The Holy Grail - A GENUINE AMG 6.9 Instrument Cluster (0-300kmhr) on EBAY

[WGB]

Took a packed lunch, 2 water bottles and my passport and ventured North of the River (Bad Perth in-joke) to Applied Instruments having received an e-mail yesterday that the artwork was ready for inspection.

Here is a scanned copy of the rough printout they gave me.



The letter three in the three hundred they copied from the tacho on the panel I gave them and the AMG logo was from a scanned copy I e-mailed them. The layout was taken from the picture Nathan e-mailed me of the German car - good quality and good angle at which the picture was taken (He's turning into quite the little photographer)

I have asked them to do an orange 50-60 sector and apparently they are going to silkscreen it this week and I will go back and view it next week.

Bill

[nathan]

well i dont like to brag Bill,
actually, yes i do
im the bomb!

[WGB]

I see you're like me Nathan - modesty is one of my many strong points

Bill

[500eguy]

Are they making you a new face for your speedo? i have not really been keeping up with this thread, as i am on the hunt to do this also.

[WGB]

They are making a replica of the AMG 300km/hr speedo and then calibrating my speedo when this is fitted.

They are aware that others will contact them and send them old faces/speedos if they wish to have the same done.

It has generated some interest among others.

Bill;

[oscar]

WGB, I'm still planning on this too.  Got a question re callibration.

I understand now how any speedo can be recalibrated to match the faceplate markings.  I also assume the odometer will still read correct without fiddling with the gears as nothing requires changing with that mechanism.  However, what would be required for the odometer to read correct if a 280 speedo/odometer is used on a 450?  To the best of your knowlegedge (or anyone elses), would there be a difference?  Cheers.

[WGB]

As far as I know the  differences between different diff ratios denote which speedo fits which car as well as the different markings for the gear change points.

The speedo needle is quite easy to recalibrate for different diff ratios if you wanted to but that would not change the odometer which is geared directly to the speedo head and can't be calibrated.

In my case I will be putting a new face on my old speedo body and keeping my old face if I want to replace it in the future. The odometer will remain unchanged so will be correct for the car. There are no shift points on the new face so the face should fit on any 116 speedo which will then need to be recalibrated.

I rang David at "Applied Instruments" yesterday as I was expecting to take my cluster up today and have the new face put in but he has had some problem with his Screen printing machine and has had to clean it - hope it is ready next week.

Bill

[koan]

However, what would be required for the odometer to read correct if a 280 speedo/odometer is used on a 450?  To the best of your knowlegedge (or anyone elses), would there be a difference? 

As WGB says the speedo is geared internally to suit the diff ratio which makes the odometer read correctly - and the needle to point to right number on the standard face.

If you change the diff ratio you will need the appropriate speedo, and then if you change the face the needle will have to be recalibrated (the rotating magnet that moves the needle is driven directly by the cable, the odometer is via the gears).

koan

[oscar]

WGB, thanks for the update.  BTW, can we just send the speedo/odo over?  Do they do the speedo calibration part?

Koan, thanks again.  I only just pulled apart the 350 speedo last week at work to glue on the troubled cog that slips and reders the odo useless.  It took very little time and I didn't have time to take photos or prod around too much but I know what you mean. 

[500eguy]

oscar, are you sending both speedos over to this place?

[oscar]

That was the plan but I'll send you an email later today to ask you some questions about what you want to do.

[WGB]

WGB, thanks for the update.  BTW, can we just send the speedo/odo over?  Do they do the speedo calibration part?

I am sure they will do whatever you want. They told me it was about $50 to calibrate the speedo with the new face as spring pressure had to be changed to allow for the difference in swept area between the markings.

Bill

[oscar]

That's pretty cheap.  I might have a rethink about what I might send.  I'll contact them early next week with my questions.  Looking forward to seeing how it looks.  They sound like they've gone to a lot of effort to match the orange, I'm going to be real excited to see how perfect the match is for the black and white.

[WGB]

Did my M-B pilgrimage today and dropped my 6.9 cluster off at Applied Instruments..

I phoned him yesterday and he said that silkscreen mask was being delivered this morning.

When I got there David said there was a problem with the mask and the "h" in km/hr was blurry and that the mask had to be repaired.

I left my cluster and he said he expected it to be ready on Friday.

I never saw the new face so it is an act of faith - but as it is a 2 hour round trip from my place  and they are not painting my genuine 6.9 face I will wait for the call.

Bill

[WGB]

Recived an e-mail on Friday that the speedo was ready - will pick it up tomorrow when I get home.

Hope it has been worth the wait.

Bill