Dear BB'ers

I am in the process of fitting an "R-Sport" instrument cluster (the
early 240 type with the spiffy yellow dials) to my 1974 142 and have
discovered that the speedo cable wont reach the speedo ... its about
4" or so too short. (Note that this is a RHD car - which I suspect may be part of the problem, as the new speedo is on the RH side of the cluster, away from the centreline of the car, whereas the standard speedo is on the LHS of the cluster). Swapping the position of the speedo & tach isnt an
option due to the shape of the circuit board.

Anyone know if the speedo cable from an auto 140 (mine's an M40) or
maybe from a 164 is longer, and may work as an easy replacement ?

Also, has anyone else done this dash conversion ? I am having a
few "issues" with getting it all to work wiring-wise. Looks like the wiring in the dash connectors isn't quite the same. Any tips most welcome !

Dave Gallacher
Melbourne, Australia

I've done it on my 1973 142 and had a new cable made up because I was fitting and overdrive at the same time. I'm not overly happy with it - the tacho swings wildly from time to time at anything over 3k and accelerating - just when you need it, plus the gauges are a bit obscured by my smaller steering wheel.
Having said that, I don't remember anything overly difficult with it. Your plug configuration should be the same as mine and as the 240s.

If you're still having trouble, try and tell me specifics and I'll be seeing the car at the weekend (it lives in Bathurst, NSW and I'm currently in Sydney) and I'll have a better look what I did.

Regards

JohnH

Thanks John

I plan to have a play with the wiring this weekend (plus I have a little soldering to do where a corner has been chipped off the PCB)

If I cant figure the conenctions out I'll yell for help ....

Hi,
I had a bear of a time installing my R-sport cluster in my '74144GL. First, the tach did not work at all. Second, the plastic fitting on the spedo cable broke as I was removing it from the old instrament panel and made the needle jump over the reset button rendering the speedo useless.
I took the speedo apart and corrected the problem and managed to find a really nice replacement tach that works on e-bay. The r-sport cluster is now in and the tach works fine. The calibration may be a little low and I will be able to check this observation once I have my new spedo cable in and hooked up properly. Before I do this I want to make sure that the cluster is fastened nice and snug. The brackets I made to hold the cluster in place are not working as well as I would like. Can anyone advise me on the shape of bracket to use? I am currently using two small plates and nuts. I am thinking that putting a ninty degree angle on the outer edge of the plates and using wing-nuts might be more effective.
The cluster sure looks cool at night with all the gauges lit up and its nice to have a volt meter and oil pressure gauge right in front of me. The bottom of the cluster could use a little touch up paint. I chipped it a bit taking it in and out. The plastic strip at the bottom while now flat since I cut it into pieces to fit better needs to be replaced.
I like the cluster because of the coolness factor. A lot can be said for the original panel however...a little less "Mad Max" in my honest opinon.

-Ted
'74 144GL
'59 PV 445

Mine has the original brackets with it ..... I'll take a pic next week & post it for you

I've got to wonder how close I got with these, made to hold it into a 240. Still have to find some wingnuts or the like. Looking forward to your picture of the real deal.

Made from 1/8" aluminum
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Thanks!

Hope these help .... sorry about the (lack of) focus !

and another one ....

The fact that it is RHD is probably the majority of the problem, maybe
also that gravity pulls the wrong way over there.....
The OD cable should be enough longer to do your job, if you are only
4" short. At least you're routing from the closer side of the tranny....
The Auto tranny cable may be the same; not sure.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks George - didn't realise that o/drive cars had a longer cable - I'll try & find one at a wrecker somewhere.

And our gravity is fine, thanks very much ... but I don't know how you guys manage to stay on the planet, you being "upside down" and all ... :o)

Dave

Everybody knows that gravity is concentrated at the center of mass.
Although we understand that there are some pretty grave folks down under.
Hopefully they understand the gravity of the situation, like the Pommies.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!