Arto

I'm looking to upgrade the instrument panel and all gauges on my '73, but am having difficulty finding a suitable speedometer and tachometer.

While AutoMeter makes great gauges, they don't seem to have a wide selection of metric gauges. Sure, Vettes are American cars and all that, but I'd really prefer my gauges, and especially the speedometer, in "euro" units.

AutoMeter has several nice 200 MPH speedometers in their catalog, but only one measly 260 KPH (~160 MPH) metric unit (product code 4489-M). (Their 2003 catalog is not out yet, maybe there're new metric products on the way?)

The only 300 KPH meter I've managed to find so far is a 100 mm electronic Smiths Instruments Cobra Cauge at:
http://www.caigauge.com/Smiths_Cobra_Instruments.htm

Alas, at 100 mm I guess it's too small for the dash (5" = 127 mm). I've sent them an inquiry on whether I could get one customized in a larger size; no reply yet.

So: does anyone have a 300 KPH (or more!) speedo installed on their C3, and if so, where did you obtain it? Is there also a matching tachometer available from the same manufacturer? Any help much appreciated!



[Modified by FlyingFinn, 12:39 PM 1/29/2003]

gkull

Search back or even just e-mail Merlin522. He installed a 200 mph gauge or something even higher which is a direct fit for our dash

groovyjay

Hi there fellow Finn, welcome to THE Forum! Are you going to break the speed record on Hameenlinna freeway or what!?

Autometer doesn't provide 300Kmh gauges in their latest catalogue either. This is the closest I've come across to 300Kmh;



As you can see it's the stock unit converted in to 280Kmh, looks pretty sleek to me.

I've installed set of Autometer ultralights in my car and I'm using 200Mph speedo. Here's the pic:



The speedo, gkull mentioned above, goes up to 250Mph and I think they are still available on Ebay. :steering:

groovyjay

I just noticed that you have 73, so the gauges in the top pic won't work... :cheers:

groovyjay

For what it's worth here's shot of Steve's 250Mph speedo:

Rolling Thunder

Don't know much about KPH, but here is mine in MPH only. Had a guy in Florida repair, recalibrate and reface it for a little over a hundred bucks.

Dave

Arto

gkull:
Thanks for the tip, I'll try to find out how he had his unit made.

Rolling Thunder:
220 mph = 352 km/h, nice :)

groovyjay:
What is the record on that freeway? :jester No, I think I'll prefer to try my luck at the German autobahns come next summer, thank you very much. A speeding ticket can be a ludicrously expensive affair in Finland, as I'm sure you know quite well :)

Naturally I have some :D tune-up work to do before I'll have any use of the 300 kph speedometer, but I like to keep sight of my goals.

Hmm... that 280 kph gauge looks mighty fine; based on the site you linked it from (http://www.corvettes.de), it appears it's a VDO electronic unit with a self-made face.

Your dash board looks very sleek. The aluminium finish is quite along the same lines I've been thinking of as well: I'd like to have an interior theme of black leather and brushed aluminium. But I've got a lot of ground work to do before I've time for the interior...

groovyjay

Over 300Kph for sure...

I hear you, but when the coppers see you doing 300Kph in Keimola, you'll be in Tampere before they stop choking on the doughnut.

What's the specs of your car at the moment?

Yeah it's a VDO speedo with custom made facial.

Thanks, if you need any help fabricating those pieces don't hesitate to contact me. :cheers:

Jarmo

Welcome to the best forum on the net Arto
:cheers:

Got any pics of your vette?
Must have some serious plans if you need a 300kph speedo for a 73
:D

Arto

Whooa. The patrol cars don't seem to be protecting the moose on this particular freeway, then.

LOL ;) Hmm... You got me wondering how modified their Ford Mondeos are...

My '73 used to be a 454 big-block (though not original), but the engine died on me last September (on the very same Hameenlinna freeway, as a matter of fact :D)

I just today acquired a good-quality rebuilt 350 CID, which I intend to push to its limits with a new intake, camshaft, cylinder heads etc. Still plenty of time to build the car before the summer...

