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  1. #1
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    Default LTD LX speedometer question

    Were they all 85MPH speedo's, or did some have the 140MPH type. During the cold spell here my speedo acted up and then one day the speedometer needle committed suicide and broke off spindle, leaving only a stub. If I can get a 140MPH for a reasonable bit of coin I'd rather get one, if they even made one....
    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  2. #2

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    My SSP goes to 140. But doesn't have a tach. Good luck finding one they're even rarer than the LX's. It might be cheaper to try and rebuild yours vs finding another.
    Cars:
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  3. #3

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    SSP/fleet = 140 MPH

    all others, including LX= 85 MPH

    But the LX speedometer (and tachometer) face have unique graphics. The SSP/fleet speedometer face is the same as the non-LX 85 MPH face.

    So that makes both the LX and the SSP/fleet speedometers unique to those models.
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  4. #4

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    Some of us use the 140 mph regardless of the graphics being different
    1985 Mustang GT Mild 331 4bbl 5 spd, 1985 SEFI LTD LX AOD.
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  5. #5
    FEP Senior Member OX1's Avatar
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    Looks fine together to me.


    Last edited by OX1; 03-25-2014 at 09:07 AM.
    86 Capri, 5.0, 5Spd, A9L QH/BE, 47 lb Inj PMAS 3" MAF, Single T44 Turbo, Front Mount IC, TW170,
    Stock Cam, Explr Intake/TB, 1.7 Rockers, CF dual friction clutch, 3" DP, 2.5" full Exh, 3.27, 11.932 @ 115.78
    84 LTD, 331-10:1, TW170/Exprl Intake, 47 lbs inj/80 mm LMAF, Full Duals, Quarterhorse, Vortech 7PSI, Lentech AOD, 5 lug Mk VII brakes/rear, Eibach Sway bars, Cobra HB (dads ride, but I fix it )

  6. #6
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    There's a couple on Ebay, but they're the standard ones
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/190617961255...84.m1423.l2649
    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  7. #7

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    Anyone know how to rewire for the tach when installing in a regular ltd? Also speedo gear change to match the 140 speedo? 3.55 gearing

  8. #8
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    Does a standard speedometer fit into an LX bezel??
    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  9. #9
    FEP Power Member LTDScott's Avatar
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    In order to put a non-LX speedo into an LX cluster, you have to cut/grind off a support rib on the back of the speedometer where the fuel level gauge needle goes (since non-LXs have the transmission gear indicator there instead). Other than that, it's plug and play.
    85 Ford LTD LX: Four eyes and Four doors

    EFI swap, AFR 165 heads, 5-speed conversion, Cobra brakes, etc.

  10. #10
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LTDScott View Post
    In order to put a non-LX speedo into an LX cluster, you have to cut/grind off a support rib on the back of the speedometer where the fuel level gauge needle goes (since non-LXs have the transmission gear indicator there instead). Other than that, it's plug and play.
    Thanks, appreciate it.
    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  11. #11
    FEP Senior Member OX1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nelzfoxes View Post
    Anyone know how to rewire for the tach when installing in a regular ltd? Also speedo gear change to match the 140 speedo? 3.55 gearing
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...LX-tach-wiring
    86 Capri, 5.0, 5Spd, A9L QH/BE, 47 lb Inj PMAS 3" MAF, Single T44 Turbo, Front Mount IC, TW170,
    Stock Cam, Explr Intake/TB, 1.7 Rockers, CF dual friction clutch, 3" DP, 2.5" full Exh, 3.27, 11.932 @ 115.78
    84 LTD, 331-10:1, TW170/Exprl Intake, 47 lbs inj/80 mm LMAF, Full Duals, Quarterhorse, Vortech 7PSI, Lentech AOD, 5 lug Mk VII brakes/rear, Eibach Sway bars, Cobra HB (dads ride, but I fix it )

  12. #12
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LTDScott View Post
    In order to put a non-LX speedo into an LX cluster, you have to cut/grind off a support rib on the back of the speedometer where the fuel level gauge needle goes (since non-LXs have the transmission gear indicator there instead). Other than that, it's plug and play.
    Looking at the pics of an LTD vs a LX speedo and the LX has the little horizontal lines across the face, might take some doing to replicate those, but not impossible.

    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Claflin View Post
    Looking at the pics of an LTD vs a LX speedo and the LX has the little horizontal lines across the face, might take some doing to replicate those, but not impossible.

    Look at those 2 speedos. The km/h on the lx speedo matches up with the mph on the police speedo. If you put the police mechanicals in the lx speedo and read the km/h numbers then you can keep the face and still know how fast you are going. I just noticed this today and I am going to try and do this for my Daddywagon.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Claflin View Post
    Looking at the pics of an LTD vs a LX speedo and the LX has the little horizontal lines across the face, might take some doing to replicate those, but not impossible.

    Look at those 2 speedos. The km/h on the lx speedo matches up with the mph on the police speedo. If you put the police mechanicals in the lx speedo and read the km/h numbers then you can keep the face and still know how fast you are going. I just noticed this today and I am going to try and do this for my Daddywagon.

  15. #15

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    I also did a swap to the 140 police speedometer and a LX tach as well.

    I wonder if its possible to remove the needle with rod and all... from an 85mph speedometer and swap it onto the 140 speedometer? It would look pretty nice if the needles could both be the same.

    For the time being I painted both needles (on the tach and 140 speedo) the same orange/red, so they look closer to a matched pair... but the style is different between the two.

