Kevin,
Wow, this was like the weirdest thing. I bought my Bugeye not running.
Tried to do it myself (with no previous experience) and nearly fried that
beautiful piece of British metal. I had to put it in a restoration shop to
finish what I couldn't (and undo some of what I did). I asked that all of
the fluids be changed/checked/topped off as it had been in storage for
years. I can't remember what gear(s) it was, but in (I think) first or
second, the speedo would wave wildly and I thought, "great, another freaking
expensive thing to replace after I've already paid three cars worth just to
get this one going." The guy at the shop had told me to drive it for 500
miles and then change all of the fluids again and to never mind how loud the
transmission was because it wasn't synchronized on first(give them a chance
to pick up any junk that had deposited during the storage). I checked the
fluids every day for a week (except for the transmission fluid--because,
being new to actually driving a Bugeye, I didn't know where to check it). I
kept sticking my hand in there and feeling all over for it (I even had it up
on a lift). I kept referring back to the book and thinking, it should be
right here. Then, it jumped out at me and I felt like a ding-dong.
So I open the check/fill plug and stick my pinky in, and nothing. I think
to myself, that's awfully low for it just having been topped off.
I pulled out the book to find out how much it took. The car took every last
bit of that. It had been bone dry and I had put 200 miles on it. I called
the guy and said I wasn't happy and he said I had never asked him to check
the fluids. IMHO, any restoration shop worth a darn would certainly check
all of the fluids in a car that had been in storage, especially if the owner
requested it. Anyway, to keep a long story long, once the fluid was in the
tranny, the gauge worked fairly smoothly and (as far as I can tell) fairly
accuratley. So, I guess I'm trying to say check the fluid. BTW, I use
20W/50 Motor oil in mine just like the Haynes says. Any
thoughts/comments/experiences?
Ryan Marro
>From: "Kevin Chope" <kchope@telocity.com>
>Reply-To: "Kevin Chope" <kchope@telocity.com>
>To: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
>Subject: newbie speedo question
>Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 22:08:36 -0600
>
>Hi Spridgeteers!
>
>My new baby, a 1960 Bugeye, has an annoying habit: The speedo will jump
>and
>swing wildly while in 4th. It will settle down for a few minutes, but then
>go off again. Do I have a short? Has this happened to anyone else? (I
>would check the archive, but I can't seem to get through - so my apologies
>if this has come up before)
>
>Thanks,
>Kevin "a newbie spridgeteer"
>Chicago, IL
>
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