Well I would have to agreeonthe first point. I personally believe mileage is directly related and important to the life of an engine and tranny. Therefore some might think the right thing to do is reset it. The gentleman said he was not scheming or defrauding so there is no wrong doing (No one answered the question about the difference of buying one. I just dont see how some think everything is black and white with blinders on before looking at themselves. The one I saw done was not sealed and the guy took the silver plate off the back. Once at that point he was able to turn the 'dials' while keeping the 'flanges' aligned. I guess you will understand once you see it. This one was one he was reselling and he felt the numbers didnt matter. Kind of like buying a new one....

dstanger: I am not recommending either way, but if I were you I would do what ever you want and not worry about what other people think. Life is too short to worry about it. Good luck with your project.

As to your comment about this forum. I truly believe this has been the best one I have found to discuss "anything" with. Look forward to more discussions.

 

Same to you and to all who responded... I will take it apart and post what I find. If I destroy it then I simply buy a new one and end up with the same result. And no, you can't buy my car <grin>....

 

Well then you are suppose to take out the drill (like jlg2002 suggested) and add miles until it reads the same as the unit you are replacing. Yuck Yuck Yuck

I am in the process of replacing the falcon style/idiot light dash with the 5 guage cluster. I bought all the stuff used on ebay including a used speedometer. Turns out the guy I bought it from had tampered with the odometer (my guess in an attempt to roll back the milage) and broke the damn thing (I had already given positive feedback [:@]).

I too plan on rolling the odometer back (when I get another used one). Not all the way to 0 miles, but to about 9,000 because thats how many miles my 65 has on the new tranny and engine. My car started lifeout as a 6 banger/automatic, but now has a v8/4speed,not to mention the other components switched out to handle the conversion. I doubt anyone gives a rat's a$$ how many actual miles is on it. I don't, and don't care ifanyone else does

btw good luck and let us know if 65StangFB's method works

 

I'm certainly not an 'expert' and It has been 15+ years since I replaced the funky speedometer (odometer was accurate, speedometer not)in my brother's '66 vert and rolled it forward to match his mileage, but if IIRC you have to remove the dial assembly from the speedo, release or remove the teeth that drive it, roll the numbers and then reverse the removal. It wasn't a 10 minute job on the toilet but it wasn't brain surgery either. Holy run-on sentence Batman!!

As to the ethics of the mileage, who is to say what the true number is since the odometer only goes to 5 places? Personally, I'd be far more likely to believe somebody who told me the car had 26k miles on the rebuilt engine and the reset odometer reflects it than I would believe that the car only had 26k or 126k original miles on a 40+ year old car. In other words, the reading of the odometer means nothing and the condition of the vehicle means everything. Obviously, I'm not talking about an original well-documented car but a run of the mill Mustang like most of us here possess.

FWIW, CA does not require a mileage disclosure for vehicles 10 years or older.

 

mustang monthly showed how to do it not to long ago, id have to look, but i probably still have the issue

 

This is easily done by hand, I did the speedo in my Ranchero last night in about 10 minutes.

 

I did mine on my 69 stang, on the bench about 15 mins no prbm

 

I think reading mileage in a car that is 40+ years old is a moot point. Seriously, if you go to look at Mustang to buy and you even factor in looking at the mileage you are not going very deep. The car could have sat in a cornfield for 30 years, have 18,000 miles on it and it wouldn't matter.

I would throw mileage out of the window unless the car has a pedigree and documented low mileage and is being sold as such. My 66 has a new speedo in it with a little over 2200 miles on it. When and if I sell the car I will put the old speedo in the trunk and let the new owner do the math.

I would have a problem with someone doing it to a late model car because the mileage indicates so many things that could be in need of service when the car is reaching 100K or so. A 60's-70's Mustang can't hide anything, one must assume that everything is old and will need adjusting or replacing.

 

I agree. If you're talking about late-model cars, and Fly-by-night Autos is rolling back the odo, it's fraud. On the other hand, the mileage on a classic car is not even considered unless it's one of those barn-finds, with 2700 miles and extremely clean.

This car had every moving part, and most of the rest either replaced or reconditioned to new. Does it really matter what the odo says?

 

I like to start a fresh restoration with a speedo at zero miles especially if the engine, tranny and drivetrain are new. It just makes things easier as far as keeping track of oil changes, maintenance and such. If I ever sell the car, I can tell the buyer that the car has whatever miles on the restoration by merely looking at the odometer.