My recently refurbed original speedo just zapped out again and rather than jump on another new cable (AhGin...)

I recently heard from a 914-6er at Cars N Coffee that there is a gps version out there that obviously eliminates the cable, angle drive and everything that is prone to failure.

Is so, any sage advice as to source would be appreciated as I am interested in retaining the needle-look /not a paste-on digital affair..

Maybe take the innards of an off the shelf version and adapt the existing gauge body and face to the gps works???




Forrest

One obvious drawback would be that you need good GPS reception for this to work properly.

If you're parked in a garage or between houses a lot it can take 10+ minutes for the GPS to acquire enough satellites to get a good triangulation.

You can also have problems with GPS dropping off if you drive in the mountains or in the city where there are a lot of tall buildings.

As for living in Laguna Beach, we live with darkness 50% of the time on Sirius and gps in all autos etc. / No rabbit ears tv, and intermittent Dish reception + horrible cell reception. Maybe this explains some of the decisions made by our City Council....,

Anyway, some info is better than what I have now.... dead needle, with another brand new broken cable at the gauge back... routed correctly according to Bruce but to no avail..

Thanks for the input however.

Forrest

Does the odometer need the cable and angle drive to function?

yes but odo is not important to me as mileage on a 914 is fictional in every case known to mankind. No offence to the purists......

See: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=230296&hl=

Clay Perrine has done a couple of threads on this topic

Before you spend the money, download a gps speedometer app on your smartphone. They work pretty well except in tunnels and other areas that Andy mentioned. Most of the apps are free

I just ordered one of these: http://www.speedhut.com/gauge/GRM4-GPS-03T...-and-high-beam)

They don't need the cable to log miles. The GPS has an odometer as well as a trip odo, 0-60 times, 0-100 times; highest speed attained, etc. They can be wired so no warm up time is necessary or power saving mode which requires about 30-45 seconds to acquire. Dead ass accurate no matter what size tires that you run. Very well lit, only 2" deep. Careful Forest. This improvement mode can be a slippery slope that lands you in the Suby Pool.

I have a cheep little Tom Tom that I use. I suction cup it to the regular speedo glass. It tells me were I'm going and also has a digital speed readout. It also tells me when I'm exceeding the speed limit when the readout turns red. And of course, I slow down immediately.

The one I have is a stock 911 Electronic speedometer with an autometer adapter. It works great once calibrated. Runs both the speedo and the odo.

Ran it all the way to Okteenerfest and back. Never dropped out at all.

What was the total cost of your GPS/Electronic speedo conversion?

Just the cost of the 911 electronic speedo and Autometer adapter. I picked up the speedo at a swap meet, and I didn't pay much for it. The Autometer adapter is going for about $170.00 now.

I later had the speedometer rebuilt, but it was not necessary, just cosmetic.

That is not entirely true. In order for that to work you need a build in cell phone and reception in order to download ephemeris data at least once every 4 hours when parked in a spot where you can't get GPS, like in a garage etc.

Without that, the built-in satellite position data will have drifted too far and you won't be able to acquire a good lock for quite some time.

I worked with this stuff on a daily basis for the last 5 years ...

Garmin makes several inexpensive bicycle computer. I mounted mine on the steering wheel. It gives you all sorts of info like, miles, MPH, Temp, Altitude, etc. Several screens you can go thru and also you can configure as you want it. You can also download the info into a computer and it gives you a map of your trip. My speedo is about 12mph off and I had this extra one for my bicycle. Works out great - lots of used ones on ebay or new.

Here is a pic of the mount. I also used this in several race cars and it draws a pic of the track and gives your speeds etc. I've since gone to a smartphone program for that purpose.