Pre-1951 Speedometers

Park_W
Park_W Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
A little warning when sending out a pre-1951 speedometer for repair. Be sure the shop is aware of the different standard Hudson used for speedo cable drive speed. I've known for a long time that in'51, Hudson cut the speedo cable drive speed form 2,000 rpm at 60 mph to 1,000. I'd aways assumed this was an industry-wide change, but that's evidently not so. Apparently everyone else had been using 1,000 rpm since "way back when." I'm having an interesting discussion with a shop where I sent my '47 speedo recently. Though the principal "fixer" has been at it for 35 years, he's apparently never encountered one of the pre-'51 Hudson units, because he was totally unaware of Hudson's 2,000 rpm calibration standard. Thus when I got the speedometer back, I had the thrill of seeing over 100 mph on my local roads, and the odometer eating up the miles at twice the rate it should! I sent it back and we had a lengthy discussion about the source of the problem. I thought he "got it," but when I got the unit back again it was still running at twice the proper speed. I think I've now got him convinced that I'm not pulling his leg about the different drive speed. At least he's agreed to check with a couple of his contacts in the speedo repair business. Hopefully they'll set him straight and I'll eventually have a properly calibrated unit again.

Comments

  • Lee ODell
    Lee ODell Senior Contributor
    Just goes to show, you can alway learn something new.



    Lee
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    That's Hudson for you - long, long before that other car maker advertized as "different" Hudson was "different" for years!!! It's what makes them interesting.



    I wonder how many Hudson owners notice the reversed keys - some years, beleive it was in the 50's, used a round head for the ignition and hex for the other locks. Everybody else was the other way around.



    Hudsonly,

    Alex Burr

    Memphis, TN
  • hudsonguy
    hudsonguy Senior Contributor
    When I had my '49 speedometer gone through at a speedo shop years ago, I encountered the same thing. Even though they'd been doing speedometer repair/rebuilds forever, they'd never run into a 2000=60 ratio before. Luckily, in my case he didn't change it.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Another little tidbit I learned in this current process really surprised me. That's that they calibrate the speedometer by adjusting the strength of the rotating magnet. I always figured they just tweaked the little spiral spring that the magnetic effect works against.
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