145 mph speedo overlay?

[just plain john]

I got a Regal dash to swap into my Elco hybrid. It came with a speedo that reads 145 mph. I have no history on the dash or the car it came out of. Was the 145 speedo available or is it an overlay? Is there some way to tell?

 

[I8AV8]

Speedometer

I don’t believe any Buick around that time frame had a145 mph speedometer. You can take it apart and you can see if it is an overlay, the 85 mph face should still be there. If it is an overlay you will need the reducer for it. It is a little box that gears it down, that converts it from 85 to 145. It goes between the cables that go from the transition to the speedometer.

 

[aminga]

The 85 MPH speedo's were A gift from Jimmy Carter along with the 55 MPH national speed limit.

If the speedo didn't read higher then no one would try to go faster.

 

[just plain john]

I was hoping not to have to take it apart to find out, but so much for hoping. Wish me luck, I'm going in.

 

[just plain john]

Btw, the dash is an 87 model if it makes any difference.

 

[JST A 6]

Don't use a reducer if you want your odometer to measure distance travelled accurately, as it will be thrown off too. The speedometer may have already been calibrated to the overlay. If not you can have it done. Check with the owner of the car it came out of to see if it was calibrated.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

145mph ones are not stock. As mentioned, if using one of these the correct way to do it is to have the speedo recalibrated. A reducer is NOT the way to go.

We have been offering the overlays ONLY for years now in black or white in addition to a more stock looking 140mph overlay. The speedo must be recalibrated to use them. Kirban has in the past offered a complete unit to swap in that has already been calibrated but the mileage on the odometer will be different than in your car.

Speedo Panel Kits

The white speedo panels are popular with those people running white faced gauges.

 

[just plain john]

Thanks for the replies. As noted above, I don't know the history of the car the das came out of. It shows 64K or so. The drivetrain had 77K when salvaged, and the El had 140K. I hadn't thought of the odometer. I'm still a ways off from the thing working. Will it affect the VSS signal?