140 mph speedo in 88 lx

[88lx5oh]

ok ive got an 88 lx 5.0 and i hate and i mean HATE the 85 mph speedo in my car is it possible to get the 140 mph speedo in my car with little or no mods. and will the mileage carry over

 

[blkstangman88]

all u need to do is get the 140 mph face plate, then get a new gear for the speedo, if u dont want to change the speedo gear ur self, im sure a local auto parts can do it in no time.

 

[88lx5oh]

how much would this cost roughly. and where is the speedo gear at b/c if its deep that dont sound like too much fun at all. the faceplat do i have to pull my cluster out take the clear thing off pull the needles then glue the face on do i have this right

 

[blkstangman88]

to get to the gear, yes u have to take the cluster out of ur dash (easier to work with) and take the clear lens off, then u have to pull the speedo, tach and other gauges out of the cluster itself. With in the speedo is where the gear goes, www.brothersperformance.com has the new gears if u want to order them or ask them what size u need, they also change the gear to, but u have to ship ur speedo to them and it cost to much. NOW, changing the face plates, this is real easy, while the guages are out, peel the old face plates off and then find a way to get all the sticky stuff thats left, off. for putting the new guages on, all u have to do is set them on, replace the needles, and then u put the cluster back together the clear plate and other pieces all hold the face plates right in place perfectly. You can get new gauges from that web site, but i got mine off of ebay, i got the REVERSE all blue gauges for my 88 gt mustang, it looks great.

 

[88lx5oh]

sounds like a plan is the speedo gear change hard or what i mean my dad has been working with cars for the better part of 30 years so im sure if i cant do it alone he can help

 

[blkstangman88]

I dont know how hard it is cuz i had mine done, i had the same attitude with my old 85 mph guages, i wanted them done so bad i just took the speedo down and had the gear changed. since u got ur pro dad to help, im sure it wont be hard, if u get stuck along the way, just let me know, ill c what i can do.

 

[88lx5oh]

sweet **** is this gear the same one that gets changed when you do a gear swap or does that have to do with something else

 

[stangbear427]

It's easier to just buy a 140mph speedo. Then it will already be calibrated for your existing gears. It is a direct replacement for the speedo you have- the only thing different is that the 140 came in cars with airbags and the face is a little higher on the bottom to clear it. This is something you'll have to deal with no matter how you do it, so it makes no difference; unless you can find a Saleen one from an '89 or older car($$$). Taking speedo's apart is more trouble than it's worth, it's too cheap to just buy the whole thing for these years- and WAY faster. You can get the mileage right with an electric drill before you put it in.

*edit: no, it isn't the same gear as when you change rears. That is the speedo gear (sometimes two gears) down at the tranny. This gear is part of re-calibrating the speedo itself when you put the wrong face on it.

 

[88lx5oh]

i see sill that cluster have the 5 or 6 digit thing
the one i have now is 5 ( no 1 for 123K)
how long will it take to set the miles back on the cluster if i do that

 

[stangbear427]

I my '91 only has five digits too, I think they are all that way on the foxes whether they're, 85, 140, whatever. How long it takes depends on your mileage, the mileage the new odo has on it, and how fast your drill spins.

 

[Ranchero5.0]

'89 5.0's have no airbag and 140 speedo's. The drill thing won't work, takes too damn long to do a mile..

Jamie

 

[88lx5oh]

sweet im gonna go to the bone yard and get a 140 mph cluster and just document it

 

[stangbear427]

Right Jamie, I forgot some of the '89's had them. Was it just the GT's? My wife's '89 LX goes up to 85. 88lx5oh- what are you going to document?

 

[88lx5oh]

at least here in ohio if you change a cluster and the mileage is different or just less i forget you have to tell the DMV and the higway patrol or something will come out to ur car check it then document it there and then give you like a sticker and put it in ur door of the mileage on your cluster when u swapped thats what i ment by document

 

[stangbear427]

I know many people who used the drill successfully- I think I'd opt for that myself. You just need a high speed one. See how long it takes to turn a mile then leave it in the other room and come back around when it should be getting close. Sounds a whole lot less PIA than getting DMV involved like that. What a nuisance... stickers? Just set it where it belongs and be done with it- just my $.02

 

[88lx5oh]

thats what im gonna do F' the DMV and just write down the mileage when i do it

 

[Mustang5L5]

You don't need a new gear for the speedo at all. All you need is the 140MPH speedo unit located inside the instrument cluster.

There are a bunch of ways to do it.

1.) Get 140MPH speedo unit from 89-93 Mustang and swap the mechanical part to the speedo plastic frame. Then apply aftermarket gauge face for 87-89 w/140MPH speedo

2.) Get 1989 complete cluster with 140MPH speedo and direct swap

3.) Use 90-93 cluster and complete rewire cluster harness for the 90-up setup.

4.) Use 90-93 speedo only, swap into your style cluster and modify gauge face to fit 87-89 gauge pod.

I myself used setup #1.

 

[351LX]

You can also buy a Canadian one that goes to 200 km/h or 120 mph.

 

[88lx5oh]

1.) Get 140MPH speedo unit from 89-93 Mustang and swap the mechanical part to the speedo plastic frame. Then apply aftermarket gauge face for 87-89 w/140MPH speedo

what exactly do you mean i was just thinking about going with 2 but 1 soudns like a good idea for keeping the mileage right

 

[trbkrb]

The odometer (miles part) is part of the speedometer mechanism, so you can not just switch part of it. What Mike means is the speedo is basically made from 3 parts, the mechanical guts, a 3/16" or so thick clear plastic base for the stick on face, and a stick on face with the numbers and lines printed on it. The thick plastic base is different from the 87-89 and 90-93 models so the speedos will not directly exchange. Mike used the 90+ guts, the 88 plastic base, and a new white face gauge stick on face. This combo works well, but you have to pull the needle and replace it.

I went with 4) since I didn't want to buy new faces or risk damaging the 140 face by peeling it off the plastic base and reapplying it to the 87-89 plastic base. I had to cut a tab, drill a hole and file the cluster some to make it fit. Maybe 30 min of work to take it apart, modify it, test fit, modify, test fit,...etc. til I got it all together.

The gauge face fit fine and there are no visible gaps once you install the gauge housing (with the light switches) back on the car.

As far as the miles, I ended up removing the pin in the odometer and manually resetting the miles to the correct mileage. It was pretty tedious and took some time to get it looking right as they are designed to be crooked if tampered with. I ended up setting the new speedo to 25,000 miles (225,000 actually) and just drove the car with the old speedo until the actual mileage was right about there before I swapped it.

You might just take your new one and old one to a speedo shop and ask them to set the miles to the same as your stock one. Shouldn't cost too much, I would think.

Regarding 2), that is the easiest, but due to supply (one year only), and demand, the price is much higher than a used 90-93 speedo. I got a 92 for $20.... the 89 model 140s can run $100+

Also, you can sometimes find a Ford Motorsports replacement 140 speedo or I believe 160 speedo that was sold for the 87-88 models, but they are rare also. And the police SSP cars had higher speedos in the 87-89 cars.

Good luck!