1956 speedometer works, odometer not working | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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1956 speedometer works, odometer not working

  • Thread starter Thread starter George Clayton
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George Clayton

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1956
I have a 56 little bird. Speedo works perfectly. The odometer does not work at all. Any known remedies? Do I have to send it out for repair? If so where? All suggestions are welcome.

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Who repairs speedometers and tachometers?
 
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George Clayton said:
I have a 56 little bird. Speedo works perfectly. The odometer does not work at all. Any known remedies? Do I have to send it out for repair? If so where? All suggestions are welcome.
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The reason your odometer is not working is because the nylon drive gear is stripped. This gear is designed to strip in the event that one of the odometer number wheels jams, causing the speedometer to lock up. Inside the number wheels are a set of switching gears that move the next number wheel at the appropriate time. I have rebuilt a number of these speedometers and if you have the time and patience it is nothing more than a simple mechanical device. The problem might be getting the parts needed. I am fortunate that I have a few speedometers that I use for parts.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

Speedometer.JPG



Odometer Drive Gear.jpg

Odometer Wheels.JPG

Odometer Wheels and Switching Gear.JPG
 
Williamson Instruments
Ron, 479-369-2551
Recommended to me by Cassco Restorations.
Work on their website is impressive.

Williamson is in PA. I shipped mine there. Return shipping is included in his price.
 
I see this thread is kinda old, but... I have a 56 export model with a metric speedometer, and an odometer problem. Only the 1/10 kilometer number turns and the rest do nothing. I'm pretty sure that one of the internal gears in the drums is the culprit, but unsure about how to disassemble the unit. I got a replacement odometer from Hill's, but it is for a MPH speedo and has a different gear tooth count than my original. It is also in much better shape than mine. I'd like to take all the number drums off my old shaft (the one with the correct gear), and reassemble with all the other pieces from the replacement odometer on the old shaft (with the correct gear). Is this possible, and if so, how do I take the odo apart; do I somehow pull the brass washer off the end of the shaft opposite the gear? I hope to be able to do this myself; thanks for any and all help!
 
56Donnervogel said:
I see this thread is kinda old, but... I have a 56 export model with a metric speedometer, and an odometer problem. Only the 1/10 kilometer number turns and the rest do nothing. I'm pretty sure that one of the internal gears in the drums is the culprit, but unsure about how to disassemble the unit. I got a replacement odometer from Hill's, but it is for a MPH speedo and has a different gear tooth count than my original. It is also in much better shape than mine. I'd like to take all the number drums off my old shaft (the one with the correct gear), and reassemble with all the other pieces from the replacement odometer on the old shaft (with the correct gear). Is this possible, and if so, how do I take the odo apart; do I somehow pull the brass washer off the end of the shaft opposite the gear? I hope to be able to do this myself; thanks for any and all help!
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Just thinking about it I would think the whole drum part would be the same. The drum doesn't know if it's doing miles and tenths of miles or km's and tenths of km's. If you look a few posts up where there is a photo with the words "nylon drive gear" in it, I think if you can keep that nylon gear and the two other gears on the left of the photo, you could swap out the rest of the drums that are to the right of that thin metal gear which appears to connect to the white one-tenth drum.
 
I think that’s right Tom. On this unit both the worm gears appear to be metal, but the odometer appears the same as the MPH unit except for that thin gear. I’d like to do what you suggest, but not sure how to disassemble the odometer. I don’t think the gear will press off, so I think the thick brass washer at the other end may come off. Have you had any experience taking one of these odometers apart? I would be afraid of ruining a one-of-a-kind piece if I did it wrong, so I thought I’d check with you folks for advice.
 
56Donnervogel said:
I think that’s right Tom. On this unit both the worm gears appear to be metal, but the odometer appears the same as the MPH unit except for that thin gear. I’d like to do what you suggest, but not sure how to disassemble the odometer. I don’t think the gear will press off, so I think the thick brass washer at the other end may come off. Have you had any experience taking one of these odometers apart? I would be afraid of ruining a one-of-a-kind piece if I did it wrong, so I thought I’d check with you folks for advice.
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The last one I took apart was over 50 years ago so don't recall much. I think it mostly just comes apart by pulling the copper colored parts up that are on the right side of the photo. They might be staked in place and a little of the pot metal cast material might have to be dremeled off to open up the staking. See if you can search for a youtube video of someone redoing one. There is a youtube video of almost everything these days.
 
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