I am very near final completion on my el camino and I want to clock the actual miles on the resoration. The entire car is brand new including the entire drive train. I want to keep track of how many actual miles since the "restoration/customization." I am not concerned about actual miles on the car since new. The original speedo was replaced with a 115mph, and speedo cable was broken when I bought the car so the true mileage is unknown. I have heard these old style odemters are easy to roll back, but I wanted to know if there are any specific tricks to it? I haven't tried yet but I am sure I can figure it out. Any help would be appreciated! -Matt

You may be able to buy the odometer portion of the speedo from a dealer. Many years ago I turned the odo on my jeepster (forward actually). Used a 1/4 inch drill & slowly turned it to 000. I was 14 couldn't drive it & had plenty of time on my hands.

Hey Matt. Most shops that rebuild and reface gauges will zero out the odometer when they rebuild them. I've seen many company's advertise in the back of Hemmings. I can't recommend one over the other, but I'll bet there is one NJ (isn't that where your from?) that could probally do it for you.

yeah I am in NJ. I don't feel like spending any more money to have it reset though. I already spend over $75 for the 115mph speedo, and it shouldn't be to difficult to set back to zero. I figure if it is easy enough to do I will do it, otherwise I will have to make a note of the current mileage. Not a big deal, just wondering if it can be done. Maybe I will take it a used car dealer, they are notious for rolling back speedos!! LOL -Matt

Maybe I will take it a used car dealer, they are notious for rolling back speedos!!
Yea, I'd like to see their faces when you ask them....


Hey, I've seen pictures and read your posts about your Elky. Sweet ride. I think you might need a faster speedo than 115 mph. 8)

What part of Jersey are you from? I lived in Paramus, up in northern Jersey for my "younger" years.

Yeah 115mph might not be enough, but i figure if I used a 140 speedo i'd be to tempted to pin it! I have seen 200 mph digital speedometers and i figured that'd really get me in trouble!
Anyways,I live in Hillsborough, about 5 miles north of Princeton, and close to somerville/flemington/bridgewater. Paramus is not to far from me at all... At least you were smart and got out of this state! Its a little expensive here! -Matt

I zero'd out a speedometer for my '67 Chevy, years ago. I was able to remove the numbers wheels and just turned them back. Why not buy a similar speedo from a boneyard and experiment?

Many years ago I worked for a Dealership that had us turn back odometers and at that time was and still is gainst the law. But FYI do get one you can experiment with because when adjusting it if you don't quite have the numbers in proper sequence after about 10 miles driving the numbers are not lined up straight. This is a good indication when buying an older car you can tell if it has been messed with. Get an old one , adjust it and run it with an electric drill they are very touchy in this manner.

I did my 80 with a 3/8 drill and broken cable piece,I cant remember but think the drill had to be in reverse!






80 on the road and still ratty
79 in the yard being torn down

Hey 12sec...Looked at your ride many times and wished I had your resources to put into mine. What? $35-40K and you don't want to spend a few more $ to have the speedo turned back? Just rag'in on ya. High speed drill, piece of cable, and lots of time will do it...

Yeah, I can spin it with a drill either 86,000 miles in reverse or 14,000 miles foward. Either way it will take a while! I will figure it out, I don't need to drive the car until spring anyway. -Matt

Just for chuckles, I dug out an old speedometer for my '72.

After removing the odometer unit from the housing, there are two small screws that hold a plate in front of the numbers. That removed, the numbers wheel comes out. With a gentle pry with a small screwdriver on the bushing on the high-number end, you can reset the numbers to anything you want.

Nice Car, and im going to need a mop(dont ask)
i think that most of the stuff that you did to your car, i want to do to mine. but i was thinking a Turbo rather than NOS, what do you think?

Be very careful when resetting the speedo, Seems the government stepped in back in the late 70's and early 80's, to keep carlots honest. Many of the speedos were designed to break if they were spun backwards. As far as I remember it still works in the forward direction.

The speedo out of my girlfriend's Buick was just 7 wheels with numbers around them and a few small plastic retianing clips to keep it from going backwards. You can pull all of the numbers off the pin and realign them, however the little fiddly bits are a real PITA.

My Vette has problems with the odometer working correctly due to it having rolled over once (and probably something else) but the numbers turn late. The ones place and the tens work fine, the hundreds is about 30 miles late, the thousands is about 450 miles late, and the tens of thousands is like 5600 miles before it finally flips. I'm not sure if the problem is related to gunk being in the odometer or it having gotten jammed when it rolled over, but it is something that might be a possible problem.

Scot

you can't roll them back only forward. you can roll forward one cylinder (number) at a time until you get where you want to be. you will have to remove the numbers from the support. on many there is a cardboard piece holding small extensions, this has to come off carefully. then turn the extension until the number is where you want then move to the next one. you may find some that are connected with a wire whick will have to be snipped at each number to turn the extension. i also recommend getting a sacrificial one from a wrecking yard to practice on. you got none of this info from me. LOL.

8) It's only an illegal act if you are doing it to raise the resale value. As long as you state that this is not the actual mileage or actual mileage is unknown, you have done nothing wrong. This info I got from my Attorney who also has a couple of car lots he represents.

PaPa John

Interesting, I'm tempted to give this a wack on mine.

PaPa Johns is right. In fact, depending on your state, your El Camino may, in effect, already be zeroed out so you could set it to anything you want.

For instance, in Oklahoma, a vehicle as old as an El Camino with over 100,000 miles on it is already considered to be "mileage not known". Even though I knew the accurate mileage on mine and could prove it, the Oklahoma DMV ignored it on the title. Virginia however assumes no such thing unless you tell them.

Take care.

It's not really hard to zero it out but it can be time consuming.. If you don't get it PM/Email me I have a few I can zero out the Odometer part & send you that.