VDO guages

Where are some good places to get the VDO guages that are seen on most Speedster kits? Also, about how much do they cost?
Thanks,
Rick

Check with Carey Hines at Special Edition. He might be able to help.

Thanks Lane...
I emailed Carey...see what comes of it. Appreciate the help.
Rick

Richard,

I haven't seen the e-mail, but will check in the morning when I get to the office.

Here is the status of VDO gauges: last year VDO announced that they will be discontinuing their replica 356 series of gauges. They are made off the line, literally, in a small room with a Chamonix nameplate above the door. As many of you know, gauges are no longer (and haven't been for some time) single cans with internals. They are larger circuit boards designed to fit in a specialized pod. VDO says that the time and effort it takes to make the individual cans no longer fits into their manufacturing plans. They have also discontinued their marine line of gauges, which are manufactured in a similar fashion.

I have several hundred sets on order, and have for nearly 2 years. I was told, some time ago, that I they would fill as much of that order as possible, but I would be lucky to see 100 sets. So far they have been filtering in at a rate of about 8-10 sets a month, which barely fills my own needs from builds alone.

We are working on tooling replica gauges with 2 other large gauge manufacturers, however this has been a SLOW process, and we will not accept anything less than perfect. We have seen, and denied, several samples thus far. I feel we are close, but I won't dare to guess when we will have them available again.

So... currently we are not selling ANY gauges through our parts department. All gauges that we are receiving from VDO are for in house builds only. I hope this situation will change soon, and I will notify the SOC when they are available again.

Lane, thanks for the referral. Richard, sorry I couldn't be of any help.

Thank you Carey, I appreciate the effort.
Rick

Richard,

Well you can get the Asian ones from Vintage Speedster or JPS or go with the 914 vdo gauges. That is what came with my older speedster and personaly I like the black/white contrast, reminds me of my favorite dive watches. In addition they have the added plus of being inexpensive.

Dave

C.B. Performance was selling VDO guages, but may be facing the same problem as Carey.......You might want to give them a call and check it out....Just a thought....

Richard--the Vintage VDO gauges aren't so bad! I did have a problem with my tach and asked Kirk about it and he swapped it for a new one at no charge. He even paid the postage. The replacement works perfectly---just like the speedo.

Otherwise I would suggest Ebay. I have found some great Speedster things there.

Good luck with your project.---Jack

Thanks for all the info guys!
Rick

The 914 gauges look great with upgraded chrome bezels. They were available from Palo Alto Speedometer at $138 for the set.
Problem is that there is not enough call for them and PAS no longer keeps them in stock.
A replacement three piece black bezel set runs about $45 and to get them chromed runs another $150 and a 60 day turn around time. ~Alan

Hmmm...I wonder how the bezels would look silver powdercoated?

I haven't tried that, you have a source Bill ?

This may be an alternative to chrome, although they say out of stock:

http://members.carcrafter.com/shop/product.php?productid=13&cat=5&page=1

Not off hand, Al, but I'm sure there are local coaters around here.

I was lucky enough to get the chrome trim rings on the Tub when I bought it, just don't have an updated pic.

$150 to $200 is very pricey. Maybe get the black ones and paint instead of plating.

Alan, man that was a sharp Speedster you built!

Dave

Thanks Dave, the white speedster now belongs to "Mike" in Ky. ~Alan

SOunds like if you want a good gauge, you'll have to get the chinese copy and then have the insides re-done right at North Hollywood Speedo. W/ this approach, you get the can and a good looking dial face, bezle, etc. and a properly working insides. Might be spending too many $$, however. This is where I ended up w/ my tach, which was a true POS as delivered from China via JPS. After the NHS rework, I got a properly working instrument. They claim they put in real VDO innards. They also sell variations on the dial faces, that look all just like the real deals. Now if the news below means that these VDO innards are also not going to be avalaible, then I don't know what to say. Sounds like a niche market void for someone w/ smarts to get into. The Chinese Gauges look just fine, just don;t work worth a sh--..

http://www.nhspeedometer.com/

About 3 years ago I picked up a set 3 914 guages off thesamba for about $80 and sent them off to Palo Alto Speedo and had them reconditioned and converted to a 550 Spyder look, (chrome bezels new dial fronts). So, they have the original German VDO internals and the right look. Cost was just over $500 but they work.

One thing to keep in mind, the 914 guages are about 1/4" smaller in diameter than my original non German VDO guages, so they don't fit my Spyder without using a panel to reduce the hole size. But on the other hand, they fit my under construction Speedster perfectly.

I also notice that the 914 guages are suddenly hard to come by and the prices are going up.....so others must be converting them too....

However, opportunity does still exist to use 914 guages, Craig's list locally had a 914 free for towing it away last month....and another for $350 late last year.... just food for thought

912, 912, 912...