    I need to take my cluster apart anyway, and fix the trip-o-meter in the 140 speedometer...maybe swap it out with the one from my 85 mph speedometer. It doesnt want to advance properly and makes a clicking sound as it fails to advance. The odometer is fine ...just the trip meter.

    The other weird thing I noticed is the fuel gauge indicator sits too high in the housing so it only ever reads about 85% full. I'm going to have to move it down in the housing about 3/16" to make the needle line up better with the markings.
    Anyone esle notice that when doing the swap of adding a fuel gauge in between the two gauges in the cluster where the transmission positions were on a cluster. it doesn't sit properly?

    Update 12/18/15 In searching for info I found a like to an LTD where the 140 needle was swapped to match the tach needle. If you browse this article and photos you can see how the needles must have been swapped.

    http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/...feature19.html

    Guess I'll pull my cluster today and see if I can figure out how to do the swap.
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Update later in the day:

    I figured out how to carefully pull the needle off the 85mph speedometer to put it on the 140mph speedo. I found a helpful tutorial that shows how to get the needle off most speedos. I'll post it here in case someone else wants to give it a try. Its pretty easy once I got over the fear of breaking something.
    http://gauge-repair.com/remove-a-spe...the-right-way/

    In my case I was able to hold the "speed cup" still with one hand... and gently twist the needle clockwise then counter-clockwise gently and it came loose pretty easily.

    I'm painting all my needles to look fresh and match the same color of a T-bird fuel gauge that I used in my custom set up. I'll post a picture up when its all finished...hopefully tonight or tomorrow.
    Last edited by BBCFORD; 12-18-2014 at 06:22 PM.

  16. #16

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    I put my cluster back together tonight. I still need to sort of why the trip-o-meter clicks and skips, but for now, here are a few photos. Its not perfect but it looks far better in person, then in the mega closeup photos. I wanted to resize the photos so you don't have to slide them on your browser, to see the whole photo but not sure how to do that.

    I painted the tach, speedo and fuel gauge needles to match with a bright orange model paint and also high-lited the raised rectangle portion of the tach face, to match the speedometer's with a chrome/silver paint.

    Other then being able to somehow replicate the horizontal lines the tach face has, I think its a pretty close match now.
    Attached Images Attached Images     
    Last edited by BBCFORD; 12-19-2014 at 08:02 PM.

  17. #17
    FEP Power Member David Claflin's Avatar
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    Looks good!
    1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
    1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
    1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
    1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56

  18. #18

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    Thanks... its not perfect but you really can't see the painting imperfections in natural lighting. The cameras flash and magnification kinda enhance the imperfections. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marz View Post
    Some of us use the 140 mph regardless of the graphics being different
    I wonder if an overlay of 3M decal material with matching graphics would work......
    Terry

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    17 F250 - My RV Trailer, projects, and car hauler vehicle

  20. #20

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    I'm sure that there are some kinda water based decal material that could be laid in place. Something like you would use on a plastic model kit, just as long as it doesn't dry out over time, the way many decals tend to do.

  21. #21
    FEP Senior Member OX1's Avatar
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    Looks great!!!!. If I didn't have to remove so much on my dads car to get to it
    (column mounted gauges), I would remove the cluster and do the same.
    86 Capri, 5.0, 5Spd, A9L QH/BE, 47 lb Inj PMAS 3" MAF, Single T44 Turbo, Front Mount IC, TW170,
    Stock Cam, Explr Intake/TB, 1.7 Rockers, CF dual friction clutch, 3" DP, 2.5" full Exh, 3.27, 11.932 @ 115.78
    84 LTD, 331-10:1, TW170/Exprl Intake, 47 lbs inj/80 mm LMAF, Full Duals, Quarterhorse, Vortech 7PSI, Lentech AOD, 5 lug Mk VII brakes/rear, Eibach Sway bars, Cobra HB (dads ride, but I fix it )

  22. #22

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    I'm going to revive this old thread.

    Anyone know of someone good at rebuilding these speedometers...maybe even a member here? My trip-o-meter doesnt really move, it just clicks and doesn't advance properly. The car has been stored 3 years, now the speedometer wants to read 80mph when I'm around 50.

  23. #23

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    While I can’t help you regarding a rebuild, I am thankful for revival because I hadn’t seen your conversion until now. I am gonna do what you did to your cluster!! Thanks!!!

  24. #24

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    After almost 5 years of wanting to fix the trip meter issue, I just pulled the cluster yesterday. I hate the process due to the way you have to contort your body. And at 50 with a fused back, that part isn't easy.
    Anyway, I wasn't willing to pay a repair shop $245 to rebuild my speedometer. Everything worked except the trip meter so I did it myself. I used a spare 85mph speedometer as my parts donor. I basically just swapped the original meter out with the other one. I never officially tested the donor gauge but I can definitely feel the difference in how the reset button feels when pressed and it rest when I spun it 2 blocks with my fingers. It took a bit of patience but it's very doable with just a 1/4" socket, bright light and a pair of tweezers or similar tool. The hardest part was getting the small connector that bridges the trip meter over to the odometer. Years ago I grabbed extra speedometers and a tach from the junkyard. Fortunately you can still find good working speedometers on fleabay that you can use as donor parts.
    Last edited by BBCFORD; 03-18-2019 at 03:23 PM.

  25. #25

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    @BBCFORD was your car an original LX car. I've currently got a 140 speedo cluster, and just recently picked up a LX gauge cluster. Wondering if you had any detailed info on the pinout (wiring) to make the LX tach work in a non-LX car?
    Last edited by Bsdoig; 10-04-2019 at 09:11 PM.

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