Club 80-90 Forums

It seems to me that our Instrument Pods containing the Speedo and Tach are a
source of some problems for some of us. Both in their maintenance and condition,
as well as issues with upgrades related to Increased Tire Size and Engine
Changes.

I wanted to do a bicentennial spring cleaning on mine, since I don't think
anyone has ever touched it cept to do a quick brush off. Plus I wanted to see if
I could find and fix some intermittent problems that I had been experiencing.
Taking it apart was fairly straight forward, with no incidents. What I found
though was a problem however. Some of the hold down tabs where cracked. Some
minor points had cracked and where missing, but worst of all the Plastic
Membrane / Circuit Pathway was coming apart at the point where the electrical
connector goes on.

At first I just figured to get another unit. Thought it would be easy enough to
go on the Net and find one. Seems they are in great demand, going for well over
$100 bucks for a unit in "Fair" condition. What I mean by that is they seem to
be rated in how many of the Tabs are broken off or cracked and none seem to be
in perfect condition.

So I figured to repair mine. Using Epoxy and filler I rebuilt the Tabs. Super
cleaned the housing after removing the instrument modules. Cleaned the modules
and final worked on the Membrane. Visually I was pleased, functionally there
where issues.

Next step was to get some "Parts Pods", now have half a dozen and after several
attempted transplants of parts I am still not satisfied that I have 100%
functionality.

Since new OE Replacements seem to be impossible to find and "pulled" units have
there own set of problems I wondered about
just upgrading the whole thing to something new. I found several sources for new
Electronic Gauge sets from places like VDO as well as fully digital set ups for
the aftermarket crowd. Some seem like they might even fit in the old Pod
housing. But I don't recall any discussions about this topic. Anyone have any
experience with this???

I mofified the instrument display and installed a hardwire PCB. There is a thread in the 'Modified Forum'. Happy to supply you with parts and advice if its of any help but you must keep the old membrane PCB as the 4mm Sockets (used for the LED's and DOPS) have to be removed and fitted to the replacment if sticking with the original POD. After market guages are possible but you will need to calibrate or check them against the VW senders. You will also need to consider the coolant level warning if yours is a Wc engine as well as converting the mechanical speedo into a digital pulse if you are contemplating a full digital dash conversion. All things are possible!