85 Mph Speedo Swap

[demonswede]

If you have a 1984 with 85 mph Electronic Speedo - what to do to get a speedo with higher mph? Electronic speedo what parts to swap?

[ekooke]

See: http://www.lincolnsonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=006319

[pro-five-oh]

I think he's talking about the electronic clusters without the needles. smile.gif
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/advanced/199speedo.html

This is what Cougar/Tbird people do to make the 85mph unit read 188mph. If you are good with electronics I bet you can find a similar circuit on a Mark VII cluster. (no they are not the same)

So why not run it in km/h if you're in Europe? Doesn't it read 188km/h that way?

[invadertoast]

quote:Originally posted by pro-five-oh:

So why not run it in km/h if you're in Europe? Doesn't it read 188km/h that way?

It tops out at 137 km/h... found that out in Canada a couple years ago smile.gif

[andrew]

kinda makes me want to solder a bridge on all of them and see what neat stuff happens tongue.gif

[demonswede]

Thanks - I don't know if I can find any 1986 & newer with electronic speedos - but I can find analog LSCs 1988 & similar - has anybody made electronic to analog conversiones - how to do this?
Has anybode completed electronic with temp - oil pressure & volt meters? Where to put the meters - the car is already full?

[2manymarks]

My 1992 Shop Manual says the 92 electronic digital speedometer "can display vehicle speeds from zero to a maximum of 193km/h (120 mph)." I assume a swapout may be all that is necessary. It is the only Mark VII year to say 120mph. Further, the odometer will only display to 199999.9 then rollover to 100000.0 .

[demonswede]

Is the 1992 a straight-on swap on older cars?
I thought 1986 was the first year again for full speedos

[Rusty's 1984 Mk VII LSC Diesel]

That's our ever-brilliant "gub'mint" for ya...they force the car makers to stick an 85-mph speedo in the cars...what a joke! I saw an '80s 'Vette that had an pissy-ass 85-mph speedo...now that is not just a joke, it's really SAD! All that money for the car, and a broken speedo needle is what ya get! My 1974 Dodge Charger has a factory 150-mph speedo, and the car will do every bit of 150 mph if I could keep it from trying to take off like a plane when it passes 125 mph!! 2.71 rear end gears make for 1-2 shifts at 60 mph and 2-3 shifts at about 105 mph in the 5,000-5,400 rpm range with the zippy Police/Performance high-perf 360 4-barrel. No EGR passages, ports or valves stock, right from the factory! I love my LSCs, but the 85 mph speedo just sucks, and it is so VISIBLE!! That '74 Charger 150-mph factory speedo always garners lots of wistful and approving looks...hard to break that speedo needle! But we all know that our LSCs are so much more than what velocity the speedo pegs out at, huh?!! Still, 85 mph max on the speedo is just so slow...especially with the speed limit on the Interstates out here in the west and Arizona a comfy 75 mph... :(
-Rusty
1984 Mark VII LSC Turbo Diesel
1986 Mark VII LSC
1989 Bill Blass-"Blasst from the Past"tm
1974 Dodge Charger SE Brougham

[ekooke]

Those 1980s Corvettes with the digital speedometers were really odd. Put your foot in it and the speedometer climb would stop at 85 mph, BUT if you kept your foot in it for more than 15 seconds, the display would blank and then come back on with a true ground speed of 150+ mph. smile.gif

[84mark]

hehehh...sneaked it past the regulators that way...well, get ready for the whole thing over again- double nickel, 85 speedo.....

the mark electronic speedo/odo is exactly the same as was used on the t-bird, 85 max and the odo would roll back to 100k after 199k, because the far left digit was only a half-digit, allowing only for a '1', not a '2'...this is, at least as far as the 80's cars go...interesting, if they bothered to change it only as late as 92, since there was very low production, and probably less than half of that got digital dashes....

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by andrew:
kinda makes me want to solder a bridge on all of them and see what neat stuff happens tongue.gif

LOL, might not be a bad idea! Seriously though, I bet the speedometer unit uses a similar circuit board, someone might wanna try it. smile.gif