For those who may be considering a GPS unit to use as a speedometer, I just purchased and installed a Garmin Edge 200 GPS unit. Battery powered, and receives GPS signal to measure speed, distance, time, etc. No wires at all. Took a test drive, and all went fairly well, though there does seem to be a bit of delay with the unit reporting the correct speed. This could be a result of the positioning of the unit, as it's recommended that it should face the sky, and mine is at more of a viewing angle (mounted at the bottom edge of my dash) than facing straight up to the open sky.
I'll post again after more driving with it this weekend.
Dave
Be careful, most of the smaller units won't indicate over 200 mph.
Dave,
I have been using a Garmin Nuvi-40 that I got at my local Target store for under $100. It is held to the dash of my '14 runabout with a suction cup. I put it right above the steering column. In speedometer mode it has a little speedometer on the face.
Of course if I were really wealthy I could have gotten a rebuilt Jones Brass speedometer for about $1200 that is less accurate and takes up a lot more space and is harder to install and get calibrated. But I opted for the cheap way out!
Note that the Garmin Nuvi is a COMPLETELY reversible adaptation that can be removed in the blink of eye. So while it might be a repulsive and obnoxious modern addition to the restoration purist, it is both accurate, cheap and totally reversible.
I just hide it in the turtle deck when I am at a car show.
At one show I left it on the dash by mistake, and some guy was laughing his ass off when he saw it there.
Personally I think Henry Ford would have been totally amazed and fascinated by it...!
Jon
I use my I phone, it works great for me.
Here's mine, posted a couple years ago:
Garnet
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/308715.html
A $20 bike speedometer works for me.
If you guys would quit drivin' so fast you wouldn't have to worry about a speedo! :-)
Yeah, but if yer gonna go - why not do it with a big grin on yer mug!
It's an odd feeling for sure when it takes 10 seconds or so for a semi to pass you on the highway. I wonder what they think as they pass a dinky toy with wire wheels, no fenders, no windshield and an idiot smilin' behind the wheel? It's fun to get bug splats on yer face instead of the back of yer head once in a while!
Regards,
Garnet
Thanks all for chiming in. I've been reading older threads, and have seen the pics posted on the different installations. I had decided that I wanted no additional wires for power or for signal from the wheels, so the Garmin was the choice.
Garnet - I haven't been brave enough to take it on the highway yet, but it's coming...
I use my phone occasionally but I've gotten to where I can pretty well tell just by the feel of it--engine noise etc.