get to so those came off pretty quick. Then comes the left side. The lower stud didn't have a nut on it at all so that wasn't a problem. The upper stud was a real witch to find and get the nut off but my friend who was helping me was able to do it.

So with that I was able to pull the panel forward and get access to the back of the instrument pods. I could see all the wiring pretty clearly and see what I need to do. The first thing I did was to go ahead and remove the speedometer and it was pretty simple really. So as soon as it warms up again I'm going to start working the wiring, repairing the bad places and replacing wires where required. I also have one light socket that seems to be inop but it could just be a bad wire splice so I will see. The map light socket is missing in action so I have to scrape up something and then hook it to the instrument light switch. I also went ahead and pulled the steering wheel. I have some questions about that but I will put it in a separate thread.

You can see the original dash color in these photos.

So while the speedometer is out I thought I would see what I could do for maintenance. I will follow Roberts procedure (as outlined in the Bugle) to go ahead and re-lube the shaft. However there are a few issues with it and I do have some questions.

1. The speedometer goes up to 120 mph but I have seen pictures of 1940 speedometers where it stops at 110. As you can see from the photo there is shadowing on the metal ring that shows the old numbers. However the chapter ring markings match the current silkscreened markings. So did someone swap out these sometime in the past? I.e., replace the glass/silkscreen and plastic chapter ring with 1941 versions?

2. If it is a 1941, is the gearing the same as 1940? I.e., same part #?

3. Do the chapter ring markings on a 1940 110 mph speedometer match the silkscreened numbers?

4. Also the speedometer portion seems to work okay with 1200 RPM at speedo back resulting in a 60 mph reading. But the odometer does not advance so I assume the gearing is shot. Is this user repairable? I know there are vendors who repair speedometers but I understand they are very expensive.

5. Any way to clean up/restore the plastic pieces (chapter ring, etc)? Or just replace?

6. Bell Buick sells plastic repro parts for the speedo and pods but he states 1941 on. Is this due to the 120 mph speedometer?

7. Notice the color on the metal ring (2nd photo is flash with a truer color representation). I know the original was copper colored but this seems to have oxidized to a greenish tinge. Can this ring be cleaned up and polished to bring back the copper or must it be repainted? Anyone done this?

8. Anyone done anything with the other 2 pods? Is it a problem to take them apart and replace the plastic bits?

Cheers, Dave

[ILIKECARS53]

Dave, some one changed something. if you look at the speedo, there are 2 places that indicate the hi beams, at the top and bottom. bob's automobilia in calif also sells the plastic inserts. good luck. Jim

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Thanks, Jim.

Well, after not hearing anything else from the cognoscenti here I went ahead and started stripping down the speedo. Got the back off OK and, after a bit of work, got the front bezel and glass off. The mph indicator is on a ring of plexi with the numbers and marks engraved into the plastic. Looks like it was painted with a cream colored paint but about 1/2 of it is gone. The metal "copper" face looks to be a thin piece of sheet metal that is coated with something to make it look like copper. It sticks to a magnet so not copper or brass. I am not sure how to bring back the copper look, will have to experiment some.

Started looking at the speedometer itself. Could not see any jammed or clogged gears but I think I figured out why it was not working. The trip OD cable "sticks" with the gear jamming the trip OD and the regular OD as well. I freed it up and went on ahead and removed the ODs so I could see if the gears were garmed up.

So I ended up removing the cup as well. If any of you do this be careful here as a hairspring attached the cup to the frame, keep them together. The pinions are a little dirty, will clean up and lube with clock oil.

The OD gears are OK but the grease looks a little old. I will clean it out and relube. Any recommendations on grease? The old grease looks like the old fiber wheel bearing grease. I could use either wheel bearing grease, chassis grease, lubriplate, or clock mainspring grease, going from heavy to light. Thoughts?

I will also pull the oil seal and lube that as well. I think clock oil will be good for this unless it has to be lighter.

I will post photos. It is a pile o' parts that's for sure.

Cheers, Dave

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Photos as promised

[Dave_B]

Dave,

There was a guy down in Nokesville VA selling dash parts from a 40 Special a while back, he may still have the gauge cluster. I found him on Craigslist. His number is 703-927-7710.

Dave

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Dave:

Thanks! I did locate a 1940 0 - 110 speedo label ring. It is pretty banged up but I have been polishing it out. Of course the new chapter ring that I am putting in will be wrong, but I have been looking at pix thru Google and I will not be the only one! I will give the Nokesville a guy if I get stuck, should know in a few days.

Cheers, Dave

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Whoops, will give the Nokesville guy a call...finger got behind brain!

[Daves1940Buick56S]

fingers...arrrrgh!

[Morgan Wright]

On 2/27/2014 at 0:47 PM, Daves1940Buick56S said:

. So did someone swap out these sometime in the past? I.e., replace the glass/silkscreen and plastic chapter ring with 1941 versions?

 

I can tell somebody did something because in your write up you said there were 4 nuts holding the panel to the dash, in fact there were 6 but 2 of them are extremely hard to reach, so anybody who worked on it probably just put 4 back and left the other 2 out...........like I just did! 4 nuts are plenty enough to hold that panel.