Vintage Jaeger (British) Speedometer Repair

Don't ask me why I began working on this project because I really don't know. I guess it's the part of me that has the need to fiddle with things. This speedometer came in a box of stuff that came with a basket case Farmall C tractor I bought a while back. The speedometer obviously didn't belong with the tractor.

It has markings for both MPH and KPH and since it says "British" above the name Jaeger, I'm guessing it came on a Triumph or MG.

The center drive hub on the back of the speedometer did not turn so that was the first thing I worked on. I soaked everything in penetrating oil and with the help of a hex wrench that fit the drive socket, I got the hub to turn but it was tight, so I decided to try and disassemble it. Fortunately the chrome bezel could be twisted maybe 30 degrees and some tabs lined up with slots allowed the bezel to come off fairly easily. Then it was a matter of removing two screws from the back and the innards were extracted.

I didn't get many photos of the process. This next one shows on the left (red circle - click on photo) where I was working on the speedometer, and trying to reinstall a spring. The right side of the photo (green circle) shows where the spring landed after it "pinged" when it got away from me. I heard it hit something to my right and didn't have much hope of finding it. Well, there it was just laying on the floor. It could have landed anywhere.

I had to remove the trip counter to get the parts off the back side of this piece in the photo below, to where I could get to the sticky drive hub. Apologies for not getting more photos of stuff. Suffice it to say, it was tedious getting all the pieces apart and then all the miniscule springs back in place after the repair. I did manage to get it back together and it works now.

I made a short video showing the speedometer working. I am running it with a cordless drill and a piece of wire shaped to fit the drive hub in the speedometer.