Changing guages from kph to mph?

[Llamapup]

Hello

I'm still getting used to driving around in my LHD Westy I purchased a few weeks ago. It drives great but I struggle to know how fast I'm going. There is a little strip of paper stuck to the bottom of the guage with a conversion chart on it, but that seems a little rudamentary. My van has been registered and MOTd here in the UK so I presume that it meets the UK standards. Does anyone know what the law says about guages reading in mph or kph on UK roads?

I was wondering if there is any way to fit a speedo that reads in MPH rather than in KPH. Less of an issue is the lack of a rev counter, but this is the first car I have ever driven without one.

Is there some way to replace the whole gugage binnacle with one for a UK spec van?

THanks

Llamapup

[Syncro G]

Is there some way to replace the whole gugage binnacle with one for a UK spec van?

THanks

Llamapup

Yep, thats exactly what you do, if you get one with a revcounter then bonus.

You can just swap the speedo clock within the original binical too.

On the front of the clock face is a 3 digit number (4 digit syncro as the cables run about twice the speed in them), multiply it by 1.6 and thats what you need on a MPH clock (aprox). Most have clip on cables, early is screw on so get what you need. Speedos with trip need a hole in the binical for reset button.

Leagally if its made after 1984 you should have MPH and km/h on the speedo, trip can read eather unit. A speedo being present is enough to pass the MOT, what it reads isn't an issue there. km/h only clocks are sometimes picked up when its registered but alot seem to slip through and get away with it, depends how strict DVLA local office is I suspect. If you get done for speeding I wouldn't use it as a defence, speedo error won't work and they might decide to give you more stick for not having MPH.

[lambrettalee]

i wouldnt waste your time or money, 50 kmh..is 30mph ... 80 kmh... 50 mph ...100 kmh 62 mph , if your kmh speedo is accurate, get some one to follow you , or put a sat nav in to callibrate your speedo so you know what its doing at a given reading....

[albertramsbottom]

Or just buy a round sticker that covers the original MPH

I think you can buy those as part of an import pack

Cheers

[BigTam]

Or invest in one of these, check this link from the Brickyard,

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/forum ... ?TID=34039" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CycloneMike]

The law.......

Construction & Use Regs:

Speedometers

Reg 35, every motor vehicle shall be fitted with a speedometer which, if the vehicle is first used on or after April 1, 1984, shall be capable of indicating speed in both miles per hour and kilometres per hour, either simultaneously or, by the operation of a switch, separately.

So depends on the age of your van.

[Llamapup]

All good advice there.

So if a get a new speedo guage that reads in MPH can I really just put the existing cable on the back? Will the needle read correctly, or does in need some sort of reduction gear thingy?

Does anyone have a binacle with a MPH speedo that would fit a 1988 LHD diesel T25. A rev counter would be ideal.

Thanks

Llamapup

[marble]

Why not buy some stick on dials the available on ebay

[Llamapup]

Why not buy some stick on dials the available on ebay

Sounds like a simple solution, but do they read accuratly?

[marble]

Yes they re only copies of the original with the colour changed. My kids and there friends have used them without probs

[jason k]

Why not buy some stick on dials the available on ebay

Sounds like a simple solution, but do they read accuratly?

but if you have aftermarket wheels 9 times out of 10 the rolling radius will be out so get a gps hud as linked earlier.. i got one in mine plus its cheaper than buying new rev counter clocks plus you keep the vans original mileage.

its a no brainer really

[Llamapup]

Okay, I'm starting to be convinced by the value of the sticker solution to my kph problem. What size stickers am I looking to get?

[CycloneMike]

All good advice there.

So if a get a new speedo guage that reads in MPH can I really just put the existing cable on the back? Will the needle read correctly, or does in need some sort of reduction gear thingy?

Llamapup

You should be able to swap a kph to mph clock. Unless I am mistaken (2WD?) they are both driven off the nearside wheel by a cable, so it doesn't matter whether it is petrol or diesel pushing it along. The conversion of wheel turns to mph or kph is done inside the unit itself, so if your wheels/tyres are normal size then any speedo with the 805 marking on the bottom of the gauge should give you "factory accurate" speed. Rev counters are another matter they are specific to diesel or petrol.

There are two types of cable to speedo fitting. Push on and screw on, just make sure the speedo you get matches your cable or be prepared to change the cable also.

[Syncro G]

All good advice there.

So if a get a new speedo guage that reads in MPH can I really just put the existing cable on the back? Will the needle read correctly, or does in need some sort of reduction gear thingy?

Llamapup

any speedo with the 805 marking on the bottom of the gauge should give you "factory accurate" speed.

805 means 805 cable turns per count on the odometer (mile in that case). thats the number of cable/tyre turns a mile (~1600m) takes in a 2WD (with stock wheels). For km its 5/8ths of that so they are geared to count about 500 turns per unit (1000m). So yes, km and mile speedos are interchangable but they have different numbers on the face near that ratio.

Another option is pull the neadle off, replace the face with one off a miles speedo and put the neadle back on in the right place so it reads true (there are alignment markers on the face which are visable when the clock is removed), angle will be slightly different as they have different min/max speeds but the neadle angle per km/h is the same on both speedos so it'll work, and you retain your original odometer readings in km.

[Red Westie]

Syncro G, I'm not convinced simply swapping the faces over would work, when I changed my head over it was very obvious when I looked closely that there was a difference in the worm gearing in the speedo head between MPH and KMH, presumably to differenciate the required needle movement between the two scales.
I have now changed my KMH head to a MPH one but would definately recommend the GPS HUD route as the only truely accurate speedo on a T25 ESPECIALLY if non standard wheels/tyres are fitted.
Martin