More news on the speedometer front.
I finally received the one I bought on Ebay...with a note included in the box, saying "I found another one with lower mileage, so I sent it instead".
Of course, as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the wrong one - the same as the one I already have, gearing 28% out from what I could work with, and missing some parts to boot.
Emailed the guy back, and he got snippy about it - wanted me to return the "wrong" one (at my cost), and he'd see about finding another one. He also wouldn't say what happened to the one I'd paid for. Long story short, we went back and forth for a couple of weeks, emails getting more & more irate, and it wasn't until I threatened legal action (and found another, similar one on HIS website with the gearing I needed) that he finally agreed to exchange it & refund my return shipping.
When he finally sent a replacement, it was missing ALL of its external parts (no electrical parts, no brackets, no trip odometer reset cable assembly, etc. etc.) & was in generally about a "C-" in condition. AGAIN, with the emails. Him saying "you get what you agreed to - if you looked at all the pictures of the one I sent, it didn't have any stuff on it", with me responding "I paid for an "A+" condition one, with ALL its parts attached, so at least send me the missing parts so I can assemble a complete one". Again, I had to threaten legal action, negative feedback, etc.
He finally agreed to that. Now that I finally have the replacement (I have to work on it - move the needle & it doesn't return to zero), he's no longer responding to emails etc., so it looks like I won't be getting the rest of the parts (which he said he'll take off the one I sent back, as he doesn't have any other parts in his warehouse of Smiths gauges...
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He finally did admit that, after selling the original one to me, he turned around and sold it again, to someone else. I might have mentioned that that's fraud, and a Class III felony in Florida, where he's located...
The only good news is that the one I have now is geared for 1000 turns/mile, which should talk to my T-5 trans.
Once I have the rest of the parts, I have to order a cable that will join the Smiths speedo at one end with the T-5 at the other (supposedly available for $65USD). Oh, and probably a 90* angle drive for the speedo end, as there just won't be clearance for a cable between the T5 & tunnel without making an extremely tight bend (another $150USD...)
By the time I'm done, this will be the most expensive cheap speedo in history...
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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.
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