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Swapping to 120-160 Speedometer


CaffeineRacer

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I'm just curious what would be involved in order to swap the original SW speedometer from my 1982 that goes to 85 with a speedo that goes to 120 or 160. Does the speedo cable need to be changed to make the calibration correct. The car has a 2004r transmission.

The one currently in there looks like this http://www.stewartwarner.com/Products/StewartWarner/Product-families/Deluxe/Speedometer-(electrical-mechanical)--P-N-82677.aspx. And I'd like to swap in a guage like this http://www.stewartwarner.com/Products/StewartWarner/Product-families/Deluxe/Speedometer-(electrical-mechanical)--P-N-550BP-D.aspx.

I've got to imagine someone has done this in the past. Thanks for any advice.

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That's a good question!...It definitely can be done, as a friend of mine did the exact same thing to his '81 Avanti using a NOS factory 160 speedo (this happened years ago)....But I really don't know if he had to change the speedo drive pinion,...or if the callibration was made up for in the speedo head itself. I believe that the cable would be the same one for both units.

Edited by mfg
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I installed a full set of Auto Meter gauges in place of the S-W units in my '70 and besides no longer needing a sending unit for the tach, it required no change in the speedometer cable. I also had a 700R4 installed in place of the PowerShift and the only thing necessary there was to have the appropriate drive gear for a 3.31 rear put in it.

Also...the gauges used as original equipment in Avantis were not known for their accuracy anyway. Early reviews noted both the speedometer and tachs got more "generous" in their readings as speed increased.

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I just swapped all my old gauges for new S/W gauges last year. I put this speedometer in and it works just fine. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sww-550bp-d

My original one was a 160 mph gauge, but I don't think it's range has anything to do with how it's calibrated. My new one is just as accurate as the old one, maybe better!

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