Relatively new to the board and still anxiously awaiting about another 9-10ish months before Vintage Motorcars finishes my car, I do have a question for the group: I could be way off, but it appears the most of the original Speedsters from the 50’s I’ve seen typically had the speedometer on the right side. Why do most replicas place the speedometer on the left?
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Because the length of the standard VW Beetle speedometer cable is too short to put the speedometer on the right. And the longer length of the VW Bus speedometer cable is too long and it binds up.
I believe Greg uses the GPS driven speedometer so if you want it on the right he can do that for you. If you haven't opted for the GPS driven speedometer you can although it may cost more. Not sure what he uses as standard in the build.
That makes sense - thank you!
The new VDO guages are GPS, the old chinese knock offs are cable.
I am running a “too long” speedo cable with the speedo on the right and it seems to work just fine. The cable goes through the firewall somewhere near the steering column and makes a curve around to the left and down to the front wheel with a nice, gentle bend. My notes tell me that it is VW p/n 113957801AG and is 1390mm long (whatever that is). They’re like $30 bucks or so for a German one (highly recommended). IFAIK there were several different length cables used by VW over the years from 930mm to 1390mm.
@Robert M you may be thinking of the long, Type 2 Bus cable at something like 2070mm. That one would have to wrap around the Frunk a couple of times. 🤣
@Gordon Nichols posted:I am running a “too long” speedo cable with the speedo on the right and it seems to work just fine. The cable goes through the firewall somewhere near the steering column and makes a curve around to the left and down to the front wheel with a nice, gentle bend. My notes tell me that it is VW p/n 113957801AG and is 1390mm long (whatever that is). They’re like $30 bucks or so for a German one (highly recommended). IFAIK there were several different length cables used by VW over the years from 930mm to 1390mm.
@Robert M you may be thinking of the long, Type 2 Bus cable at something like 2070mm. That one would have to wrap around the Frunk a couple of times. 🤣
I was reporting information from the previous half dozen or more times that it's been covered and all said a standard bus cable is 25" longer than a VW Beetle cable which makes it too long. Or at least long enough that it might cause issues. Although it did seem to be a mixed bag of results with some saying the bus cable was perfect and others saying it was too long. Everyone that used a Super Beetle cable seemed to say it was the perfect length.
Lol, what I meant to say or rather I should have finished my thought was that the guages have a cable plus the chinese have pretty poor lighting.
Which reminds me: In a conversation with Hemut at PAS a year or so ago, he told me he can work on Brazilian VDOs, but the original VDO parts he has won’t fit the Chinese knockoffs.
BAM: That part Gordon listed does indeed fit a 1975-1979 Super Beetle.
I simply Googled "113957801AG fitment" and Bug City(imagine that!) came up at the top of the search: $32.95 thank you very much.
I don't need it(GPS Speedo) just posting to help the Speedster people.
Yup, That's what Pearl is - A Super Beetle in disguise!
As I have said in the past, I like having the speedometer on the left so it is harder for my wife to see.
I had Anthony move my to the right with a longer cable. Not a big deal. I have never had a problem with the cable. If I were buying new today I would opt for the VDO GPS.
@Michael McKelvey posted:As I have said in the past, I like having the speedometer on the left so it is harder for my wife to see.
Exactly! Left is also the correct placement for Spyders, so that's where mine is.