(I was actually going to get a crate engine like the Fast Burn 385, but they are prohibitively expensive when imported to Finland. The quote I got for the ZZ4 was about 7,500 euros/dollars with shipping and customs paid.)

My goal at the moment is mostly top-end power, that is, I want to go fast, really fast (fits my age profile, no?) :) I don't care too much about my 0-60 or 1/4-mile times. I mean, even my Volvo S60 2.4T managed a top speed of over 250 km/h (~160 mph), so my Vette definitely needs to be able to match that.

Thanks for the offer! I have a relative who runs a tinsmith company in Turku, so I'll try my luck there first. But if I run into problems I'll be very glad for your help :)

Regards,
Arto


[Modified by FlyingFinn, 8:09 PM 2/3/2003]


[Modified by FlyingFinn, 8:28 PM 2/3/2003]

Arto

Hello Jarmo,

Thanks. You've got a Finnish name, but looks like you live a bit south of here, no? :)

Sorry, I don't have any really good pics as my baby is very much in the project stage as of now. However, here are a couple of pics I took last week at the Finnvette workshop:





As for plans, well, I'd like to be true to my forum nickname. I've heard the Sharks take to the air at high speeds ;)

Best regards,
Arto

groovyjay

Believe it or not, they are box standard engine-wise. They come with full factory warranty and they can't have them tuned otherwise they'd loose the warranty. They are fitted with stiffer springs and shock absorbers to cope with the extra weight gained from all the cop-equipment. Even the "hyped" Skoda RS's they've got are stock...

I'm with you on that one, I've tried all kinds of driving with my car, but now it's build for autobahn racing. I just bought new ring and pinion set with 2,72 final gear I should be gettin closer to the 290-300KpH mark, we'll see next summer how true all the calculations have been.

That car of yours looks so familiar, you wouldn't happened to buy it from a guy called Joonas Lahti?

Jarmo

Yes just a bit south

Best of luck with your project , we have similar hurdles ( cost ) here in Aussie when working on old Yank cars.

:cheers:

Arto

Hard to believe, indeed. Looks like the best engine they sell for the Mondeo in Finland (over normal channels, anyway) is a 3.0L DOHC V6 24V w/ 226 HP @ 6250 RPM and 285 Nm @ 4900 RPM. Not much of a rocket.

Great! I drove through Germany (north-south-north) a couple of times last summer with the Volvo, they've definitely got some great roads.

For the trip south, I set out from Rostock and drove straight to the Austrian border, with my foot virtually glued to the gas pedal and with stops only for refueling :) The only thing that kept my average speed below 200 kph were the all-too-frequent roadworks and an occasional Lada in the left lane.

I'm truly looking forward to hitting the bahns with the Vette, but I don't know if I'll attempt any top speeds this summer. It's a 30-year-old car after all, and there are too many details, especially in the power train, that I haven't yet looked at closely enough. Also, I currently don't have seat belts installed ;)

Nope, sorry. Bought it last year from a guy with the last name of Huhta. AFAIK, the car was brought over the Iso Rapakko (Atlantic Ocean for you English-speakers) 3-4 years ago.

Arto


[Modified by FlyingFinn, 10:06 PM 2/3/2003]

FinnShark

Welcome another Finn! :seeya

World is small and Finland is even smaller... That's a car that I almost bought almost a year ago. These guys here at the forum like to see a LOT of pictures so here is couple of those about your car. I took them last april when I was about to buy that car. I have some more info about the car. I you want to hear it contact me via e-mail you can find from my profile...

aussiejohn

Dear Jarmo,
G'day, mate. I haven't stumbled upon you on the Forum before (I think) . Where in Terra Australis are you? Or are the wallopers on your tail?
I'm in Melbourne and posted a thread last week "Calling all Australians" regarding a package deal to Bowling Green for the Birthday Party. Are you planning to go? If so, this package deal is a bottler. Look it up.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn :cheers: