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  1. #26
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thmpsn70 View Post
    thank you the information you share will help more than me
    You're welcome!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  2. #27

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    This keeps the original odometer?

    Quote Originally Posted by Hissing Cobra View Post
    Hey guys/gals, I wanted to share with you a great project to do on your '79-'86 Mustang/Capri. I learned it from my twin brother Paul Slaney (306gt on this site), who's done it on his '85 Mustang GT and on his son's '86 Mustang GT.

    If you've ever wanted to have a 140 mph speedometer in your Mustang/Capri but cannot find those elusive Ford Motorsport or Certified Calibrated SSP speedometers, you're in luck. How? You can now convert your current 85 mph speedometer into a 140 mph unit pretty easily. I just finished this project for my '79 Cobra and it's 100% accurate, as I compared it to my I-Phone's GPS based speedometer app called Speed Box.

    To do this, you must find an '89 - '93 Mustang 140 mph speedometer. I was lucky, as I had one that I took out of my '89 LX 5.0/5-speed when I stripped it last year. It's now been re-purposed into my early foureye with great success!

    Step by step instructions are listed below.

    1. Remove cluster from dash and remove original 85 mph speedometer from cluster

    2. Remove the speedometer needle by pulling up on it. Be careful or it will break (Pull it upwards from center section and not the needle pointer). Once done, drill out the four small rivets from the face of the speedometer that hold it to the frame and remove the face

    3. Now that you're down to the frame that contains the "guts", remove the two small screws from the front of frame that hold the "guts" of the speedometer. You can then remove the "guts." Once removed, you will see a round "brake drum" type thingy with a needle that's still attached to the frame (this needle goes through the frame and is held in place by a small spring on the front of the frame). Pull this out from the backside. Once done, you can carefully remove the spring on the front by gently moving it aside and by loosening the nut that holds it to the frame. BE CAREFUL with this spring because if it breaks the speedometer will not work.

    4. Disassemble the 140 mph speedometer in the same exact fashion and reinstall everything from the 140mph unit onto the '79-'86 frame (the '87-'93 frames are different). Again, be careful with that spring! If you break it, you cannot use the spring from the 85 mph speedometer, because they're different. I know that because I tried to use it and the speedometer was only accurate up to 40 mph. At 80 mph it showed me doing 140! I then relented and made the swap to the correct spring and it became 100% accurate.

    5. Now you can reinstall the 85mph speedometer face by using small screws in the previously drilled out rivet holes. Once done, install your 140 mph gauge overlay decal and reinstall the needle by pushing it into place with it pointing to zero.

    6. Reinstall your "new" 140mph speedometer back into your cluster, reinstall the entire cluster back into the dash, and reinstall your dash bezel. You're now done!

    Tom Clark (69clark on this site) made me this set of gauge decal overlays and they came out great! He decal kits are very reasonable as far as pricing is concerned and he can customize them as well. If anyone is interested, send him a private message.

    Anyway, here's some pic's.

    Stock '89 LX 5.0/5-speed 140 mph speedometer

    Attachment 131675

    Tom made me these overlays out of Carbon Fiber Paper and I asked him to make a few custom touches. First, he changed the "Redline from 4,800 - 5,800rpms to 6,000 - 7,000 rpms, as my 347 makes peak power at 6,000 rpms and I shift it at 6,500 rpms. Also, instead of the "Redline", he was able to change it to an "Orangeline" to match the colors on my Cobra door decals. He was also able to add the Cobra logo to the speedometer in the same font.

    Attachment 131676

    Now, my original tachometer was the Turbo 4-cylinder unit that showed 8,000 rpms. The problem is that it wouldn't work with the V8 and the original 6,000 rpm tachometer for the V8 cars would have been useless, as I shift at 6,500 rpms. For that reason, I installed an '83 Mustang GT 7,000 rpm tach and that will work for me. I will need to add the MSD tach adapter (MSD part # 8920) to my ignition in order to make it work with my MSD 6AL ignition box but that won't be a big deal at all. Here they are with the overlays installed. I also painted the needles Fluorescent Orange to match.

    Attachment 131677

    Pic of them installed. I had to take it back out again and position the needle on zero. DOH!

    Attachment 131678

    Pic of them at night with lights lit. I chose to remove the Blue covers on my lightbulbs to get rid of that Green hue and it worked out well. These are the stock lights at full brightness but they can be dimmed like normal with the headlight switch.

    Attachment 131679

    I hope you all like this info!

  3. #28
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 84 Turbo GT Vert View Post
    This keeps the original odometer?
    Yep! All you're changing is the guts themselves.
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  4. #29

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    Thanks for the idea! Did this today, but with an 86 SVO into my 84 GT Turbo. Also replaced the AMP gauge with a Turbo Boost Gauge... wish I took pics of the process... Name:  042E6CE8-0334-4A3A-A04C-3F9BF5149A9A.jpg
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  5. #30
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 84 Turbo GT Vert View Post
    Thanks for the idea! Did this today, but with an 86 SVO into my 84 GT Turbo. Also replaced the AMP gauge with a Turbo Boost Gauge... wish I took pics of the process... Name:  042E6CE8-0334-4A3A-A04C-3F9BF5149A9A.jpg
Views: 338
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    Did this work for you? if so, I'm so happy for you!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  6. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hissing Cobra View Post
    Did this work for you? if so, I'm so happy for you!
    Yup! It allowed me to keep the odometer correct! I could have just changed the whole speedo, but I didn’t want to you instantly add 23,000 miles to it. ����

  7. #32
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 84 Turbo GT Vert View Post
    Yup! It allowed me to keep the odometer correct! I could have just changed the whole speedo, but I didn’t want to you instantly add 23,000 miles to it. 😁😀
    Nice!!!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  8. #33

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    So, sad story... first test drive revealed that the calibration is WAY off...

  9. #34
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 84 Turbo GT Vert View Post
    So, sad story... first test drive revealed that the calibration is WAY off...
    Did you change the spring on the front of the speedometer that's underneath the face? How far is it off? Was it accurate before the swap?
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  10. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by 84 Turbo GT Vert View Post
    Thanks for the idea! Did this today, but with an 86 SVO into my 84 GT Turbo. Also replaced the AMP gauge with a Turbo Boost Gauge... wish I took pics of the process... Name:  042E6CE8-0334-4A3A-A04C-3F9BF5149A9A.jpg
Views: 338
Size:  119.5 KB
    Where did you source a turbo boost gauge? Look great!

  11. #36

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    Did you end up finding a way to calibrate your speedometer?

    Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

  12. #37

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    Does anyone know if Tom Clark (69clark on this site) is still active? I messaged him a week ago and haven't heard anything. I am hoping to find a custom printed speedometer overlay to convert a Canadian speedometer to mph

    Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

  13. #38
    FEP Super Member escogt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bornwise77 View Post
    Does anyone know if Tom Clark (69clark on this site) is still active? I messaged him a week ago and haven't heard anything. I am hoping to find a custom printed speedometer overlay to convert a Canadian speedometer to mph

    Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
    Try him on FB. He's active there. Good luck!
    '85GT Bright Atlantic Blue
    '92LX Bimini Blue-sold
    '93 COBRA Teal Metallic-sold
    '86SVO Oxford White-sold
    '86GT 'Vert True Blue-sold
    '81'GT' Medium Red-sold

  14. #39

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    What made you even think of this? Amazing. Good job.
    Theodore J. Garbera, 1985 Mercury Capri RS

  15. #40
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ponch85rs View Post
    What made you even think of this? Amazing. Good job.
    Thanks! My twin brother (Retro 5.0 on this site) did it a few times and he taught me how to do it.
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  16. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hissing Cobra View Post
    Thanks! My twin brother (Retro 5.0 on this site) did it a few times and he taught me how to do it.
    I know this is an old thread now, but wow this proved useful. My stock 85mph cluster from my 86 had white overlays which I liked back in the day but wanted to get rid of to go back to that stock look. I successfully pulled them off but unfortunately the orange markings looked terrible.

    I bought a low low mileage cluster with a broken housing and swapped it all over. Well I come to find that the speedo is making noise. Bench testing it with a cable identified that the round "spinner or brake drum" had been tweaked at some point and was vibrating really bad. Can't fix that.

    Using OP's info I completely disassembled it and my original and used all the good parts from mine and the good from new one and I now I have a minty looking speedo with right mileage.

    Just gotta take your time these are pretty easy to mess up.

    If anyone has a link to some non white overlays I'd appreciate it.

  17. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobra912 View Post
    If anyone has a link to some non white overlays I'd appreciate it.
    Like this?

    https://lmr.com/item/LRS-17255B86/Mu...auge-Kit-83-86
    1985 Mustang GT (Mothballed...Desired restomod parts acquired...Top of my project list for my 2024 retirement!)

  18. #43

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    haha yes! thanks. Didn't see those on there.

  19. #44
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobra912 View Post
    I know this is an old thread now, but wow this proved useful. My stock 85mph cluster from my 86 had white overlays which I liked back in the day but wanted to get rid of to go back to that stock look. I successfully pulled them off but unfortunately the orange markings looked terrible.

    I bought a low low mileage cluster with a broken housing and swapped it all over. Well I come to find that the speedo is making noise. Bench testing it with a cable identified that the round "spinner or brake drum" had been tweaked at some point and was vibrating really bad. Can't fix that.

    Using OP's info I completely disassembled it and my original and used all the good parts from mine and the good from new one and I now I have a minty looking speedo with right mileage.

    Just gotta take your time these are pretty easy to mess up.

    If anyone has a link to some non white overlays I'd appreciate it.
    Nice! I'm glad that this post helped you fix yours. Get those overlays and you'll be in business!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

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