SpeedyC2

I took the instrument cluster out of my S2 this weekend, and will be sending it off to Nichols Speedometer & Instruments in Greensboro, NC for repair (broken odometer), recalibration, and lighting upgrades (I'm supplying LED bulbs).

I looked into doing it all myself, but their price for refurbishment was good enough I figured I'd let the pros do it.

I have no experience with NSI, other than having heard good things and being impressed when I spoke with them over the phone, so I'll report back my impressions once it's all done.

HICKS

Do you mind sharing the cost?

Mangonesailor

I had no idea such a place existed in G-boro.

Tom M'Guinn

The VDO authorized places I've called wanted silly money to recalibrate the speedometer (Palo Alto and N Hollywood) -- like $500 or something like that. If this place recalibrates for a reasonable amount, let us know -- I'm sure lots of folks would be interested.

SpeedyC2

Not at all. I was quoted $185 (plus I'll pay for the shipping.)

It seemed pretty reasonable for a refurbishment to me, given an LED lighting kit is about $70 and the odometer gear $45. Add to that my ability to break small, delicate things and it really didn't seem so bad.

Again, I'll be happy to report back on how it goes.

Here's a link to the company: http://nsifleet.com/home.html

Mangonesailor

Lighting upgrades? Are you just swapping in bulbs or are you getting something fabbed up in the cluster?

SpeedyC2

Nothing fancy. They will be refurbishing the reflector housings and installing LED bulbs - which I'm supplying - to try to brighten things up.

pontifex4

This is a really timely thread. I look forward to hearing your impressions.

Arominus

I've got my cluster apart right now, the speedo re-cal would be nice, but the odo gear and light tunnels are not all that bad to do.

Definitely looking forward to seeing your results!

alordofchaos

Subscribed for the results.

Back when I had my 924 gauges recalibrated, the garage shipped them off to Germany... but this was pretty much right after Al Gore invented the internet and there weren't a lot of commercial places yet online. Heck, it was even before America OnLine CDs started showing up in your mailbox. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it was before CDs.

SpeedyC2

Update.

I packed the instrument cluster up and mailed it off Monday; got it back today! (Granted it's only 80 miles away, but that's a pretty quick turn around...) Total cost, with shipping, $197.53.

Everything looks good, and the LED bulbs are in place.

I'll report back further once I get it re-installed. I hope to have time in the next day or two.

racerbvd

How much were the LEDs?? Please post pix.

Butters944

How would one go about re-calibrating their own speedo..?

SpeedyC2

I got the LED bulbs (part no. 194 WLED-W-120) from superbrightleds.com and they were $1.39 ea.

I'll be sure to post pics once I get the cluster installed.

My guess is you make sure each gauge responds properly (linearly?) across the full range of possible input signal, but I'd really have no idea how to do it. I'm just a simple civil engineer - if the electricity stuff goes much beyond installing a light switch or ceiling fan I'm done...

86 951 Driver

3 things you need to know to be a Civil: **** goes down hill, can't push a rope, and paycheck is on Friday. Hahhahahahaha

BTW Electricity is magic.